The E. M. Viquesney "Spirit of the American Doughboy" Database
Photo: Bill Plack, Herminie, Pennsylvania.
WARREN, OHIO
N 41° 14.228 / W 080° 49.211
Copyright version 1920, pressed copper.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: 47260087.
Copyright version 1920, pressed copper.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: 47260087.
Located in Veterans' Memorial Park, off Mahoning Avenue NW, just west of intersection with High Street NE.
The wording on the original commemorative plaque* on the front of the base reads:
ERECTED BY
CLARENCE HYDE POST
NO. 278
AMERICAN LEGION
IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF
THOSE WHO SERVED
THE UNITED STATES
IN THE WORLD WAR
1917 1918
ERECTED BY
CLARENCE HYDE POST
NO. 278
AMERICAN LEGION
IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF
THOSE WHO SERVED
THE UNITED STATES
IN THE WORLD WAR
1917 1918
American Legion Post records document that the Doughboy was acquired in 1941, with funding that came from a 1918 War Chest Fund, and was Dedicated November 11, 1941. For some time, the dedication date caused confusion as to how and from whom the statue was acquired, since it's a 1920 copyright version placed long after Viquesney had changed to a new design in 1934. Warren's Doughboy is one of two 1920 versions to have been dedicated after 1934, the other being at Markesan, Wisconsin. There are also two other copies similar to the 1920 design with the title "Spirit of our Heroes" at Vestal, New York and Blue Ash, Ohio.
* * *
Photo: Bill Plack, Herminie, Pennsylvania.
Through contacts with Bill Plack of Herminie, Pennsylvania and Carol Grissom of the Smithsonian, it has been learned that this Doughboy was one of three that are definitely known to have been fabricated by Friedley-Voshardt Company of Chicago for Viquesney, and was probably a 1920 version they still had in stock when the Warren statue was ordered.
Conservation treatment was perfomed in 1991 by Csaba Kur of Warren, and again in 2003 in conjunction with plans to move the monument to a new location within Monument Park. At that time, the names of local soldiers who had died in the war and various other Legion documents were found in a time capsule in the monument base.
Also in 2003, Denny Bechtold, a resident of Niles, Ohio, confessed to taking the bayonet in 1953 just before he was 13 years old, and throwing it in the Mahoning River when he became concerned what would happen to him if his parents found out. During the restoration, a new bayonet was added.
The Doughboy was rededicated November 11, 2003.
Also in 2003, Denny Bechtold, a resident of Niles, Ohio, confessed to taking the bayonet in 1953 just before he was 13 years old, and throwing it in the Mahoning River when he became concerned what would happen to him if his parents found out. During the restoration, a new bayonet was added.
The Doughboy was rededicated November 11, 2003.
Photo: Sue Shafer, Tribune Chronicle.
Above: The Doughboy was removed during construction of the new Trumbull County Veterans' Memorial for safety reasons, and a new park was dedicated Nov. 11, 2008, which now also includes a one-of-a-kind sculpture of a WWII soldier by Robert Eccelston of Lake Placid, New York (in the background, to the right of the obelisk).
*It's not known whether the original plaque wasn't yet remounted on the base at the time of this photo, or whether it was displayed somewhere else, or whether it was stolen. As of late October 2011 it was still not present on the base.
*It's not known whether the original plaque wasn't yet remounted on the base at the time of this photo, or whether it was displayed somewhere else, or whether it was stolen. As of late October 2011 it was still not present on the base.
