Monument Square, Lone Fir

Our next adventure takes us back to SE Portland's Lone Fir Cemetery, but we aren't looking at headstones this time. Instead we're taking a look at an obscure war memorial located in the middle of the cemetery. This was built circa 1903 as a Civil War memorial, organized by the Grand Army of the Republic, the main war veterans' organization. As this was not long after the Spanish-American War, the memorial also includes nods to the other conflicts, including, unusually, the Indian Wars. (Although given the date, it was probably only intended to honor the white, not the Indian, side of the conflict.)

Planning for the memorial began in 1901-1902, and it was dedicated on Memorial Day 1903. It wasn't actually complete at dedication, though, as the statue on top had yet to arrive. So a second grand ceremony was held in October for the unveiling of the statue. That article refers to the surrounding area as "Monument Square", and mentions that it was being dedicated or deeded as a public park. I'm not sure what that means, exactly, since PortlandMaps shows the area as legally part of the cemetery, not a separate parcel. The name "Monument Square" seems to have fallen out of use over the next decade, and doesn't occur in the Oregonian after 1916. But as far as I know that's still the legal, official name for the place, so that's what I'm going with as a post title.

Metro's 2008 "Existing Conditions & Recommendations Report" for the cemetery calls the area "War Memorial Park", and describes it:

The cemetery’s 1944 amended plat map designates the area around the Soldiers Memorial as a public park. The existing area of this delineated park contains the classic single monolith Soldier’s Memorial, three donor benches, and a later addition concrete slab that is currently being used for funeral services. The Soldier’s Memorial is made of granite with a bronze statue and bronze plaques. It is in stable condition, although the soil appears to have eroded away at the base, exposing some of the foundation in places.

The memorial was designed by local architect Delos D. Neer, who's best known for a number of historic county courthouses around the state, including the landmark Benton County Courthouse in Corvallis.

Details are sketchy about the statue on top. An article about the design simply mentions that it was bought from an unnamed eastern firm, which created a special model to the city's specifications. So there may or may not be other identical or similar copies out there, and it's hard to be sure because we don't know the firm or artist.

I had previously been under the impression this was a Spanish-American War memorial, and I think I've said something to that effect in a couple of earlier posts, I think in the context of marveling at how many Spanish-American War memorials Portland ended up with, like the Soldier Monument in Lownsdale Square, and the Battleship Oregon memorial in Waterfront Park. So I may have to go back and fix those older posts now. I also asserted once that the pair of Ft. Sumter cannons in Lownsdale Square was the only Civil War memorial in town, and obviously that isn't quite true either.

Miscellaneous items concerning the memorial from around the net:

• brief mention in Randol B. Fletcher's Hidden History of Civil War Oregon
• Waymarking page, with GPS coordinates in case you don't want to wander aimlessly around a cemetery looking for the monument.
• A post at Destinations Northwest
• A post at Blogging a Dead Horse

Colonel Summers Park expedition

View Larger Map

A photoset from Portland's Colonel Summers Park & Community Garden, at SE 17th & Taylor. I've gotten into the habit of saying I don't bother with neighborhood parks like this, where most of the park is devoted to ball fields and play equipment. But the community garden is fairly photogenic, and there's a little history to pass along, so I'm going to make yet another exception, like I did for Irving and Sewallcrest Parks earlier. Before we get to the history bit, some info about the park's standard-issue features, since those are what almost all visitors who aren't me come here for. The park includes basketball and tennis courts, a baseball diamond, and a covered picnic area. It formerly offered a wading pool for kids, but like the ones in other parks around town it was permanently closed in 2010 due to state health regulations. There's a neighborhood campaign to build a splash pad to replace the old pool.

Because this is the middle of a very hip part of town, it also attracts things like adult dodgeball, bike polo, and assorted as-seen-in-Portlandia activities. Years ago, coworkers and I used to come here on Friday afternoons and hit a volleyball around, which is one sorta-sport that hipsters still haven't discovered somehow. It was fun, but you had to watch out because dog owners weren't always that meticulous about cleaning up after their pets, and there was always a chance of finding a little grenade lurking in the grass if you weren't careful. Ah, memories.

As this is inner SE Portland, the park has also hosted Food Not Bombs and Occupy Portland events in recent years.

The southwest corner of the park contains a small memorial to the park's namesake, Col. Owen Summers. He was widely regarded as the "Father of the Oregon National Guard" (even our National Guard says so), and he was best known for his service with the 2nd Oregon Volunteers in the Spanish-American War. The same obscure conflict memorialized by two memorials in Lownsdale Square, another in Waterfront Park, yet another in Lone Fir Cemetery (though it's primarily a Civil War memorial), and probably others elsewhere. That war was an ugly episode in our national history, and it's kind of embarrassing that Portland built monuments to it all over town.

Summers himself was said to be a decent guy, and the Oregon volunteers came home before the guerrilla war in the Philippines got going in earnest. Still, I'd be perfectly happy with renaming the place back to "Belmont Park", which is what it was called until renamed in 1938 in a fit of patriotic fervor, for the war's 40th anniversary. The park was rededicated on September 13th, 1938, as part of the city's war anniversary festivities. The Battleship Oregon opened at its "permanent" waterfront home the same day. Although that turned out to be far from permanent, thanks in large part to the day's top news story, the infamous Munich Agreement that enabled Nazi Germany to annex the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. The juxtaposition of the two stories is kind of mind-boggling. In any case, page 7 of the paper was a full page of Spanish War festivities photos, including one showing the dedication of the Summers memorial plaque. A page 5 story covered the dedication in more detail. As far as I can determine, Summers had no connection to this particular spot, and it's not clear why the city selected this park to name after him rather than one of the others around town.

I can't tell you a lot about the memorial plaque itself. The inscription says it was created by someone named Daniel Powell, but I can't find much in the way of info about him. The Smithsonian art inventory mentions one work by someone named Daniel Powell, located at Bok Gardens in Lake Wales, FL, co-credited with 15 other artists. I don't know if it's him, but the dates are potentially correct. A history page for the Oregon Society of Artists lists him as the organization's president from 1942-44, and describes him as "High school teacher. Sculptor, sketch artist." An April 14th, 1945 Oregonian article on the Society's Spring Art Show mentions him:

This year the society, in addition to showing paintings, drawings, and small sculptures, will exhibit two sculptures of heroic size, one of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and one of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, completed in the Sabin high school art classes under the direction of Daniel Powell, society member who is art instructor at that school.

I haven't found any record of what happened to these student-built heroic sculptures after the art show. "Sabin High School" was a short-lived boys' alternative high school program based at Sabin Elementary School, 1939-1947, which was formerly part of Thomas A. Edison High School.

Fountain for Company H

Today's adventure takes us back to downtown Portland's Lownsdale Square again, this time to an ornate century-old drinking fountain on the 4th Avenue side of the park, which the city describes as:

Another memorial dedicated to the men killed in service in the Philippines, Fountain for Company H, was installed in 1914. It was donated by the mothers, sisters, and wives of the men in Company H of the Second Oregon Volunteers. John H. Beaver, an architectural draftsman, won the honor of designing the limestone fountain and a $50 prize in a citywide contest.

This is yet another of the city's numerous Spanish-American War memorials, which include the Soldiers Monument at the center of Lownsdale Square, the Battleship Oregon Memorial in Waterfront Park, and a monument in Lone Fir Cemetery. (The latter is primarily a Civil War memorial, but includes a nod to various other conflicts up to 1903 when it was built, including the Indian Wars.) I've heard that yet another monument exists somewhere in the West Hills near the VA Hospital, but I don't know a lot about that one.

The fountain was unveiled on September 2nd, 1914. Much of the Oregonian article about the dedication is the text a poem read at the dedication, an earnest prayer for peace. It's worth noting that World War I had begun just a month earlier.

Soldiers Monument, Lownsdale Square

A photoset of the 1906 Soldiers Monument in Lownsdale Square, one of the city's surprising number of Spanish-American War memorials. A post over at Dave Knows PDX gives a little history of the monument.

The memorial was designed by the famous San Francisco sculptor Douglas Tilden (1860-1935). Tilden was deaf since the age of 4 and had a very successful career in what's thought of today as a not very accommodating era. Tilden was also rumored to have been gay, which (true or not) is bound to infuriate the sort of person who usually loves war and war memorials, even in this enlightened post-DADT era. These would likely be the same people who freaked out when someone used a little temporary chalk on and around the monument's base during the Occupy Portland protests last year, which you'll see in a few photos in this set. They shrieked on and on about how the memorial had been permanently defiled or destroyed or something, when in reality no damage, either permanent or temporary, was actually done to it. I imagine their heads would explode if they heard the rumors about the sculptor. Maybe they'd sue, or invite Fred Phelps to come protest the statue, or something.

More about Tilden and his Bay Area works at Found SF and SF City Guides.

A 1951 Oregonian article "Portland's Outdoor Statues" (July 8th, 1951) lists it among the city's "important" public art pieces. The others included the Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt statues on the Park Blocks, and the Thompson Elk between Lownsdale and Chapman Squares, as well as the Thomas Jefferson statue at Jefferson High School, and a religious statue out at the Grotto. While I'm linking to old blog posts, I should point out that two previous subjects are right at the Soldiers Monument: The Ft. Sumter Cannons, and Benchmark Zero. So if you go to Lownsdale Square to look at the statue, you might as well look down and see those as well.

Battleship Oregon Memorial

View Larger Map

Today's episode of Unfashionable History takes us to Waterfront Park and the Battleship Oregon Memorial, which is all that remains of the old USS Oregon. As I've said before, I'm not a big fan of war, or of grandiose war memorials for that matter. What I find kind of fascinating is that people went to a great deal of trouble, decades ago, to put this in place. They felt this was deeply important and needed to be preserved for future generations -- and now, well, I'm not going to say nobody cares about the Spanish-American War, but I wouldn't be too far from the truth if I said so. Portland is full of grandiose memorials to this brief and ugly little war of imperial expansion. I've never figured out quite what that was all about.

This post has lingered in my Drafts folder for months, because (like most people) I just can't muster a lot of enthusiasm about the thing, as peculiar as it is. There's probably more research I could do beyond what I've got here, but if I wait until I feel like doing that, this post may never go live at all, period. Which would be a shame, since I think some of the photos turned out ok, at least.

Various bits of info about the ship. Fortunately, in the event that you're curious, there are people who are vastly more fascinated with naval history than I am. Actually there was a point where I was, believe it or not, but I got over it when I was about 12 or so. Seriously.

• Oregon Historical Quarterly: "A Chronicle of the Battleship Oregon"
• NavSource Online: BB-3 USS OREGON 1920 - 1956
  
• NYT, March 20, 1922: "TO KEEP THE OREGON AS A MEMORIAL; But Teeth of Famous Bulldog of the Navy Will All Be Drawn."
• A mention on the "Bits & Pieces" page at Pre-Dreadnought Preservation,
• Homeport: "Battleship USS Oregon, BB-3"

A couple of links about the war. Which I hope you'll agree was an ugly, and needless, little episode, one that led to additional ugly episodes in Panama and the Philippines, and a troubled relationship with Cuba that lingers to the present day.

Library of Congress: "The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War"

The Spanish American War Centennial Website

"Remember the Maine" at a larger site about "The Age of Imperialism".

Not too many photos of the memorial around the 'tubes, that I've noticed. Here are a couple I ran across:

• USA Travel Pal
• salem-stayton.com

A couple of photos of the long-lost art deco Teddy Roosevelt memorial on the waterfront, with the Oregon in the background:

• The Oregonian, Sept. 30, 1941
• Also appears here on Portland Public Art

One little tangent to mention: It turns out there've been a variety of other Navy ships named after places in Oregon. In particular, at one time there was a USS Willamette, which -- ironically, given our local eco-pious inclinations -- was an oiler, basically a floating gas station for other ships. I mention this because it had an unfortunate tendency to collide with other ships, earning it the nickname "USS WIll-Ram-It". Which you have to admit is kind of funny, even if you don't normally care about this sort of thing.

Oh, and during the Civil War there was a CSS Oregon, a small Confederate blockade runner based out of New Orleans -- which is weird because Oregon was a Union state. There's probably a mildly fascinating story behind that, if I was interested enough to go look for it.

This shield thingy you can kind of see in the above photo was apparently part of the ship as well. More detail on that:

One surprising thing about the memorial is the number of plaques and signs commemorating various aspects of the ship's career, and some that don't obviously relate to the ship at all.

Teddy Roosevelt, South Park Blocks

View Larger Map

A few photos of the Teddy Roosevelt statue in the South Park Blocks between SW Madison & Jefferson, out in front of the Portland Art Museum. Recently I've sort of embarked on a mini-project to cover interesting statues, monuments, and assorted artworks around town. This is partly out of idle curiosity, and partly out of necessity, since I need to find stuff that photographs well in the winter. There's a third reason that will only make sense once I finish a long-pending post about the pioneer family statue in the Plaza Blocks. I was intending to post that first, but it sort of evolved into a rant and I think I need to dial it back a bit before it goes live. In the meantime, I figured I'd post some of the others I had handy.



The Smithsonian's invaluable Art Inventories Catalog has this to say about it:

Inscription: (East side of sculpture:) Alexander Phimster (sic) Proctor Sc./(copyright symbol) 1922 (West side of base:) Gift to the city of Portland by Dr. Henry Waldo Coe. (North end of base:) THEODORE ROOSEVELT/ROUGH RIDER (Inscribed plaque follows) signed

Description: Figure of Theodore Roosevelt mounted on a horse. He is wearing a cavalry uniform with wide brimmed hat and eyeglasses. There is a sword on his proper left side and a pistol in holster at his proper right hip

Remarks: The sculpture was a gift to Portland from Dr. Henry Waldo Coe (1857-1927), philanthropist, owner of a mental hospital, and friend, admirer, and political cohort of Theordore Roosevelt. The monument cost $40,000. The groundbreaking ceremony was performed by Vice-President Calvin coolidge on August 15, 1922. The sculpture was the subject of a film, "The Making of a Bronze Statue," created by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to document the process of creating a bronze monument. IAS files contain a copy of the dedication program and text of the plaque on the base, as well as articles from the Oregon Journal (Portland, OR), Nov. 11, 1922, pg. 1, 3, and The Sunday Oregonian (Portland, OR), Nov. 12, 1922, pg. 1, 12, 13, which discusses the dedication; the Oregon Journal, Oct. 29, 1964, which discusses rededication by the Daughters of the American Revolution; Encore Magazine of the Arts (Portland, OR edition) 3 (Summer 1979); The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Sept. 27, 1983, pg. B4, which discusses A. J. Buttrey, who modeled for Roosevelt's legs; and The Oregonian (Portland, OR), April 8, 1993, pg. D1, which includes a photo and caption about a cleaning of the sculpture. IAS files also contain excerpts from Alexander Phimister Proctor's autobiography, "Alexander Phimister Proctor: Sculptor in Buckskin," Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971, pg. 182-183; and Eugene E. Snyder's "Portland Potpourri: Art, Fountains & Old Friends," Portland OR: Binford & Mort Publishing, 1991, pg. 98-103.

Maybe it's just the wintry gloom or something, but the more I look at these photos, the more Teddy & horse seem to have an oddly sinister aspect about them. I can't put my finger on it, exactly, but it alarms me. If you didn't know who he was, or what country the statue was in, you might reasonably take him as a minor generalissimo from somewhere in Latin America, remembered primarily for his cruelty and avarice, when he's remembered at all. Which is not, or mostly not, what the real TR was all about. It's just the impression the statue gives off, I guess.





Although now that I think about it, I don't think I have a very good handle on who he actually was, as opposed to all the mythmaking that's been done around him over the years. Consider the fawning inscription on the base of the statue. Apparently this is a famous quote, or saying, or something, about TR, although the inscriptions seems to be a slightly condensed and reworded version of the original, which reads thusly:

"He was found faithful over a few things and he was made ruler over many; he cut his own trail clean and straight and millions followed him toward the light. He was frail; he made himself a tower of strength. He was timid; he made himself a lion of courage. He was a dreamer; he became one of the great doers of all time. Men put their trust in him; found a champion in him; kings stood in awe of him, but children made him their playmate. He broke a nation's slumber with his cry, and it rose up. He touched the eyes of blind men with a flame that gave them vision. Souls became swords through him; swords became servants of God. He was loyal to his country and he exacted loyalty; he loved many lands, but he loved his own best. He was terrible in battle, but tender to the weak; joyous and tireless, being free from self-pity; clean with a cleanness that cleansed the air like a gale. His courtesy knew no wealth, no class; his friendship, no creed or color or race. His courage stood every onslaught of savage beast and ruthless man, of loneliness, of victory, of defeat. His mind was eager, his heart was true, his body and spirit, defiant of obstacles, ready to meet what might come. He fought injustice and tyranny; bore sorrow gallantly; loved all nature, bleak spaces and hardy companions, hazardous adventure and the zest of battle. Wherever he went he carried his own pack; and in the uttermost parts of the earth he kept his conscience for his guide."

It probably doesn't help that the statue (like many local statues of that era) was donated to our fair city by Henry Waldo Coe, and he and TR just happened to be great friends, dating back to the old days in North Dakota. Even if you're the world's greatest TR fan, you still have to admit this is a distressingly cozy arrangement. And something I could easily see happening again here in Portland, I think that's the worst part.



I'd never heard of the sculptor, Alexander Phimister Proctor, before, but there's a lot of stuff on the net about him. Apparently he was quite a big deal back in his day. Seems there's even a A. Phimister Proctor Museum, up around Seattle somewhere. I think the key thing to know about Mr. Proctor is that he was known for specializing in animals. Which I guess is what you want if you've decided you need an equestrian statue.

Oh, and once again we learn that an iconic local statue is not unique after all. It seems that, besides "our" TR, there are two smaller copies of this statue, both located in North Dakota.



More about the TR statue, from across the intertubes:
PortlandBridges,
Waymarking
1922 NYT article on the making of the statue. Aren't the interwebs grand?
Cafe Unknown: "The Roosevelt Mysteries"