State of House of Representatives

For Immediate Release March 27, 2017 CONTACT: Rep. Steve Shurtleff (603) 491-1166

Winant Memorial Construction to Begin in April; Dedication in June

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – Construction is scheduled to begin April 3 for the memorial statue and plaza honoring New Hampshire’s Depression-era Governor John Gilbert Winant. There will be a ground-breaking ceremony on this date, beginning at 9:00am.

Sited on the grounds of the N.H. State Library in Concord, the statue will face the State House, where Winant was the first New Hampshire governor since Colonial times to serve three terms. Dedication of the memorial is scheduled for June 30.

Created by sculptor Brett Grill and awaiting placement in the plaza, the statue depicts Winant standing in a relaxed pose, hand extended in welcoming passers-by to sit beside him on a bronze bench. The plaza floor will extend 11 by 13 feet, landscaped with small trees, a 1920s-era lamppost and a “knee wall,” echoing the wall by the State House, where Winant would often sit during the Depression to offer unemployed men enough money for a meal and a place to spend the night.

Led by Chairman Steve Shurtleff of Penacook, a bipartisan committee of New Hampshire legislators, administrators, historians, and other citizens has been meeting regularly since 2013 to plan for the memorial.

“John Winant was one of the most remarkable and important Americans in the first half of the 20th century,” Shurtleff said in announcing the construction of the memorial. “This effort is the result of many who have dedicated countless hours to its planning and financial support, not the least of whom was our late Commissioner of Cultural Resources Van McLeod, who frankly served as the heart and soul of this effort.” McLeod died last year in Concord at age 70.

Shurtleff, who serves as the Democratic Leader in the State House, added that his colleagues in both houses of the legislature have recently acted to name the building at 19 Pillsbury St. in Concord after McLeod in honor of his decades of service to the art and culture of New Hampshire. The site is the current home of four offices within the Department of Cultural Resources: the Division of Historical Resources, the Council on the Arts, Curatorial Services, and the Division of Film and Digital Media. The department’s acting commissioner, Michael York, pointed out that McLeod was born in the building in 1945 when it housed Concord Hospital.

Shurtleff said that the effort to create the Winant statue and plaza has been the result of donations by hundreds of the state’s citizens, along with others having connections to Winant and his legacy, including , who served as U.S. ambassador to Britain during the planning period, and who, with his wife, Brooke Brown Barzun, contributed $50,000 to help launch the project. No state funds will have been used for the creation of either the statue or the plaza. Among other major contributors have been St. Paul’s School; Dr. John G. Winant Jr., grandson of the governor; Bert R. Whittemore; the Samuel P. Hunt Foundation; Stephen M. Duprey; Concord Coach Lines, the City of Concord, and Swenson Granite Works.

Fundraising continues to support the maintenance of the plaza. Donations beyond that cost will be used to create a Winant Scholarship for the state’s students requiring financial aid to attend the Advanced Studies Program at St. Paul’s School.

A native of City, John G. Winant moved to Concord as a boy to enroll at St. Paul’s School, where he returned to teach history after college. He also served as a pilot during World War I, volunteering for dangerous missions in his single-engine biplane.

Before election as Republican governor in 1924, Winant represented Concord in the N.H. Senate and House of Representatives. After two terms, he was defeated in 1928 but re-gained the corner office in 1932 concurrent with the landslide presidential victory of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was considered a progressive, working with the legislature to organize relief programs, establish a minimum wage for women and children, set aside land for 90 state forests, and create many jobs in building infrastructure. While other New England states debated public relief, Winant’s administration spent $6.5 million in federal and state funds to help residents.

With the establishment of the Social Security system, Roosevelt appointed Winant as the program’s first administrator, the reason that Social Security numbers issued in New Hampshire begin with 000, 001 and 002.

Then, on the eve of America’s entry into World War II, Roosevelt appointed Winant to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. There he worked to gain American support for Britain’s defense and distinguished himself by walking the streets of London, comforting and assisting residents as German bombs fell during the Blitz. His efforts became widely known most recently by the publication of the book Citizens of London by Lynn Olson.

Details of the June 30th dedication will be announced soon.