Certificate of Membership in the Bunker Hill Monument Association
George Girdler Smith, American, 1795 - 1878
William B. Annin, American, active 1813 - 1839
after John Ritto Penniman, American, 1782 - 1841
1823
Hand colored engraving on wove paper
Overall: 12 5/8 × 10 5/8 in. (32.1 × 27 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Julia L. Whittier Fund
PR.960.58
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
19th century
Object Name
Research Area
On view
Inscriptions
Inscribed, in plate, beneath image: J. R. PENNIMAN DEL. ANNIN & SMITH SC. BOSTON
Label
The Bunker Hill Monument Association was established in May 1823 by twenty-five Boston-area residents to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill, fought on June 17, 1775—one of the first major engagements of the American Revolution. The association also sought to construct a monument honoring the battle. To fund this effort, they issued certificates to individuals who donated at least $5—a notable sum when the average weekly wage was $15. On the certificate, Smith engraved a scene of colonial soldiers confronting British troops on Bunker Hill, highlighting both the historical significance of the battle and the association’s commemorative purpose.
From the 2025-26 exhibition Revolution Reconsidered: History, Myth, and Propaganda, curated by Michael W. Hartman (Jonathan Little Cohen Curator of American Art), Haely Chang (Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art), Elizabeth Rice Mattison (Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art), Ashley B. Offill (Curator of Collections), and Evonne Fuselier (Hood Museum Board of Advisors Mutual Learning Fellow)
Exhibition History
Lower Jewett Corridor, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 23-March 21, 1976.
Revolution Reconsidered: History, Myth, and Propaganda, Harteveldt Family Gallery and Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 18, 2025 - August 8, 2026.
Provenance
Raymond G. Clifton (1895-1968), Pine Cupboard Antique Shop, Franklin, New Hampshire; sold to present collection, 1960.
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