Robert Kennedy Memorial Statue Bust in Downtown Brooklyn, May 2008

Robert F. Kennedy Monument

This bronze bust, located in Brooklyn’s Columbus Park, depicts Attorney General, U.S. Senator, and Presidential candidate Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968). Sculptor Anneta Duveen created the piece, which was dedicated in 1972. It features a polished granite pedestal with four quotes from Kennedy inscribed on the base meant to inspire community action, whether it be at the local, national, or global level.

Kennedy was born in 1925, the third son of Joseph Kennedy, the patriarch of the powerful Kennedy family. His older brother, John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–1963), served as the 35th President of the United States. Robert Kennedy served in his brother’s administration as U.S. Attorney General. After the assassination of his brother in 1963, Robert resigned from office and moved into an apartment at United Nations Plaza in Manhattan. Although he was accused of being a “carpetbagger,” Kennedy mounted a successful campaign for the United States Senate in 1964. After speaking out against the escalating war in Vietnam, Robert Kennedy ran for president in 1968. He was assassinated June 6, 1968 while campaigning in Los Angeles. The sculpture was relocated and placed in a picturesque floral surrounding as a result of renovations to Columbus Park, completed in 1994.

Text from: www.nycgovparks.org/parks/B113C/highlights/12585