Detail from the Cuban-American Friendship Urn, which was made from a marble column salvaged from the monument to the "Sinking of the Maine" in Havana, Cuba. The sculpture itself appears in good shape and is a great example of
art-deco sculpture in the nation's capital.
What's sad about this memorial is that it's largely forgotten and consigned to one of the worst places off the mall. It's shamefully placed along a reserve parking lot underneath the 14th street bridge. According to some sources it used to be in front of the Cuban Embassy but after the communist takeover of Cuba it made its way to this back corner.
There are two bronze plates on the bottom of the memorial. Here's the original and the translation:
ESTA COPA FUE ESCULPIDA EN UN FRAGMENTO DE LA COLUMNA DE MARMOL DEL MONUMENTO A LAS VICTIMAS DEL "MAINE". ERICIDO EN LA CIUDAD DE LA HABANA, CUYA COLUMNA FUE DERRIBADA POR EL CICLON DE 20 DE OCTOBRE DE 1926.
"This cup was sculpted from a fragment from the marble column, from the monument to the victims of the "Maine." Built in the city of Havana, that column fell in the Hurricane of October 20, 1926."EL RECUERDO DEL "MAINE" TENDRA ETERNA DURACION DURANTE LOS SIGLOS LOS LAZOS DE LA AMISTAD ENTRE LA TIERRA DE CUBA Y LA TIERRA DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE NORTE AMERICA - GERARDO MACHADO
"The memory of the "Maine" will last forever through the ages of the bonds of friendship between the land of Cuba and land of the United States. - (Cuban President) Gerardo Machado"
