The E. M. Viquesney "Spirit of the American Doughboy" Database
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Photos: Seth Gaines, Rockville, Maryland.
OIL CITY, PENNSYLVANIA
N 41° 25.943 / W 79° 42.658
Copyright version 1934, cast zinc.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Numbers: NO ENTRIES.
Copyright version 1934, cast zinc.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Numbers: NO ENTRIES.
In front of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 464 at 2 Relief Street.
The plaque on the fence reads:
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
OUR COMRADES OF THE WORLD WAR
WHO ENTERED THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY
FROM OIL CITY AND VICINITY
_____________
SPONSORED BY
FRANCIS B. PRITCHARD POST No. 464
VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS
OF THE UNITED STATES
NOVEMBER 11, 1938
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
OUR COMRADES OF THE WORLD WAR
WHO ENTERED THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY
FROM OIL CITY AND VICINITY
_____________
SPONSORED BY
FRANCIS B. PRITCHARD POST No. 464
VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS
OF THE UNITED STATES
NOVEMBER 11, 1938
The Oil City Doughboy was scheduled to be dedicated on November 11, 1938, and the plaque had been ordered and engraved with that date. But although both the statue and plaque were delivered to the site well in advance, due to a delay in the construction and landscaping of the original mound where the Doughboy was to stand, the dedication was postponed until July 4, 1939.
As the Great Depression wore on through the late 1930s, the Post was able to secure its Doughboy for a total price of $702.50, nearly $300 less than its original price of $1,000 in 1921.
Although the Doughboy is missing its bayonet, both sculptures appear to be well maintained.
Although the Doughboy is missing its bayonet, both sculptures appear to be well maintained.
This is the only "Spirit of the American Doughboy" known to be paired with Viquesney's 1943 statue, "The Spirit of the Fighting Yank" (there are seven Viquesney Doughboys paired with or nearby his 1927 "Spirit of the American Navy), and thus the only pair of Viquesney statues displayed together that cover both WWI and WWII. A Viquesney Doughboy and a WWII G.I. statue do occur together at Fort Worth, Texas, but the G.I. there is by a different sculptor, Giordano Grassi, and was placed in 1980.
Photo supplied by VFW Post Quartermaster Bill Foyer.
Above is a photo of the Doughboy at its original location on its mound setting at the rear of the VFW Post.
