PS11
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NYC - Queens - Woodside: Doughboy Plaza - Woodside Dougboy Statue
Made by wallyg
The Woodside Doughboy, alternately known as Lest We Forget or the Returning Soldier,, in , commemorates those from this community in Queens who served in World War I. The sculpture was created by Burt W. Johnson (1890-1927), and was dedicated in 1923. The derivation of the term doughboy remains in question. It was first used by the British in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to describe soldiers and sailors. In the United States, the nickname was coined during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), and was widely popularized during World War I (1914-1918) to refer to infantrymen. After the war, in which Americans saw combat in 1917-18, numerous communities commissioned doughboy statues to honor the local war heroes. The Woodside Doughboy is one of nine such statues erected in New York City's parks. The monument was commissioned by the Woodside Community Council at a cost of $5,000. Its granite pedestal was designed by C. N. Kent. The sculptor Burt Johnson was born in Flint, Ohio, and lived for a time in Flushing, Queens. Johnson studied with sculptor James Earle Fraser and Louis Saint-Gaudens, brother of the renowned artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Johnson received many public commissions from coast to coast, and he also created the doughboy statue for the Flanders Field Memorial (1929) in Manhattan's Dewitt Clinton Park. Unlike more active war memorial figures, Johnson's depiction of the doughboy portrays a somber World War I soldier, with a downcast bandaged head, holding his helmet in front and his gun to the side. The sculptor's health was failing as the piece was being completed, and he supervised the final work from his wheelchair. Woodside residents remember that even before the statue was erected local soldiers gathered here at the mustering ground before departing to fight in World War I. Ten men who left from this site did not return as they made the supreme sacrifice and gave their lives for their nation. The statue was dedicated on Memorial Day in 1923. The ceremony included music by St. Mary's Military Band, a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by the children of P.S. 11, the doughboy's unveiling by Gold Star Relatives, and blessings by ministers from St. Paul's and St. Sebastian's Churches. In 1928, the American Federation of Arts selected the Woodside Doughboy as the best war memorial of its kind. In 1990, the Woodside Doughboy benefited from an extensive conservation, and in 1995 and 1998 the site was upgraded with new plantings and fencing. The improved statue and park remain a neighborhood focal point, where, since the dedication in 1923, community members have gathered at the monument each Memorial Day for patriotic ceremonies.
NYC - Queens - Woodside: Doughboy Plaza
Made by wallyg
Doughboy Park is located at the intersection of Woodside and Skillman Avenues in Queens. Although the park received its name by local law in 1971, its has stood on the site since 1923. During the first World War British soldiers referred to their American counterparts as doughboys because of the large round buttons on the American uniforms; these buttons reminded the British soldiers of the cakes or biscuits known as doughboys. Statues of American infantry soldiers are similarly called doughboys, and there are bronze doughboys in each of the five boroughs of New York City. This City of New York acquired this land in 1893 as a play area for P.S. 11. The land was eventually deemed too steep and overgrown for children's use; it was assigned to Parks in 1957. The site was transformed from a children's play area to a sitting area for adults, in keeping with the dignity of the statue. Improvements included the addition of drinking fountains, macadam walks, shade trees, and maintenance facilities. Reconstruction of the park in 1988 provided a new path in the western portion of the park, and additional work in 1995 added new plantings. A 1998 requirements contract replaced fencing in the park. In 1990 the beloved Woodside Doughboy received an extensive conservation treatment which included cleaning, repainting, and treating with a protective wax coating.
Nearest places of interest:
| John Daniels Park Sunnyside Sign Big Six Towers Maspeth, NY | Doughboy Park Woodside, NY 52nd Street Park HERE |
