Evening star., 1951-09-20
Golden Horses
To Be Dedicated
By Truman
ltoly,s Prime Minister
To Attend Ceremony
At Memorial Bridge

~ NlCHtOtIuI OIIUSS
The golden horses of Memorial
Bridge. their gleam undulled by q
raging esthetic controversy, will be
dedicated Wednesday by President
Truman.
Cast in Italy as gift of friend
ship from the people of Italy, the
statues will be presented formally
to the people of the United States
by italian Prime Minister Alcide
De Gasperi.
The dedicatory ceremonies,
which start at 1890 pm, will
close a gap of more than 20 years
since the Commission of Fine Arts
approved models OF the statues in
1929 and recommended that they
be mounted on the eastern ap-
proaches to the bridge and the
Rock Creek and Potomac Park
way.
Coated With Gold.
After italian artisans cast the
statues in bronze and coated them
with more than 100 pounds of
gold their appearance on the
bridge pedestals evoked a howl of
protest. Critics led by DR.. Cloyd
H. Marvin, president of George
Washington University, declared
their setting within the shadow
of the stately Lincoln Memorial
was incongrous and urged that
they be moved elsewhere.
But the critics got no where.
Secretary Of Interior Chapman,
to whose National Parks Office
the statues are, entrusted. said he
hoped the people of Washington
would turn out in great numbers
for the dedication as an express
sion of their appreciation of the
gift from the italian people and
to show the good will that exists
between the two countries.
Secretary Acheson will introduce
the Italian Prime Minister.
Sculptored by FriedIander.
The groups representing ''Valor"
and Sacrifice" sculptored by Leo
Friedlander, are mounted now at
the bridge entrance. The other
two, Music and Harvest" and
Literature and Aspiration, by
James Earle Fraser, stand at the
parkway entrance.
After the speaking, the statues
at the bridge will be unveiled by
Mr.. Freidlander. who. like Mr..
Fraser, has waited patiently for
the event for more than two dec
AIDES. Mrs. Fraser will represent
her husband at the unveiline of
his group.
During an opening concert by
the United States Army Band and
the United States Naval Academy
Band. featuring music by the Ital-
ian composer, Giuseppe Verdi, it is
expected the Prime Minister and
the official Italian party will ar
rive at the grandstand. President
Truman will make his appearance
at the same time.
The Most Rev. Patrick A.
OBoyle. Archbishop of Washing
ton, will pronounce the invocation.
after which Mr.. Chapman will
make an address of welcome.
Ezio PIMA to Sing.
EZio PIMA. Italian born star of
opera, stage and screen. will sing
an aria entitled III Lacerato Spir-
lite" from the opera Simon Boo
canegra,' by Verdi. Mr.. Acheson
then will introduce Prime Minister
De Gasperi, who is no stranger to
Washington. having received an
honorary degree of doctor of laws
from Georgetown University on
visit here before the war.
After the ceremony, Mr.. Pima
will sing the National Anthem of
the Republic of Italy and the Ma
tional Anthem of the United
States. The program will con-
clude at 1:30 pm. with a benedic-
tion pronounced by the Rt. Rev.
Frederick D. Goodwin, Bishop of
Richmond, Va.
After years of failure by Con-
gress to provide additional funds
to defray the increased cost of
casting the statues in bronze, after
the original granite design had
been abandoned, Harry T. .Thomp-
son, acting superintendent of Ma
tional Capital Parks, initiated the
movement to have the work finally
completed. There being no foun-
dries of supf1cient size in the
United States, the Italian govern
mont 0HoraH IN oo,,o &l1,.. zz.a