Some 14th District History About the Good Shepherd Statue and its Relevance
The Good Shepherd Statue and Its Inspiration, Lizette Woodward Reese
The Lizette Woodward Reese Memorial sculpture, called Good Shepherd Statue, returned to its home on the former Eastern High School campus of its origins, now Hopkins/ Eastern, thanks to the amazing generosity of the Alumnae Association of the Eastern High School, whose contributions have made this relocation possible - and to the cooperation of Johns Hopkins University and the Baltimore City Commission on Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP).
A prominent relocation site was chosen on the western bank of the former Eastern High School, overlooking the Weinberg YMCA, Thanksgiving Place, the J. Joseph Curran, Sr. carillon and eastbound traffic along East 33rd Street.
The sculpture depicts a shepherd holding a lost lamb and caring for the others around him, a work of art produced by sculptor Grace Hill Turnbull. The inscription reads: "Come every helplessness," from Reeses's poem, "Come every helplessness and every dread ... A shepherd is at hand ...."
How fitting - and how hopeful, almost like our own personal Statue of Liberty in an area beset with the random homicides of two innocent young men within the first two weeks of 2008.
Lizette Woodward Reese was born and raised in 19th Century Waverly, in a cottage just half a mile north of St. John's of Huntingdon Church, to which her family belonged. A twin, she graduated from Eastern High School in 1873 and went on to teach, at Western High School and elsewhere, and write poetry, much of it based on the bucolic scenes she enjoyed of Clifton Park.
In fact, Lizette Woodward Reese eventually lived in Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello (CHM), at 2926 Harford Road, with a clear view of Clifton Park. She is buried in the graveyard of St. John's of Huntingdon Church, at Greenmount Avenue and East 31st Street.
The Sculptor of The Good Shepherd's Statue, Grace Hill Turnbull
Twenty-four years younger, but still of Lizette's generation, Sculptor Grace Hill Turnbull knew and admired Lizette Woodward Reese - and fashioned the Good Shepherd Statue in her honor, which she donated to Eastern High School in 1939. (Actually, I met Ms. Turnbull door-to-door when I was first campaigning for City Council in 1975, in her home at 223 Chancery Road, just a year before her passing. A memorable woman!)
Travels and Travails of the Good Shepherd Statue
The Good Shepherd Statue was last on the Lake Clifton campus, where the alumnae moved it when Eastern High School was closed and merged with Lake Clifton High School. Once Lake Clifton High School was closed and phased-out in 2003, however, the Alumnae Association of the Eastern High School began efforts to return the Good Shepherd Statue to its home base, a campus now owned and operated by Johns Hopkins University and known as Hopkins/Eastern.
In response, the Lake Clifton Alumnae Association agreed to the move, as long as the costs of relocation would not redound to the Lake Clifton Alumnae Association or to either innovative high school now operating on campus, i.e., Doris M. Johnson #426 and Heritage #425 high schools. (Costs do not affect these entities.)
June 1 is the magic date. On June 1, 1939, the Good Shepherd Statue was installed on the grounds of Eastern High School on East 33rd Street. On June 1, 1987, upon the Lake Clifton/ Eastern merger, a rededication service was held on the grounds of Lake Clifton/ Eastern. Now that Lake Clifton is phased-out, June 1, 2008, becam the official return home to Hopkins/Eastern.
Mary Pat Clarke
