Photo provided by SFC Martin Wubbolt, Pensylvania National Guard.
LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA
N 40° 02.713 / W 076° 18.433
Copyright version 1920, pressed copper.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Numbers: 47260095, 76008146 (dup).
Copyright version 1920, pressed copper.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Numbers: 47260095, 76008146 (dup).
At Pennsylvania National Guard Stahr Armory, 438 North Queen Street.
The Smithsonian Institution IAS file has two records for this statue. The one submitted by T. Perry Wesley (47260095) is the more complete; the other (76008146) could be deleted by the Smithsonian.
The inscription on the plaque reads:
DEDICATED TO
THE MEN AND WOMEN
OF THE SEVENTH WARD
LANCASTER, PA.
WHO BY THEIR PATRIOTISM
COURAGE AND DEVOTION
HELPED WIN
THE WORLD WAR
1914 – 1918
FOR HUMANITY, LIBERTY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
ERECTED BY THE
CITIZENS OF THE SEVENTH WARD
DEDICATED TO
THE MEN AND WOMEN
OF THE SEVENTH WARD
LANCASTER, PA.
WHO BY THEIR PATRIOTISM
COURAGE AND DEVOTION
HELPED WIN
THE WORLD WAR
1914 – 1918
FOR HUMANITY, LIBERTY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
ERECTED BY THE
CITIZENS OF THE SEVENTH WARD
The Doughboy was originally dedicated November 11, 1925 at East End Junior High, now known as Edward Hand Middle School, in a ceremony in which the Lancaster Gold Star Mothers, American Legion, Knights of Malta, and students of the Junior High, played prominent roles. It was unveiled by three Gold Star Mothers, and tribute was paid to the 482 men and women of the Seventh Ward who served during the war. It was purchased with funds raised by public subscriptions of residents of the Seventh Ward, and had been in Lancaster nearly a year while an appropriate site was selected. The Doughboy was moved to its current location in 1962. The doughboy's arms and rifle barrel have been cut off and replaced. By 1986 it had lost its right hand and grenade. They were restored. In 1992, vandals pushed the whole sculpture off its base and onto the grass. The statue currently appears to be in very good condition.
Update March, 2013: Plans are afoot to move the statue back to its original Seventh Ward neighborhood location.
Update March, 2013: Plans are afoot to move the statue back to its original Seventh Ward neighborhood location.
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Above, left - Lancaster’s Doughboy at its original East End Junior High School site. Right – The three Gold Star Mothers who unveiled the Doughboy: Mrs. Elizabeth Kiehl, Mrs. D. S. Vollrath, and Mrs. M. E. Hambleton. Below: The Lancaster Gold Star Mothers at the Doughboy’s November 11, 1925 unveiling.
Photos provided by Phillip Crnkovich of the Lancaster Area Library.
