The E. M. Viquesney "Spirit of the American Doughboy" Database
 Photo provided by St. Bernard Historian Marjorie Niesen. |
 Photo: Marshall Korby, West Bloomfield, Michigan. |
ST. BERNARD (CINCINNATI), OHIO
N 39° 10.062 / W 84° 29.854
Copyright version 1920, pressed copper.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: 47260085.
Copyright version 1920, pressed copper.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: 47260085.
In small park area on grounds of City Hall, at corner of Vine Street and Washington Avenue.
The engraving on the front of the base reads:
IN MEMORY OF
OUR HEROES OF THE
WORLD WAR
1917 - 1918
(followed by eight names)
IN MEMORY OF
OUR HEROES OF THE
WORLD WAR
1917 - 1918
(followed by eight names)
The Doughboy was dedicated July 4, 1925. It stands between two cylindrical memorials placed in memory of named individuals who died in World War II (25) and Korea (1).
* * *
Photo: Marshall Korby,
West Bloomfield, Michigan.
West Bloomfield, Michigan.
This is one of four Viquesney Doughboys known to have copyright marks reading “Copyright Walter Rylander 1920”. Walter Rylander of Americus, Georgia was one of the veterans who possibly posed for Viquesney in wartime gear. He acquired the rights from Viquesney and owned them from January 1922 until Viquesney regained them in January 1926. He has sometimes been referred to as “the” Doughboy model, which is only partially correct. According to Viquesney, there were multiple models. Other known Rylander copyright marks are on Doughboys at Bolivar and Sedalia, Missouri, and Muskogee, Oklahoma. Doughboys placed with Rylander copyrights didn’t have the name “Spirit of The American Doughboy” in the copyright plate. Given that, the Doughboy has been known in St. Bernard by names such as “Veternans Memorial Statue,” “Soldiers and Sailors Monument,” “World War I Doughboy,” and “St. Bernard War Memorial”, rather than by its true title, "The Spirit of the American Doughboy".
The Doughboy was restored by Karkadoulias Bronze Art of Cincinnati in 1971 and has been well maintained since then. In 1999, St. Bernard Mayor Barbara C. Siegel wrote a complimentary letter to Marcene Karkadoulias about the results of that restoration and also stated that St. Bernard holds its Memorial Day observance at the monument each year. (In the letter, Mayor Siegel referred to it as the “Veterans Memorial Statue”.)
