Evening star., 1925-03-08
Nations John Ericsson Memorial
Soon to Occupy Prominent Place

of the ironclad Monitor. which turned
the naval tide of the Civil War.
They succeeded in getting a $4,000
appropriation from Congress for the
erection of the memorial, and an
authorization to augment this sum by
contributions. Congress passed the
act on August 81. 1915. and the citi-
zens, with S. Adolf Eckberg of New
York as their chairman, proceeded
to swell their funds.
The war interviewed, but after it's
termination they returned with s25,-
600, amassed from nearly 1900
American citizens of Scandinavian.
descent, whose contributions ranged
from 25 cents to $1,000.
The Committee of Fifty was com
posed of many notable men, among
whom were Gov. A. A. Burnquist of
Minnesota, ex-Gov. George A. Carlson
of Colorado, A. o. Eberhart and John
Lind, both exGovernors of Minneso-
ia; DR.. Gustav Andreen, president of
Augustana College, Rock Island, H.;
John Aspegren and John G. Bergquist
of New York, Mayor Samuel A. CARL
son of jamestown, n. Y; John Eric
son, city engineer of Chicago; DR..
w. A. Granville, president of Penn
sylvania College: Henry S. Henschen
of the State Bank of Chicago: Gustav
n. Swan, Swedish vice consul; Prof.
David Nyvall, president of North
Park College, Chicago, and DIR. Henry
Goddard Leach of New York.
THE privilege of selecting the sculp-
tor and the site was accorded
to them by Congress, provided these
were approved by the Commission of
Fine Arts.
Both of these considerations re-
quired time for settlement. Desirous
of a complete spiritual harmony in
the project, the citizens committee
was anxious to procure a sculptor of
Scandinavian descent A contest was
opened, but it was not successful. 1t
was followed by another. an open
competition. in which James Earle
Fraser of New York, after two and
one half hours of deliberation/ by the
jury. was awarded the contract.
A study of Mr.. Fraser's statue in
dicates that nothing was lost by the
choice of an American for this work.
For no Scandinavian could have
brought out the spirit of his people,
as exemplified by John Ericsson, bet
ter than the American sculptor.
description of the monument fol-
lows in his own words:
Naturally the monument was nee
essarily related to the Lincoln Me-
mortal in the sense of design. The
monument proper was composed from
the assumption that an inventors
greatness comes through a compel
ling combination of mental attributes.
In the case of Ericsson, vision, ad-
venture and labor were used as SYM
bols of his mentality. The figure of
Vision is that of an inspired woman.
Adventure is the Viking. Labor is 1
represented by the iron molder. All
the ornament connected with the
monument is Scandinavian. The
group is placed on a pavement COM
posed from the mariners compass, to
be made of colored granite. The fig
ure of Ericsson is in the foreground
and is smaller than the symbolistic
figures have been placed against the
Morse Tree of Life, "Ygdrasil.'
This compact, yet simple, composition,
will necessarily be large-35 feet In
height. as the circle to be filled is $50
feet across. 1t will be done in one
colored granite, because" says Mr..
Fraser, sT find that other stones and
marble deteriorate so quickly in our cli-
mate that the life Of such monument
is little over 100 years, whereas the
granite should be fresh and solid for
thousands of years.
Mr.. Fraser. it may be stated here, has
executed many noble works, among
which are the Hamilton Statue on the
south facade of the Treasury Building.
the Roosevelt bust, the equestrian statue.
END of the Trail /; the John Hay monu-
ment at Cleveland, Ohio; a victory fig
ure in Montreal, Canada a soldiers
statue in Winnepeg. Canada, and Bishop
Potter in the Cathedral Of st. John the
Divine.
The second consideration, that of the
location, delayed construction for an
other year. The citizens committee
wanted one site, the Fine Arts Commits
sion another. Finally the southwestern
corner of the Mall, where the Potomac
River driveway turns into the Lincoln
Memorial circle. was selected.
Was this judicious choice? Does the
Lincoln Memorial resent the intrusion of
a neighbor on it's solitude and majesty?
A peep back into history will
convince us that the monuments of
Lincoln and Ericsson should commune
Both were men who forged ahead by
their own diligence. Both were the VIC
Tins Of hostility and persecution. Both