Ten Commandments Monument of Faribault

On the corner of Division Street and Central Avenue in Faribault, in front of the Thomas Scott Buckham Memorial Library, stands a brownish-red granite monument, its rough edges and double-tablet shape reminiscent of a tombstone, with the Ten Commandments etched into its face.

It is planted just a few feet to the side of the sidewalk that leads up to the entrance to the city’s only public library and the adjoining building, housing the Parks and Recreation Department, as well as the Faribault Community Center. It seems to go mainly unnoticed by the occasional patrons and visitors that walk past. An unobtrusive concrete pedestal raises it a few inches above the surrounding lawn, which remains mostly yellow from the long winter.

Why is this monument here? What led the Fraternal Order of Eagles and Eagles Ladies Auxiliary to place this monument to the Ten Commandments in front of the public library on city property back in 1957?

The story is fascinating, and emerges from a confluence of many different historical and religious moments. In order to investigate the multiplicity of meanings embedded in this religious monument in public space, we must consider the Christian, anti-Communist, pro-capitalist sentiments of the Cold War era; the emergence of a concept of “Judeo-Christianity”; a publicity campaign for the 1956 Ten Commandments movie, popularized specifically at this historical moment for a host of political, social, and theological reasons; and its origin in what appears to be a local Minnesota story: the anti-juvenile-delinquency campaign started by a St. Cloud judge and member of the Fraternity of Eagles. We will analyze the way this object exists simultaneously as a historical item, a religious monument, and an artistic/aesthetic piece, and how it is tangled up in a complicated dialogue of moral/religious concerns, ethical/socio-political agendas, and a Hollywood marketing campaign.