Photo of the Day: ‘Garment Worker’ Statue, Midtown Manhattan

With all the talk the last week or two about what statues say about the nature of heroism, it helps to shift perspective a little. For years, it seemed, you had to be in a position of authority—and, better yet, on top of a horse—to rate public representation and honor..

That’s one of the reasons why I was so startled—and determined immediately that I needed to take this picture—when I happened upon the statue The Garment Worker last October. At eight feet tall, this permanent sculpture at 555 Seventh Avenue between 39th and 40th Streets is larger than life, just like the figures of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis that dot so much of the South.

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But Tel Aviv-born sculptor Judith Weller did something revolutionary, I’d argue, with this work. She could have honored someone famous associated with the Fashion or Garment District where this bronze statue stands, such as David Dubinsky, the longtime president of the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union. Instead, she brought to the surface the heroism of an ordinary worker, a man sitting at a sewing machine, putting together a garment.

The worker is intent on his task, but we know there is so much more to him. He is a stand-in for all the fathers who endured all so that their children and grandchildren could have a better shot at life than the one he had. (Indeed, Weller drew on her own memories of her father in fashioning this, including the sign of his faith: a yarmulke.) His fingers and strong, not unlike those of Abraham Lincoln in DC's Lincoln Memorial. 

That strength implies that this worker can be depended on not just by a family, but by a community, is the labor movement, a force badly weakened now but one which did so much once to increase solidarity, to protect workers from hazardous conditions, and to narrow the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

One of the things I enjoy about large cities such as New York and Washington is the chance to come across something unexpected when you are on your way to seeing something else. That is how I stumbled across this image. I’m grateful I had that unexpected opportunity—though not have as grateful as I am to Weller’s father, my own, and the millions of others across the years who demonstrated the strength and dignity of work.

Happy Labor Day.