What Lies Beneath: 7 Magnificent Finds in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery
2. A Straight Shot to Lady Liberty from a Roman Goddess
Charles Higgins was one of New York City’s most successful business people. His company, Higgins India Ink, is still available today even through Mr. Higgins made his final journey to Green-Wood nearly a century ago. His blueprints for his tomb, and Battle Hill, which he also purchased, had been collecting dust in the cemetery’s archives until they were unearthed by an archival volunteer. Because of Mr. Higgins’s successful career, the original design of a statue of Minerva that would grace the front of the tomb on Battle Hill was set to face the Woolworth Building. At the time, the Woolworth Building was a symbol of America’s commercial success. However, Mr. Higgins, at some point had a change of heart. Rather than have her face the capitalism that often defines New York City and America, he decided that it would be better for Minerva to face the Statue of Liberty and have her hand raised in a symbol of salute and solidarity.