English: Straus Memorial in Straus Park, Upper Westside of Manhattan, NYC. Sculpture by Augustus Lukeman. Fountain and exedra designed by Evarts Tracy. NYC City Parks registry number 1510. PD-US-no notice https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/straus-park/monuments/1510

The figure of Memory Reclining in Contemplation is the centerpiece of the Straus Memorial in Straus Park on Manhattan’s Upper Westside. It was dedicated in 1915 to the memory of retail entrepreneur and philanthropist Isidor Straus and his wife Ida. They died together on April 15, 1912, as passengers on the R.M.S. Titanic’s maiden voyage from England to America.

After hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic, the ship sank within three hours. The couple perished along with more than 1500 other passengers and crew members. Women and children were evacuated first, but an inadequate number of lifeboats and lack of time left little chance that most of the men would make it. Ida chose to remain aboard with her husband.

Born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1845, Isidor immigrated with his family to America in 1854 and settled in Georgia. After the Civil War, the Strauses relocated to New York City, where Isidor joined his father Lazarus and brother Nathan in a concession business selling crockery at R.H. Macy & Co. Isidor and Ida married in 1871. She, too, was a immigrant, hailing from Worms, Germany. By 1888, the Straus brothers became owners of R.H. Macy, and in 1902 they opened the now famous Macy’s at Herald Square.

The memorial was crowdfunded by citizen contributions and created by sculptor Augustus Lukeman. The architect Evarts Tracy designed the fountain and exedra. The inscription on the rear exedra is from 2 Samuel 1:23. It reads, "Lovely and pleasant were they in their lives.

And in their death they were not divided."