Mural Deemed Too Violent For School
Mural Deemed Too Violent For School
September 28, 2006
by Keach Hagey
After a debate that divided members largely along the lines of generation and gender, the Chickahominy Neighborhood Association voted unanimously yesterday not to bring a controversial Revolutionary War mural back to Hamilton Avenue School because its content is too violent.
Instead, the group agreed to leave the mural, "The Life and Times of General Israel Putnam of Connecticut," at its current location at Greenwich Library, with the proviso that the foundation that restored it pay for a new mural to be painted for the school, and which will represent the history of Western Greenwich.
"I fought to get that mural back in the school, but when I actually saw it, and saw how violent it was, I had to agree it probably wasn't in the best interest of the children," said Sylvester Pecora, chairman of the association. "But it would be unfair if the library kept the mural and we didn't get a mural."
Painted by James Daughtery of Weston as part of the Works Progress Administration program in 1935, the mural depicts Putnam, Greenwich's war hero, aiming his musket at snarling wolves while all around him Native Americans hurl tomahawks and men armed with guns and knives tussle.
It hung high in the gymnasium of Hamilton Avenue School for nearly 60 years, often knocked by errant basketballs, before it was removed in 1998 and restored with $54,145 donated by the Ruth W. Brown Foundation. It has since hung in Greenwich Library.
Education specifications for the new Hamilton Avenue School called for the mural to be returned to the school and to hang prominently in view of the media center, but after educators and parents took a look at the restored mural's contents, they began to have doubts.
Principal Damaris Rau said having a mural depicting men threatening each other with knives would send a confusing message to elementary school students, who are strictly forbidden from engaging in any violent behavior at the school.
"We will not tolerate teasing, bullying or fighting at Hamilton Avenue School," she said. "But can you imagine them saying, "How come I can't hit him, but there are knives and guns in that picture?' "
But several older members of the community, especially those who had fought in wars themselves, argued that violence was a part of life, and, more importantly, the mural was a part of the Chickahominy community's history.
Chickahominy native Joseph Ricciardi, fought in World War II and argued that children should know about wars because wars are the reason that they are free now. He also argued that it was the parents' job to make sure the children didn't act violently at school.
"If you look, we can see the difference between male and female right here," he said. "I know you women are concerned about your children, and I understand that because you bear that child, but you also got to understand that we were brought up in a school where we were disciplined."
"We used to get the felt," he continued. "We used to get hit with a rubber hose in the leg. I'm not saying that you should do that. But man, if you would discipline your kids at home, you wouldn't have to discipline them in school."
But PTA President Laura DiBella argued that things are different in a post-Columbine world. Although the mural didn't bother her when she attended the school, she doesn't want her young son to see it every day. Several other parents echoed her statements.
"It's not appropriate for elementary school children," said Aixa Capozza, whose 5-year-old daughter attends the school.
Deputy Superintendent Mary Capwell announced that she had been talking with Mike Harris, a Greenwich attorney and trustee of the Ruth W. Brown Foundation, about the possibility of having another mural painted to take its place in the new school. The foundation was willing to pay for it, but only if there was consensus that it was something the community wanted, Capwell said.
Over the course of an hour, that consensus emerged, as opponents of giving up the mural, which is technically owned by the town, gradually came to the side of the parents and educators.
Capwell said the foundation would like the subject of the new mural to be decided by a subcommittee consisting of members of the neighborhood association, which would act as part of the committee designing the programs for the new school. She added that the Board of Education had agreed to change the education specifications for the new school to include the painting of a new mural.
Pecora read a letter from one artist, Gary Calabra, brother of St. Roch Church Pastor Nicholas Calabra, proposing one idea: The new mural should depict the history of the Byram Quarry, which supplied the stone for the Brooklyn Bridge, the base of the Statue of Liberty and St. Roch Church.