The E. M. Viquesney Doughboy Database
  • Welcome / Contact
  • Site Map
  • Introduction
  • "Our Mr. Wesley"
  • Earl D. Goldsmith
  • Les Kopel
  • "E. M. Viquesney, Sculptor"
  • "The Spirit of the American Doughboy"
    • The Sheet Bronze Doughboys
    • The Stone Doughboys
    • The Cast Zinc Doughboys
    • Walter Rylander Copies
    • Modern Replicas
  • Currently Known Viquesney Doughboy Locations
    • Alabama >
      • Anniston, Alabama
      • Bessemer, Alabama
      • Birmingham, Alabama
    • Arizona >
      • Kingman, Arizona
    • Arkansas >
      • Fort Smith, Arkansas
      • Helena, Arkansas
    • Colorado >
      • Colorado Springs, Colorado
    • Connecticut >
      • Bethel, Connecticut
      • North Canaan, Connecticut
    • Florida >
      • Clearwater, Florida
      • Palatka, Florida
      • Sarasota, Florida (1998 Copy)
    • Georgia >
      • Americus, Georgia
      • Griffin, Georgia
      • Madison, Georgia
      • Nashville, Georgia
      • Summerville, Georgia >
        • *Trion, Georgia
      • Waycross, Georgia
    • Idaho >
      • Payette, Idaho
    • Illinois >
      • Alton, Illinois
      • *Chicago (Lincoln Park), Illinois
      • Chicago (Soldier Field), Illinois
      • Columbia, Illinois
      • Herrin, Illinois
      • Naperville, Illinois
    • Indiana >
      • Attica, Indiana
      • Evansville, Indiana
      • Fort Wayne, Indiana
      • Greencastle, Indiana
      • Hartford City, Indiana
      • Hobart, Indiana
      • Muncie, Indiana
      • New Castle, Indiana
      • Peru, Indiana
      • Spencer, Indiana
      • Winchester, Indiana
    • Iowa >
      • Mason City, Iowa
      • Mechanicsville, Iowa
    • Kansas >
      • Axtell, Kansas
      • Oakley, Kansas
      • Parsons, Kansas
    • Kentucky >
      • Grayson, Kentucky
      • Harlan, Kentucky
      • Jamestown, Kentucky
      • Liberty, Kentucky
      • Monticello, Kentucky
      • Morehead, Kentucky
      • Pikeville, Kentucky
      • Winchester, Kentucky
    • Maine >
      • Lincoln, Maine
    • Maryland >
      • Crisfield, Maryland
      • Emmitsburg, Maryland
    • Massachusetts >
      • Winchendon, Massachusetts
    • Michigan >
      • Berkley, Michigan
      • St. Joseph, Michigan
    • Minnesota >
      • New Ulm, Minnesota (1995 Bronze Replica)
    • Mississippi >
      • Meridian, Mississippi
    • Missouri >
      • Bolivar, Missouri
      • Lexington, Missouri
      • Lexington, Missouri - Styrofoam Replica
      • Sedalia, Missouri
    • Montana >
      • Columbia Falls, Montana >
        • *Kalispell, Montana
      • Fort Benton, Montana
    • *Nebraska >
      • *Omaha, Nebraska
    • New Jersey >
      • Belmar, New Jersey
      • Dover, New Jersey
      • Fair Haven, New Jersey
      • Frenchtown, New Jersey
      • Matawan, New Jersey
      • Perth Amboy, New Jersey
      • Roselle Park, New Jersey
      • Secaucus, New Jersey
    • New York >
      • Castile, New York
      • Harrison, New York
      • *Vestal, New York
    • North Carolina >
      • Charlotte, North Carolina
      • Nashsville, North Carolina
    • Ohio >
      • Akron, Ohio
      • *Blue Ash (Cincinnati), Ohio
      • Crooksville, Ohio
      • Fostoria, Ohio
      • Gallipolis, Ohio
      • Marion, Ohio
      • Newark, Ohio
      • New Philadelphia, Ohio
      • St. Bernard (Cincinnati), Ohio
      • Swanton, Ohio
      • Warren, Ohio
      • Woodville, Ohio
      • Zanesville, Ohio
    • Oklahoma >
      • Cherokee, Oklahoma
      • Granite, Oklahoma
      • Henryetta, Oklahoma
      • Hobart, Oklahoma
      • Muskogee, Oklahoma
    • Pennsylvania >
      • Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
      • Egypt, Pennsylvania
      • Forest City, Pennsylvania
      • Indiana, Pennsylvania
      • Lancaster, Pennsylvania
      • Meyersdale, Pennsylvania
      • Oil City, Pennsylvania
      • Scottdale, Pennsylvania
      • Scranton, Pennsylvania (2018 Bronze Replica)
      • Scranton, Pennsylvania (Original)
      • Tatamy, Pennsylvania
      • Verona, Pennsylvania
    • South Carolina >
      • Anderson, South Carolina
      • Columbia, South Carolina (2002 Copy)
      • Greenville, South Carolina (2004 Bronze Replica)
      • Greenville, South Carolina (Original)
      • Olympia (Columbia), South Carolina
    • South Dakota >
      • Bullhead, South Dakota
    • Tennessee >
      • Johnson City, Tennessee
    • Texas >
      • Canyon, Texas
      • Crowell, Texas
      • Fort Worth, Texas
      • Groesbeck, Texas
      • Lufkin, Texas
      • New Braunfels, Texas
      • Sinton, Texas
      • Vernon, Texas
      • Wichita Falls, Texas
    • Utah >
      • Beaver, Utah
      • Mount Pleasant, Utah
      • Price, Utah >
        • *Hiawatha, Utah
      • Vernal, Utah
    • Vermont >
      • Enosburg Falls, Vermont
      • St. Albans, Vermont
    • Virginia >
      • Petersburg, Virginia
    • Washington >
      • Aberdeen, Washington
    • West Virginia >
      • Logan, West Virginia
      • Madison, West Virginia
      • Philippi, West Virginia
      • Wheeling, West Virginia
    • Wisconsin >
      • Appleton, Wisconsin (2017 Bronze Replica)
      • Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
      • Janesville, Wisconsin
      • Markesan, Wisconsin
      • Peshtigo, Wisconsin
      • West Bend, Wisconsin
    • Wyoming >
      • Rock Springs, Wyoming
    • Other States
  • Repair, Restoration, and Conservation (Outdoor Monuments)
  • The Miniature Doughboys
    • The "American Doughboy Art Lamp"
    • Miniature Doughboy FAQs
    • Repair, Restoration, and Conservation (Miniatures)
  • Other Works by E. M. Viquesney
    • 1904: The Early Years
    • 1905-1915: Civil War Memorials
    • 1916: Booklet Illustrations
    • 1920: Burial Vault Patent
    • 1921: The Rylander Theatre
    • 1922: The "Imp-O-Luck"
    • 1922: The United States Infantry Association Trophy
    • 1923: The Klan-Lite
    • 1923 (est.) - "GOB" - "The Spirit of the American Sailor"
    • 1925: The Viquesney Block
    • 1926: "The Spirit of the American Navy"
    • 1927: "The Spirit of the Skies"
    • 1928: The Tivoli Theatre
    • 1928: Plaque at Malvern, Pennsylvania
    • 1929: "Mother" (Madonna and Child)
    • 1930: "Zero Hour"
    • 1930: Flanders Cross Memorial
    • 1930s (est.) - Joan of Arc
    • 1930s (est): Service Plaque
    • 1931: Knute Rockne Bust
    • 1934: "The Unveiling"
    • 1935: Viquesney's Version of "Over the Top"
    • 1935 (est.): Memorial to the Women of the Confederacy
    • 1936: "Resting Doughboy"
    • 1936 (est.): Alf Landon Bust
    • 1936, 1937: "The Spirit of America" / "The Spirit of the Flag",
    • 1938: "Lincoln as an Indiana Boy" >
      • Guido Rebechini's Lincoln Lookalike
    • 1939: Soldiers Memorial Pavilion
    • 1940: "Creation"
    • 1942: "The Yanks Again", "Eagle's Watch", and "Remember Pearl Harbor"
    • 1943: "The Spirit of the Fighting Yank" >
      • Chicago, Illinois
      • Bloomington, Indiana
      • Port Huron, Michigan
      • Belmont, North Carolina
      • Oil City, Pennsylvania
    • 1946: "Comrades", Viquesney's Last Piece
    • Career-long Output: Plaques, Grave Markers
  • "And So the Scene Closes"
  • Carrying On: Frederic L. Hollis
  • E. M. Viquesney vs. John Paulding
    • Paulding's Model 2043-A
    • Paulding's Model 2043-B
    • Paulding's Model 2043-C
    • Paulding's Model 2043-D
  • Viquesney Doughboy Lookalikes and Derivatives
    • Greenville, Alabama (Engraved Panel)
    • Montgomery, Alabama
    • Tampa, Florida
    • New Orleans, Louisiana
    • Union City (West Hoboken), New Jersey
    • Aliquippa, Pennsylvania
    • Franklin, Pennsylvania
    • Arcadia, Wisconsin
    • The McNeel Marble Co. Doughboys >
      • Eufaula, Alabama
      • Headland, Alabama
      • Troy, North Carolina
      • Clarksville, Tennessee
      • Texarkana, Texas
    • Eagle Bronze Works, Fiske Iron Works Doughboys
    • Walter A. Sinz Doughboys
    • Other Viquesney-Inspired Lookalikes
  • Viquesney Doughboy Myths
  • Viquesney Document Archive
  • Epilogue
Picture
The Doughboy in 1999,
missing left hand and rifle.
Picture
The Doughboy in 2004, restored.
Photo: Pamela Smith, Clanton Alabama.

AMERICUS, GEORGIA
(where Viquesney created the Doughboy)

N 32° 03.959 / W 084° 13.485

Copyright version 1920, sheet bronze.

Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: 47260012.
Picture
In the southeast part of Rees Park, bordered on the north by Taylor Street, the west by Elm Street and the east by Rees Street.
Picture
The inscription on the plaque reads:

SUMTER COUNTY
AFFECTIONATELY REMEMBERS
HER SONS WHO DIED, AND THOSE
WHO OFFERED THEMSELVES, AS
WILLING SACRIFICES IN THE
CAUSE OF OUR COUNTRY.
1917     WORLD WAR     1918
Picture
Originally dedicated November 11, 1921, at the intersection of Lee and Lamar Streets. Viquesney was present but had no role in the ceremony. The statue was moved to Rees Park in 1947, and now stands about two blocks from Viquesney's residence in 1920, according to Facebook visitor Evan Kützler. It isn't the original Doughboy; that one was placed at Nashville, Georgia in July or August 1921, and it isn't the first to be permanently placed on public display; that one was dedicated on the Furman University campus at Greenville, South Carolina June 7, 1921.

The left hand, rifle and bayonet were replaced in a 1995 project to refurbish Rees Park memorials, but had been dislodged again by the time the left photo above was taken in 1999. They were replaced again by the time the right photo was taken in March 2004.

The statue stood almost directly in the path of the devastating F3 tornado that struck Americus on March 1, 2007. Miraculously, it survived unscathed, while foot-thick trees around it were snapped in half like toothpicks.

The statue is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Picture
Above: The Americus Times-Recorder published Viquesney’s own drawing of an ornate pedestal under the statue shortly before its November 11, 1921 dedication. The printing across the top of the picture reads; “DESIGNER’S DRAWING OF COMPLETED MEMORIAL AT IS [sic] WILL STAND NOV. 11”. However, the photo at right, showing the original dedication, shows the same base that is present today.
Picture
Above: photo of the original unveiling of the Doughboy at Lee and Lamar Streets. Thanks to Alan Anderson and the Sumter Historic Trust, Inc., for the photo. See Mr. Anderson's Viquesney biography and chronology on our Viquesney Archive website. Alan's office is in the same room where Viquesney's miniature Doughboys were first produced, formerly a Ford dealership once owned by Viquesney's friend and business partner Walter Rylander. The building is now headquarters of Habitat for Humanity.
Picture
The July, 1947 move from the intersection of Lee and Lamar Streets.
Photo courtesy of Sumter Historic Trust, Inc., from the collection of Mike Saliba.
E. M. Viquesney came to Americus, GA, in 1905 to work on the large Civil War monuments in the area, first employed by Clark's Monument Works and later Schneider Marble Company. In 1911, he designed the building and vault for the Soldiers and Sailors Monument (completed in 1913) that stands in Wichita, KS, and in 1919, he invented a new type of above-ground burial vault, patented the following year.

But it was in 1920 that Viquesney copyrighted what would become his most famous work, "The Spirit of the American Doughboy". After the first statue was completed and put on temporary display in the lobby of the Rylander Theatre in March of 1921, public interest was great enough so that the following June Viquesney began producing a miniature 12-inch desktop version which became popular, particularly among the veterans who had recently returned home from the World War.

However, possibly in response to a 1922 lawsuit on behalf of rival sculptor John Paulding, Viquesney, who had only just begun his new Doughboy venture, sold the entire company to his business partner, Walter Rylander, the owner of the Rylander Theatre and Ford auto dealership building next door to it. Mr. Rylander subsequently owned the rights to the Doughboy for four years before returning the company to Viquesney in January of 1926. Throughout the time Rylander owned the rights to the Doughboy, he produced some of the desktop miniatures in a back room of his auto dealership building. Rylander had plans to shut down production of the miniatures from factories in the northwest and concentrate their manufacture in Americus, but Viquesney was able to buy back his company before this could happen.
Picture
Links:
waymarking.com
vanishingsouthgeorgia.com
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