The Spirit of the American Doughboy, (sculpture).

The Spirit of the American Doughboy, (sculpture).

Viquesney, E. M., 1876-1946, sculptor.

Flour City Ornamental Ironworks, founder.

The Spirit of the American Doughboy, (sculpture).

1919. Dedicated May 30, 1920. Copyrighted 1920 and 1934. Relocated 1975. Relocated 1980.

Sculpture: bronze.

Sculpture: approx. 87 x 25 x 69 in.; Base: approx. 60.5 x 55 x 64 in.

(Bronze base, proper left side, lower right:) FLOUR CITY ORN. IRON CO., MPLS., MINN. (Base, front plaque:) IN MEMORY OF/OUR BOYS/OF THE SIXTH,/ELEVENTH AND/TWELFTH WARDS/WHO SERVED/IN THE /GREAT WAR/OF THE NATIONS/1914-1918 (Base, front plaque, at the bottom in small letters:) F. C. ORN. IRON CO./MINNEAPOLIS (Base, rear plaque lists the names of 297 who died.) (Base, right side plaque lists the names of 398 men who died. (Base, left side plaque lists the names of 394 men who died.)

Figure of a World War I infantryman advancing through the battlefield studded with a stump and barbed wire. He holds a grenade in his upraised proper right hand and a rifle and bayonet in his proper left hand. He is dressed in his World War I military uniform and tin hat.

History -- United States -- World War I

Figure male -- Full length

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

Object -- Weapon -- Gun

Object -- Weapon -- Grenade

Outdoor Sculpture -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Administered by City of Philadelphia, Department of Recreation, Municipal Services Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107

Located Madison Triangle, 2nd & Spring Garden Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Formerly located Median of Spring Garden Street west of 17th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1975-1980.

Formerly located Union Square, northeast corner of 5th & Buttonwood Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1920-1975.

The sculpture was a gift of the Fifth District War Memorial Association. It was originally intended for Franklin Square, but the location was denied by the Art Jury. It was installed in Union Square on the northeast corner of 5th and Buttonwood Streets, and dedicated on May 30, 1920. In 1975, when the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority took over the park, the sculpture was moved to the median of Spring Garden Street west of 17th Street at the request of the Green Street Society. In 1980 when the median was bulldozed to widen 5th Street, the sculpture was moved to its present location in the Northern Liberties neighborhood where it was originally located in 1920. The sculpture was purchased with the nickels and dimes of the citizens of the Northern Liberties neighborhood and the names on the base plaques belong to those who lived in this neighborhood.

A circular bronze plaque set in the concrete pavement in front of the sculpture has a five-pointed star and a wreath with a circular medallion in the center inscribed with: WORLD WAR/U S/1917-1918. IAS files contain articles from the Philadelphia Inquirer, May 9, 1975 and May 31, 1920; Philadelphia Daily News, May 23, 1980; and Philadelphia Bulletin May 24, 1980, July 21, 1980, and Oct. 21, 1980.

Wesley, T. Perry, 1991.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia survey, 1993.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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