Abigail Adams and John Quincy statue is a monument honoring Abigail Adams, a founding mother, second first lady, adviser of the second president John Adams, and the mother of the sixth president John Quincy Adams, depicted in this monument as a child.
Abigail Adams (1744-1818) grew up in a progressive family; even though she did not receive a formal education, her mother homeschooled her and her sisters, and she promoted her education in the family’s library.
At 18, she became the wife, partner, and advisor of John Adams, a country lawyer who became one of the founding fathers of the United States; they raised their six children in Braintree, Quincy, and Boston. After diplomatic missions in Paris and London in 1788, they settled in their home in Quincy, Peacefield, which nowadays is a museum in the Adams National Historical Park. In 1797, John became the second President of the United States, and she was the first lady. She was politically active and the closest advisor of the President. Upon losing the re-election campaign, the family retired to Peacefield in Quincy in 1800.
The bronze statue was dedicated in 1997 and created by Lloyd Lillie, who sculptured many prominent American figures, and the 20-figure sculpture that represented the first women’s rights convention in 1848 for the visitor center at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls. It depicts Abigail with her hand on her son’s shoulder while the president-to-be holds a book, and both look forward, symbolizing the future. The statue stood near the United First Parish Church, also known as the Church of Presidents, the family’s burial place. Following the renovations at Hancock Meetinghouse, the sculpture was moved to storage and in 2022 reinstalled in Merrymount Park.
A new statue of Adams was installed in November 2022 in the Hancock Adams Common in Quincy close to the statues of her husband and son. Click here to read more about it.
Other points of interest in Quincy include the Quincy Historical Society & Museum, the Dorothy Quincy Homestead, the Wollaston Beach, the longest beach on Boston Harbor, and many more.
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