Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument (Indianapolis)
The Indiana State Soldiers and Sailors Monument is a tall neoclassical monument built on Monument Circle, a circular, brick-paved street that intersects Meridian and Market streets in the center of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. In the years since its public dedication on May 15, 1902, the monument has become an iconic symbol of Indianapolis, the state capital of Indiana. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 13, 1973, and was included in an expansion of the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza National Historic Landmark District in December 2016. It is located in the Washington Street-Monument Circle Historic District. It is also the largest outdoor memorial and the largest of its kind in Indiana.
It was designed by German architect Bruno Schmitz and built over a thirteen-year period, between 1888 and 1901. The monument's original purpose was to honor Hoosiers who were veterans of the American Civil War; however, it is also a tribute to Indiana's soldiers who served during the American Revolutionary War, territorial conflicts that partially led to the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, and the Spanish–American War. The monument is the first in the United States to be dedicated to the common soldier.
The obelisk-shaped monument is built of oolitic limestone from Owen County, Indiana. It rests on a raised foundation surrounded by pools and fountains. Broad stone steps on its north and south sides lead to two terraces at its base. Stone tablets above the bronze entrance doors on the obelisk's north and south sides bear inscriptions commemorating Indiana's soldiers. An inscription above the tablets reads: "To Indiana's Silent Victors." An observation deck is accessible by stairs or elevator from the interior. Its commemorative statuary and fountains are made primarily of oolitic limestone and bronze. At the time of the monument's dedication in 1902, its cost was $598,318. It has been estimated that construction of a similar structure in 2014 would exceed $500 million.
The memorial includes several notable outdoor sculptures, including Rudolf Schwarz's two massive limestone groupings of War and Peace, two smaller scenes named The Dying Soldier and The Return Home, and four military figures at its base. Three astragals, one by Nikolaus Geiger and two others by George T. Brewster, surround the stone obelisk. Additional sculptures include John H. Mahoney's bronze statues of George Rogers Clark, William Henry Harrison, and James Whitcomb, and Franklin Simmons's bronze statue of Oliver P. Morton. Brewster's bronze statue of Victory crowns the obelisk. The Indianapolis monument is approximately shorter than New York City's Statue of Liberty, and at the time of completion, was the second-tallest monument in the United States, behind the Washington Monument.
History
Originally the plot of land at the center of Indianapolis was used as a public gathering place, the site of the Indiana governor's residence, and a city park. Construction on the monument began in 1888 and was dedicated in 1902.Governor's Circle and Circle Park
The original plan of Indianapolis, founded in 1821, and platted by Alexander Ralston, included a circular, wide street that surrounded a circular, plot of land as the focal point at the center of town. The site was originally called the Governor's Circle because of its designation as the future site of the Indiana governor's residence. The Circle was a hub of community life from the town's beginning in 1821. It was used as a gathering place for religious services before the town's churches were built. A weekly market was held on the site from 1822 to 1824.A governor's residence was built on the Circle in 1827. Due to the mansion's public location and poor construction, no governor ever lived there; however, it was used as offices for Indiana's Supreme Court justices, the Indiana State Library, and the State Bank of Indiana. It was also a site for civic events and celebrations such as inaugural balls for new governors, fundraising events for charity, military receptions, Fourth of July celebrations, and community meetings. By 1851 the building had deteriorated. It was torn down in 1857, and the site became a vacant lot.
As Indianapolis grew and developed during and after the Civil War, the area became a popular meeting place for mass gatherings, public rallies, and celebrations of wartime victories. In 1867 the site was cleaned up, fenced, and designated as the city's Circle Park. The park remained vacant until 1884, when a bronze statue of Oliver P. Morton, Indiana's Civil War-era governor, was erected at its center. Franklin Simmons, an American sculptor living in Rome, Italy, and a noted sculptor of other Civil War memorial statues, created the statue of Morton, which was surrounded by an iron fence. Dedication ceremonies took place on June 15, 1884, with Indiana governor Conrad Baker presiding. Senator Benjamin Harrison and Colonel William Dudley delivered speeches during the event.
Monument proposals
Many times after the Civil War suggestions were made to build a monument honoring Indiana's Civil War veterans. The first proposal was made on April 1, 1862, when an anonymous editorial in the Indianapolis Daily Journal suggested a monument be erected in Circle Park; however, no action was taken. Talk of a monument continued in the years following the war. In 1867 governor Morton suggested a monument be erected on the highest point in Crown Hill Cemetery, but nothing came of it. In 1872 William H. English addressed a group of Civil War veterans and expressed his support for a monument at Crown Hill, but a bill introduced in the state legislature failed to pass. Other potential sites for the monument included University Park, Military Park, and the corner of Washington and Illinois streets in the city's downtown business district, along the National Road.No progress was made on the monument until August 1875, when George J. Langsdale, a newspaper editor of the Greencastle Banner, presented a plan for a memorial during the first reunion of Civil War veterans, which was held in Indianapolis. Langsdale's idea was favorably received and a monument association was formed. By 1887 the Indiana Department of the Grand Army of the Republic had raised $23,380, before relinquishing responsibility for the monument to the State of Indiana.
Further action was taken on March 3, 1887, when the Indiana General Assembly passed a bill to form a monument commission, whose original members included Samuel B. Voyles, D. C. McCollum, Daniel M. Ransdell, George J. Johnson, James, G. Gookins, and Langsdale, who was elected the committee's president at its first meeting on June 28, 1887. Randsell, who resigned two years later, was replaced by Thomas W. Bennett, and William H. English replaced Bennett. Other commissioners included General Mahlon D. Manson, and Thomas A. Morris. The bill also authorized the monument to be built in Indianapolis and appropriated $200,000 for the project. Some state legislators disagreed over use of the Circle as the monument's site; however, the legislative act that authorized it specifically identified the intended site as Circle Park.
Design and construction
To select a design for the new monument, the commission established an international contest and solicited ten architects to submit sketches. Notices were also placed in leading newspapers in the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, and Italy, to encourage others to submit their ideas. The contest deadline was set for January 12, 1888, and seventy designs were submitted. The selection committee, who initially did not know the identity of the designers, chose two entries for further consideration. Bruno Schmitz, an architect from Berlin, Prussia, who submitted a design called Symbol of Indiana was the commissioners' unanimous choice as the winner. Schmitz, an architect knowledgeable in the field of monument design, was also a friend and fellow artist of the commission's secretary, James F. Gookins, when the two lived in Munich, Germany. Percy Stone, of London, England, received $500 for his second-prize entry.Several individuals and companies were involved in the monument's construction. Schmitz received his commission as the project's supervising architect in February 1888. His contract for the project specified his commission as five percent of the monument's total cost. Schmitz arrived in Indianapolis from Germany in January 1889. Frederick Bauman, of Chicago, was appointed the project's deputy architect and Schmitz's representative. Enos Hege, of Indianapolis, received the contract to erect the monument's foundation, which was completed in 1888, and Thomas McIntosh, of Greencastle, Indiana, and an expert in stonework, became the project's superintendent. The Terre Haute Stone Works Company was awarded the contract to construct the monument's terraces, approaches, and superstructure. The project's stone and bronze sculptors included Rudolph Schwarz, Nikolaus Geiger, George Brewster, and John Mahoney. Although ambiguous language in the authorizing bill created some confusion over the type of memorial to be erected, either a single monument or a combination of monument and memorial hall, the controversy was cleared up in 1893, six years after the bill's initial passage, when its confusing statement was repealed. In the meantime, construction continued using Schmitz's design.
The cornerstone was laid on August 22, 1889. Inside, a copper box contained, among other items, an official list of all Indiana soldiers who had served in the Civil War, newspapers, copies of Indiana's two constitutions, a thirty-eight-star American flag, a photograph of Schmitz, the ceremony's program, and other related paraphernalia from the Grand Army of the Republic, the Women's Relief Corps, the Sons of the Republic, and other groups. Ceremonies held on the northeast corner of the monument included a speech by President Benjamin Harrison, an artillery salute, and a parade. Members of Harrison's cabinet, Indiana's governor Alvin P. Hovey, and other state officials were present. The Department Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic was master of ceremonies. It was the first monument in the United States to be dedicated to the common soldier.
Public donations and the Indiana General Assembly's initial appropriations were not sufficient to fund the complete project. More funds were required. The state legislature appropriated an additional $160,000, and in 1891, raised over $123,000 with an additional property tax. Construction on the monument, which began in 1888, took thirteen years to complete. The obelisk was completed in 1892, the main elements by 1894, and its final installations in 1901. In 1893 the circle was renamed Monument Place. The cost to complete the monument was $598,318. An estimate to erect a similar structure in 2014 suggests it would exceed $500 million.