To Honor the Soldier Dead The Todd County Monument

Edward Pluth those sentiments with the people of lives. A century later, historian Lisa M. Todd County. For Lee, then, the monu- Budreau acknowledged the efforts of he armistice that ended ment would serve an important public Lee and others like him in the after- T World War I was just one week purpose by helping to shape the pub- math of World War I: “On a personal old when William Edwin Lee of lic’s memory of the war, reminding level the sacrifice of life needed to be Long Prairie, Minnesota, a respected county residents of the cause for fully justified and then mourned and banker and county and state political which the 64 men had sacrificed their remembered in an honorable way.”2 figure, submitted a proposal to the Todd County Board of Commission- ers. Lee was requesting approval to erect, at his own expense, “an endur- ing monument” on the courthouse grounds to be “presented to the people as a lasting tablet” inscribed with the names of the 64 Todd County men who “gave their lives in the great war for the cause of humanity.” The article in the Long Prairie Leader about Lee’s proposal concluded that the memorial “will be a worthy one . . . and a reminder to generations for all time” of those who sacrificed their lives so the “world might be safe for governments that stand for liberty and freedom.”1 William Lee’s proposal to the Todd County board represented an early effort to memorialize the World War I dead. Lee, who had a strong sense of history and a deep affection for his community, clearly wanted to build a public memorial that would have a dual purpose: to honor the county’s war dead and to remember why they had died. He also wished to share

The monument’s south side.

118 MINNESOTA HISTORY of what the monuments actually convey and whether they should be destroyed or relocated to museums or other more appropriate sites. The stark, conceptual design of the Viet- nam Veterans Memorial on the Mall in Washington, DC, generated much contention when it was dedicated in the early 1980s. (A figurative statue was added to the site to appease critics.) The Todd County memorial illustrates a less contentious mani- festation of this dynamic: in the two short years between when the Todd County memorial was conceived (1918) and dedicated (1920), the polit- ical context of the meaning of World War I had already shifted.3

In the Midwest, interest in estab- lishing permanent memorials to honor soldiers and sailors who died in World War I began some months before the November 11, 1918, armi- stice, going back at least to March 1918 when the towns of Virginia, Minnesota, and Atlantic, Iowa, were listed in a stone trade magazine among communities planning to erect soldiers’ monuments. A marble monument in Minot, North Dakota, dedicated on May 30, 1918, to local soldiers who had died in the war, is considered the first actualized memorial. Activity intensified from early November through December 1918, as individuals and communities in Minnesota and across the nation proposed and discussed plans to The Todd County monument is most likely the first erected by a Minnesota county to honor erect memorials to their war dead. . Local women’s clubs and veterans, patriotic, civic, and ethnic organiza- Recent scholarship on memorials local and national debate, as witness tions were becoming “increasingly emphasizes that “memorials exist the controversy over Confederate involved in the business of memory” at the intersection of memory and monuments that emerged in 2017. and initiated what historian Jennifer history and bond us to our past,” Many were erected decades after the Wingate concludes was “a grassroots and “all memorials remain artifacts Civil War ended with the intention to affair” to memorialize local heroes. of their time and place.” They are commemorate the “Lost Cause” and By 1919, a nationwide movement had therefore subject to politicization and southern “redemption” from Recon- emerged. Over the next two decades, can become the focus of contentious struction. Questions have been raised according to historian Steven Trout,

FALL 2018 119 the new memorials. This apprehen- In its 1919 session, the Minnesota sion fostered a serious discussion Legislature approved issuing county about the form and character of such bonds up to $50,000 to facilitate memorials and the desire that they building local memorials. The fund- express “feelings of honor, sacrifice ing could be used to buy property and and patriotism” and have “artistic to construct “thereon a monument merit.” Such monuments, according or memorial in honor of the soldiers to John R. Van Derlip, president of and sailors” who fought in the armed the board of directors of the Minne- services “during the recent war.” Such apolis Society of Fine Arts, should bonds had to be approved by the be “refined, simple, idealistic and . . . county board and by a majority of free from over-​elaboration and vul- the voting public. By November 1925, garity.” The Minnesota History Bulletin the St. Paul Pioneer Press estimated that of February 1919, noting the statewide Minnesotans had spent more than $2 discussion of “numerous plans . . . for million to “perpetuate the memory” William E. Lee the establishment of state and local of their World War I dead. That effort, memorials,” reflected the concern Minnesota historian Franklin Hol- more than 140 communities bought over appropriate . The brook noted in 1932, resulted in “the and placed in public sites a popular article praised the “commendable erection of numerous shafts, tablets, mass-​produced statue titled Spirit desire” among a number of memorial buildings, parks, tree-​lined drives of the American Doughboy, a figura- planners “to proceed with deliber- and other memorials, all dedicated tive sculpture of a US infantryman ation, knowing that the results of with appropriate ceremonies.” These designed by Ernest Moore Viquesney.4 their choice will be permanent and memorials could be found across the But building World War I war a constant source, either of pride or state from Virginia to Albert Lea, from memorials also generated deep of regret to their communities.” In Browns Valley to Lindstrom.6 concern, especially within the arts May 1919, the bulletin observed, “The William Lee was moved to spon- community, that the perceived general trend of opinion appears to sor a in Long Prairie “sculptural atrocities” of Civil War favor the community building type because of his deep connection to memorials would be replicated in of memorial” and listed four publica- the city and to Todd County. As a tions that included information on young boy he had moved with his Aerial view, Long Prairie, 1910. planning war memorials.5 family to Minnesota the year before Todd County Courthouse in 1915, five years before the monument was dedicated. it became a state, and he went on to Several years later he moved the store A MONUMENT play a significant role in the economic to Long Prairie and in 1881 founded HIGH ON A HILL development of Todd County. Long the Bank of Long Prairie.8 Prairie, the county seat, comprised Lee’s political career began with Lee’s proposed monument on the a variety of businesses, many linked his election as Todd County register courthouse grounds would be clearly to the county’s rural economy, which of deeds in 1877. He was elected to the visible to all courthouse visitors, in 1917 centered on small-​scale Minnesota Legislature in 1885, 1887, as it would stand only a short dis- grain and livestock agriculture. The and 1893, serving as speaker of the tance from the main north entrance. county’s ethnic mix was primarily house during his last term in 1893. It also would be visible from the old-​stock Yankee, German, and Scan- Governor Samuel R. Van Sant would nearby streets of Long Prairie since dinavian, along with small numbers later appoint him to the state Board of the courthouse sat upon a hill, the of Finnish and Eastern European Control. Lee was the Republican Party highest point in town. Lee’s intent for peoples. Native-​born residents of candidate for governor in 1914 follow- the World War I monument in Long foreign or mixed parentage made up ing his defeat of then-​governor A. O. Prairie is clear in his proposal letter more than 44 percent of the popula- Eberhart in the Republican primary, to the Todd County board, but it is not tion, according to the 1910 census.7 but Lee lost the election, after a bit- known whether he also originated The son of English immigrants, Lee ter campaign, to Democrat Winfield the idea. Obviously, he felt strongly was born in 1852 in Alton, Illinois. In Scott Hammond. During World War enough about it that he was willing to 1857 his parents moved first to Little I, Lee played a significant role in the bear the not inconsiderable expense Falls, then to Swan River, a nearby Todd County Liberty Loan campaigns. it would require. settlement,­ and Long Prairie before Widely respected, Lee was described Before making his offer to the settling back in Little Falls in 1862. as “an admirable type of the self-​made board, Lee, being a prudent business- After the Civil War, Lee worked with man and citizen,” a man of principle man, would have researched the costs his father, a millwright, and clerked at with “the utmost integrity [who] gave and other issues involved in the proj- a store in Long Prairie. In 1875 Lee unsparingly of his time and energies ect. For assistance with this effort, opened a general store in Todd to serve the people,” both in elected he contacted the state architect, Clar- County’s Burnhamville Township, and appointed political positions and ence H. Johnston Sr., and prominent which was a local gathering place to through his financial contributions to St. Paul sculptor John K. Daniels. Lee discuss political and economic issues. various public works and charities.9 likely was familiar with Johnston and

FALL 2018 121 Daniels from his service in the state Lee’s consultation with Johnston and legislature in the 1880s and ’90s. In addition to designs, Johnston and Daniels reflected the newly emerging Daniels could have provided Lee with desire of the arts community to involve information about the types of gran- ite available, the quarry sources for such individuals in planning aesthetically that granite, and the costs for cutting, appropriate war memorials. preparing, finishing, and shipping granite pieces. How much these two men ultimately charged Lee for their work is unknown. Whether Lee dis- mated $10,000 cost of the monument be used for any one individual. His cussed his idea with others before he and flagpole, but requested the board request was honored. At the April contacted Johnston and Daniels or pay for construction of a foundation, 1919 meeting the board appointed wrote his letter to the Todd County sidewalk, and landscaping to pro- two commissioners, C. A. Remillard board is unknown.10 vide a suitable site for the monument and Charles J. Spieker, and the county Lee included with his proposal so all his funds could be used for the auditor, E. M. Berg, to oversee the letter a model of the monument he monument itself. Lee recognized construction of the monument and had in mind and indicated he would that the board “would necessarily to attend to the planting of “proper have “plans and specifications” pre- have charge of the monument and shrubs” on the courthouse grounds.13 pared by Johnston and Daniels. exercise authority over its care Preparations for constructing Johnston’s architectural designs were and protection.” The commission- the raised cement foundation for the already extensive at the time, includ- ers adopted a resolution accepting soldiers’ memorial began in early ing numerous buildings on the Lee’s offer and agreed to pay for con- May. Word from the architect that the University of Minnesota campus, the struction of the foundation and site granite monument pieces had been state fair grandstand, and the Glen- preparation. The board authorized shipped from Vermont led planners sheen mansion in Duluth. Daniels’s its chair and the county auditor to to speculate that the work could be work included various statues at the secure a construction contract in a completed by Memorial Day or early state capitol; a Spanish-​American timely manner.12 June. However, a Vermont granite war monument in Grafton, North With winter underway, work to workers strike, increasing demand for Dakota; and bronze statues memori- prepare the monument site could not monumental granite, labor shortages, alizing Minnesotans killed in the Civil begin until spring. In the meantime, and rail transportation clogs caused War who were buried in southern Lee probably selected a granite com- a shipping delay and postponed national . Lee’s consul- pany and placed his order, though expected completion of the structure tation with Johnston and Daniels the date for this transaction is not until late summer. Why Lee had cho- reflected the newly emerging desire known, and the county Board of sen Vermont over Minnesota granite of the arts community to involve such Commissioners took several steps to is unknown, but it may have been individuals in planning aestheti- carry out their responsibility for the related to the color and character of cally appropriate war memorials. As monument. At the March 1919 board the granite he (or Daniels or John- a result, the Todd County monument meeting they adopted a resolution ston) wanted to use. The August and would certainly express “in a perma- approving the list of Todd County September 1918 issues of American nently satisfactory manner feelings of “soldiers and sailors who lost their Stone Trade carried ads for soldiers’ honor, sacrifice and patriotism.”11 lives during the World War” and for- monuments and published a set of The Todd County Board of Com- warded the list to the state architect 16 “standard soldiers’ monument” missioners took up Lee’s request at its for inscription on the monument. At designs complete with measurement meeting on December 2, 1918, nearly this point the list included 58 names, specifications designated the Great two weeks after Lee’s November 18 but six more would be added before Soldier Monument Set. This trade letter. Daniels attended the meet- they were inscribed on the bronze publication printed ads from numer- ing along with Lee and submitted a plaque. In his proposal Lee had ous granite companies, including “drawing of a proposed granite mon- requested that all names appear in several in St. Cloud. It is not known ument” for the board’s consideration. the same style and letter size and that whether Johnston saw or was influ- Lee indicated he would pay the esti- “no official designation or insignia” enced by any of those designs.14

122 MINNESOTA HISTORY An Atypical World War I Monument

Todd County’s symbolic memorial is typical of many World War I monuments in that it is an upright piece of stone construction, but beyond that the comparison breaks down. The Todd County monument is atypical in that it is not a freestanding sculpted figure of a doughboy; it is not ready made or of stock design; and it has several original, unique motifs.1 The Smithsonian Inventory of American Sculpture describes the memorial as follows:

A granite monument with bronze relief plaques on the front and back and two granite eagles on the top of the two sides. On the front is a rectangular bronze relief of a soldier stand- ing in front of a female figure representing Victory. Victory holds a laurel branch in her raised proper right hand. Above this relief is a small circular, bronze relief depicting a kneel- ing woman with a nude child standing in front of her. The child reaches for her with its proper right hand. The bronze inscription plaque on the back of the monument is adorned with an eagle holding a flagpole and flag. The monument is mounted on a rectangular base and placed next to a flag- pole and a cannon.2

This description does not reference a small circular bronze relief (far right), located above the inscription plaque, depicting The front of the monument contains a rectangular bronze relief of a a seated seminude woman holding what appears to be a shroud soldier standing in front of a female figure representing Victory. or blanket over the top of her head. She likely represents sor- row or . The four corners of the inscribed bronze plaque (p. 128) contain what appears to resemble heraldic coats of arms, each one different from the other. Most likely Clarence Johnston, the monument’s designer, either created or chose those designs as symbols of traditional values associated with war and soldiers. Two of the four symbols also bear some resemblance to the coats of arms of the Allied Powers of England and , and another is similar to that of Belgium. Johnston may have sought to honor those nations or the fields of combat on which Todd County soldiers fought. In any case, Above: detail of small, circular bronze among the symbols represented in the designs are rampant relief located above the rectangular (upright) lions, a unicorn, crowns, spears, Greek and Maltese bronze relief of soldier and Victory (top). crosses, a battle-​ax, shields, and laurel wreaths. These symbols right: detail of small bronze relief located above the inscription plaque (p. 128). respectively represent valor, virtue, courage, authority, hon- orable warriors, faith, military service, peace, and victory. All these virtues are applicable to honoring the soldiers to whom Notes 1. Sixty-​five percent of World War I memorials dedicated before the monument was dedicated.3 1940 are “freestanding sculptures of soldiers and allegories,” according In 1985 the Todd County Courthouse and Jail was placed on to Jennifer Wingate, Sculpting Doughboys: Memory, Gender, and Taste in the National Register of Historic Places. At the time, National America’s World War I Memorials (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2013), 9. Register nominations did not include adjacent contributing 2. Description of the Todd County monument, Smithsonian Inventory of American Sculpture, “World War I Memorial, (sculpture),” https://siris components of a property, but if the nomination were done -​artinventories.si.edu (search for World War I memorial, (Sculpture). today, the memorial would be considered a contributing ele- Daniels). ment of the Todd County Courthouse listing. 3. For descriptions of heraldic symbols, see www.fleurdelis.com.

FALL 2018 123 In the meantime, another signifi- represented various areas of the cant development was taking shape. county and included several World Someone, possibly Lee, decided to War I veterans and one Civil War vet- seal a time capsule comprising a eran. The board also voted to invite cylindrical copper casket measur- ex-​governor Van Sant, a close friend ing 11 inches wide by 13 inches long of Lee’s, to attend the ceremony and in the base of the monument. Who present the dedication speech. Lee described what items to place in probably made this suggestion, since the capsule and who identified or he and Van Sant had served together approved the persons who would in the legislature and Van Sant had write or collect the various docu- been invited by Lee to Long Prairie on ments and photos is unknown, but various occasions during the war.17 again, Lee’s strong interest in history The Vermont granite pieces for suggests that he may have been the the monument arrived in Long Prairie person responsible. The capsule, in mid-​August 1919, and construction expected to last “for hundreds, if Samuel R. Van Sant, 1917. probably began the last week of the not thousands, of years,” provided a month, though references to actual source of information about World first-​person narratives would be construction are contradictory. The War I and Todd County’s participation invaluable today, but no copies have July 17 issue of the Long Prairie Leader in the conflict for future generations. been located outside of the capsule. and the county board minutes from The Long Prairie Leader expressed Research could not ascertain when July note the monument was “now pride in the thought that a thousand the contents of the capsule were being erected” or was “now under years hence the time capsule contents compiled and collected, but likely not process of erection,” yet the August would be just as interesting to people much before May. The time frame 28 issue of the newspaper stated that as the current interest in “exploring would have been short had construc- work had only started that week. The the ancient ruins of , Egypt and tion of the monument begun in early six sections of granite, which together the Holy Land.”15 June as first anticipated. As it turned weighed more than 42,000 pounds The capsule would contain a out, the time capsule collectors had (21 tons), first had to be unloaded treasure trove of items from the until the end of July.16 from the railcar, loaded onto a truck era, including 12 brief histories of different facets of Todd County’s par- ticipation in the war written by the The Long Prairie Leader expressed pride men and women largely responsible for or involved with those aspects in the thought that a thousand years hence during the war. In addition, the cap- the time capsule contents would be just as sule would hold 14 other documents, including the Bible, the Versailles interesting to people as the current interest Treaty, the June 1919 issue of every in “exploring the ancient ruins of Italy, Todd County newspaper, and photo- graphs of 46 of the world’s political Egypt and the Holy Land.” and military leaders of that era. Other brief accounts were to describe Todd County’s role in the Civil War, Sometime in June 1919, monu- or wagon, hauled to the courthouse the soldiers who helped establish ment organizers received word that site, and then set in place. Given the white settlements in the county, and the delayed granite shipment would size and weight of the sections, a a history of the county’s role in the be on its way by August. That action crane or other piece of equipment Spanish-​American War. The 12 his- prompted the county board in July would have been necessary for this tories included accounts of the Todd to initiate planning for an official effort, a task the newspaper deemed County draft board, the role of Todd dedication ceremony, appointing a “by no means a small one.” For County , and committee of eight people to organize example, the largest granite piece, the five Liberty Loan drives. These the event. The committee members the die (the main part of the monu-

124 MINNESOTA HISTORY ment) at 74 cubic feet, weighed nearly 13,000 pounds (6.5 tons). Workers from the Twin Cities with experience constructing granite monuments were hired for the project, a process expected to take at least a month.18 On August 27, soon after con- struction started, the time capsule containing the various World War I records was covered with quarter-​ inch-​thick lead sheeting to protect the copper casket from corrosion. Next, it was placed in a larger receptacle, the exact location of which is uncer- tain. One newspaper article mentions both the “base of the monument” and “within the foundation,” which A view from sometime before 1937, when a street entrance tunnel was created under the monument. could refer to the cement foundation upon which the monument stands. “soldiers and sailors monument” of their state commander, Harrison Another article indicates the casket would be finished by week’s end with Fuller, who would be speaking.21 would rest within the monument the placement of the “life size figures” As part of the day’s events, the itself. If that is correct, then given the (a reference to the bronze plaques) committee organized a parade to size of the casket it likely lies within on the monument, the “consider- take place prior to the dedication the granite base upon which the able delay” over the summer due to ceremony. The committee wanted it actual monument stands. Whatever granite industry strikes and to “other to be “one of the most imposing and space the time capsule was placed [unnamed] unavoidable reasons” interesting parades ever held in the in was then “completely filled and meant that the dedication probably village.” Charles H. Taylor, adjutant packed with paraffin wax.” Once would not take place until spring of of the Long Prairie post of the Grand the wax had set, workers continued the next year.20 Army of the Republic (GAR; an orga- with erecting the main sections of nization for Union veterans of the the monument. The last step was Civil War), arranged to have every A SOLEMN CEREMONY to attach the two large bronze relief Todd County Civil War veteran march plaques and the two smaller circular No further public reference to the or ride in the parade. The Long Prairie bronze relief plaques.19 monument is made until April 1920, Leader noted that this might be the With construction of the mon- when the dedication committee met last time county residents would have ument underway, the dedication to finalize plans and to set the date the opportunity to see all the surviv- committee met to formulate plans for the event. Fittingly, the committee ing Civil War veterans together. The for the event. Despite uncertainty chose May 31, Decoration (Memorial) committee planned to “appropriately” about the actual completion date, Day, and scheduled the dedication decorate the town and in other ways the committee drew up a tentative ceremony for 2 pm. At the request try to ensure the successful comple- dedication program with several of the committee, nearby local com- tion of the dedication ceremonies. In speakers, music performances that munities that had planned afternoon a related development, US Represen- included a band and a community events for Memorial Day either can- tative Harold Knutson of Minnesota’s sing, and unspecified “exercises of a celed or rescheduled them to enable sixth congressional district prevailed military character.” Family and near- their veterans and other residents to on the War Department to donate est relatives of those honored by the travel to Long Prairie to attend the two eight-​inch mounted cannon to monument would receive written dedication. Local posts of the newly be placed near the monument. The invitations. The planning, however, formed American Legion (authorized cannon were shipped by train from was soon placed on hold. The Octo- by Congress in 1919) gave their sup- Seattle May 14. The Great Northern ber 30, 1919, issue of the Long Prairie port to the dedication in memory of Railroad indicated it would make Leader reported that although the their fallen comrades and in honor every effort to ensure the cannon

FALL 2018 125 A Long Tradition of War Memorials

The Todd County memorial, though rare in being sponsored National World War I and National Native American Veterans and financed by one individual, follows a tradition of erecting Memorials are examples at the national level of the interest in war memorials and monuments for significant individuals and remembrance.3 events. In the United States, this tradition dates to a 1793 pro- Veterans, politicians, and various organizations and individ- posal to build a memorial to George Washington. According to uals in Minnesota promoted state-​ and local-​level endeavors. one study, “the first significant American memorial” to actually The state of Minnesota dedicated memorials on the state cap- be completed was a Baltimore memorial dedicated in 1825 to itol grounds to war veterans of Vietnam (1992), Korea (1998), honor those killed in the 1814 British attack on the city.1 and World War II (2007). In 2012, the Minnesota Department of The Civil War gave an even greater impetus to erect mon- Veterans Affairs listed 150 memorials, monuments, and statues uments and memorials honoring battlefields, generals, and in communities across the state that had been dedicated to war dead—some​ completed in the war’s aftermath and others veterans of various wars. Although many had been constructed established years later. For example, Marshall and Red Wing between 1900 and 1950, the renewed interest in creating were among the first Minnesota cities to do so, dedicating memorials in recent decades led to an increase in dedications Civil War monuments in 1911 and in 1913, respectively. The of veterans’ memorials in cities and towns statewide. Between Minnesota Legislature established the Minnesota Monument 2000 and 2015 the following Minnesota communities, among Commission in 1913 to recommend the building of memorials others, dedicated veterans’ memorials: Rochester (2000), Long to honor Minnesota soldiers killed in the Civil War and buried in Prairie (2002), Crookston (2002), Stillwater (2004), North- national cemeteries in the South. In December 1918 Governor field (2005), Albert Lea (2007), Luverne (2007), Dent (2009), J. A. A. Burnquist established the State Memorial Commission Freeport (2009), Woodbury (2009), Grey Eagle (2011), Delano to build a memorial for Civil War and World War I soldiers. The (2012), Minneapolis (2014), and Lonsdale (2015). Sponsored proposed site was the University of Minnesota. In February locally by citizens and organizations using locally raised funds, 1919, the commission asked state residents to offer suggestions these memorials vary from one another in their form, design, for “the general character” of a state war memorial for “Minne- and cost. Most are dedicated to local veterans of all wars.4 sota men and women who have served during the great war.” The university regents had made no budget allocations for such Notes an undertaking, however, and the commission was dissolved in 1. Mona Doreen Greenberg and Robert P. Watson, “Public Memorials March 1919 after university president Marion L. Burton pointed in American Life,” American Studies Today Online, Mar. 2, 2011, http://www .Americansc.org.uk/Online/Public_Memorials.htm. out the oversight.2 2. Agency History Record, Minnesota State Memorial Commission, Given the significant impact of World War I, it is not sur- MNHS Library Catalog, https://mnhs.mnpals.net/; “Suggestions for Memo- prising that in the two decades following the war thousands rial,” Duluth Herald, Feb. 6, 1919, 7. After the commission was dissolved, of public war memorials and monuments were constructed newspaper editors around the state urged action by the legislature to pro- and dedicated as Americans memorialized their war dead. The vide for a state memorial for veterans of the Civil War, Spanish-​American War, and world war just concluded: “Sentiment Said to Favor War Memo- most noted of these is the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, rial,” Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, Apr. 6, 1919, 16. Missouri, dedicated in 1926 and now part of the National World 3. Jennifer Wingate, Sculpting Doughboys: Memory, Gender, and Taste in War I Museum and National Memorial. The end of World War II America’s World War I Memorials (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2013), 83; Win- stimulated another brief period of war memorial dedications, gate notes that some 452 living memorials had been proposed or built in the years after World War I. National World War I Museum and Memorial, but, rather than the symbolic monuments more characteristic https://www.theworldwar.org/. of World War I memorials, these were more commonly living Selected sources on public memorials include: Barry Schwartz, memorials such as bridges, buildings, highways, and parks. “Memorials, War,” in The Oxford Companion to American Military History, Beginning in the 1980s, Americans exhibited a renewed ed. John Whiteclay Chambers II (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000); interest in the past and in remembrance, expressed in part Greenberg and Watson, “Public Memorials”; David Glassberg, Sense of History: The Place of the Past in American Life (Boston: University of Massa- through a variety of commemorative efforts, including the chusetts Press, 2001); John Bodnar, Remaking America: Public Memory, construction of new monuments and memorials in Washing- Commemoration, and Patriotism in the Twentieth Century (Princeton, NJ: ton, DC, and nationwide. Scholars associate this trend with Princeton University Press, 1992); Greg Dickinson, Carole Blair, and Brian L. Maya Lin’s mold-breaking​ 1982 Vietnam Veterans Memorial Ott, eds., Places of Public Memory: The Rhetoric of Museums and Memorials (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2010). in the nation’s capital. The Korean War Veterans Memorial 4. Memorials on state capitol grounds: https://mn.gov/mdva/. Minne- (1995), the African Memorial (1998), the sota cities and town with memorials: https://www.Americanmemorials National World War II Memorial (2004), and the proposed directory.com/Minnesota.html.

126 MINNESOTA HISTORY important roles. Arthur B. Church, chair of the dedication committee, presided at the ceremony and local bands played between the various parts of the program. Father John S. Guzdek of the Browerville Polish gave the opening invocation, followed by a flag-​raising ceremony in which Mrs. W. M. Barber of the Woman’s Relief Corps elo- quently presented the county with a flag for the monument flagstaff. With the raising of the flag the Long Prairie Band played the national anthem and a bugler sounded “To the Colors.” Arthur Church then briefly reviewed the county’s role in the war and introduced the monument as Dedication ceremony, May 31, 1920. “a reminder . . . of what the boys had done and to what the war had com- arrived in time for the dedication. monument was dedicated with mitted the country.” The most solemn Later, one was returned to the gov- impressive ceremonies.”23 ceremony of the dedication followed ernment to be melted down during The events began with the 1:30 pm with the calling of the “roll of the World War II and the second was sent parade led by “marshal of the day” dead.” The Reverend W. H. Johnson to Camp Ripley, outside Little Falls.22 Sergeant William Bauer. Other parade of Staples read each name inscribed As planned earlier, the committee participants included the Boy Scouts; on the monument and noted that expressly invited to the ceremony the Long Prairie Band; the dedication individual’s parents, birthplace, army the family and relatives of the World speakers and GAR members, who all department, and manner of death. War I dead memorialized by the mon- rode in cars; Company I, Sixth Reg- After the last name, the Company I ument, as well as returned World iment, Minnesota National Guard; firing squad presented a rifle salute, War I veterans, many of whom had the Woman’s Relief Corps; Spanish-​ a bugler sounded “Taps,” and the Lib- joined the newly organized American American and World War I veterans; erty Girls Glee Club sang “America” Legion, and members of the GAR and the Staples Fife and Drum Corps; (My Country ’Tis of Thee).25 the Woman’s Relief Corps. In addi- tion, the committee published notices in county newspapers to encourage Both speakers expressed not only the monument’s the public to attend. Seats around the monument were reserved for the purpose but also condemnation of postwar honored families and for the surviv- political, economic, and social unrest. ing war veterans, while the public was asked to gather on the street below the monument. All then was in place the Long Prairie Fire Department; The program then continued for the May 31 dedication. Officials and other civic organizations. It was with speeches by Civil War veteran anticipated a huge crowd of six to indeed an “imposing” parade and and former governor Samuel R. Van eight thousand people, but a heavy likely met the planning committee’s Sant and by Harrison Fuller, com- rain in the morning, a continued expectations.24 mander of the Minnesota American threat of showers during the day, and Not surprisingly, given the solemn Legion. Both speakers expressed muddy rural roads cut the attendance and memorial nature of the day, a not only the intended purpose and down to about 3,000 people. None- religious tone characterized the ded- meaning of the monument, but also theless, as the Long Prairie Leader ication ceremony, with area clergy condemnation of the postwar polit- headlined, the “soldiers’ and sailors’ of different denominations playing ical, economic, and social unrest

FALL 2018 127 Detail, war memorial bronze plaque William T. Lewis of Long Prairie, one of Todd County’s 64 World War I with names of war dead inscribed. casualties; column two, fifth name from the top. confronting the United States in the Legion Weekly, featuring a larger-​ “America itself which they helped to form of labor activism, widespread than-​life-​sized figure of a World War build strong and stable.” For Van Sant, strikes, anti-​alien sentiment, polit- I veteran, with the words “American “the boys were not dead—​their deeds ical radicalism, and racial tension. Legion” on his chest, standing beside had made them deathless . . . and they Both speakers reminded citizens of the Statue of Liberty with his right would live forever in the memory of the need to continue the struggle for hand on her shoulder. Running from a grateful country.” He supported the which the soldiers had fought. The the soldier were small figures of men government’s participation in World violence that was accompanying this and rats labeled Bolshevist, IWW, War I, asserting that both the United internal unrest, along with the use of Propagandist, and Alien Slacker. The States and the soldiers had “acted government force—​especially against phrase “Her big brother” is printed from the highest and most unselfish the perceived internal threats from below the veteran’s feet. Both Van motives.” They fought not “for gain or communists, socialists, the Indus- Sant’s and Fuller’s comments reflected for conquest but simply to make the trial Workers of the World (IWW), the patriotic and antiradical senti- world a safer place in which to live.” and other radical political elements, ments of that cover.26 Van Sant also credited women for generally denoted as the Red Scare—​ Van Sant was the main speaker their great contribution, especially in added to the fear and uncertainty then of the dedication ceremony, and, saving food, to help win the war.27 prevalent among many Americans. according to the Long Prairie Leader, He then called attention to the For example, graphic representation he gave “a stirring patriotic speech.” postwar unrest confronting the of these reactions appeared on an He claimed the best monument for United States, attributing political August 1919 cover of the American the soldiers was not one of stone but radicalism to the “senseless and

128 MINNESOTA HISTORY wicked agitation by men who are entirely unworthy of attention, much less leadership . . . [and who] were false prophets.” Concerned that sol- diers had not fought and died in vain, he urged Americans to focus on a spirit of conciliation and respect for the rights of others, and to exhibit a “generous and unselfish spirit which the soldier boys had shown.” That spirit, he believed, was needed to bring an end to the discord facing the country, agitation caused by “pessi- mists [who] . . . have magnified and exaggerated and kept alive the sore spots,” as well as by “leaders who complain the loudest” and thereby keep “the troubles alive.” Van Sant Todd County Courthouse, Long Prairie, 1938, the year new street entrance was completed. appealed for optimism to counter the promoters of unrest, believing the nation had a great future and would with a reminder that in France, on the lower level of the courthouse, the “establish more firmly to all, the guar- this Memorial Day, the graves of all monument had to be moved before antees of freedom and liberty.” Van American soldiers buried there were the project could begin. The monu- Sant recognized the new American “decorated and beautified.”29 ment’s disassembly was a difficult Legion as a vehicle for confronting the The dedication program ended task that had to be “carefully done nation’s problems and an organiza- with the singing of “America” and so that no stones [were] chipped or tion that would provide “the needed a benediction by Reverend C. H. cracked.” No mention is made of hav- bulwark for things American.” Van Blake, the local Methodist minis- ing located the time capsule during Sant closed his address by praising ter. Although the weather that day the disassembly. Upon completion of the American flag “as a beacon light was gloomy and the survivors who the tunnel, reinforcing support beams to the downtrodden and oppressed attended the event likely felt a mix- had to be positioned over the tunnel’s everywhere,” and, in a clear reference ture of pride and sorrow, they also roof to support the weight of the to radical political and labor groups may well have found some comfort monument, which was then reassem- blamed for the unrest, he asserted, in knowing that the county had hon- bled in its original location. At the “While we live at least, no red flag or ored the memory of the 64 soldiers same time, workers also constructed any other banner shall ever supplant with a permanent public monument a new concrete square around and the stars and stripes.”28 to their sacrifice. under the monument to replace the Following Van Sant’s address, Har- deteriorating brick original.30 rison Fuller praised the men honored As part of the nation’s 1976 bicen- SHAPING PUBLIC by the monument and believed that tennial, two granite plaques inscribed MEMORY their memory should remind people with the names of servicemen killed of their “obligations as citizens.” Like The Todd County monument is most in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam Van Sant, Fuller touched on post- likely the first erected by a Minnesota were placed on opposite sides of war problems and advised citizens county to honor World War I casual- the monument. More recently, in to join with the veterans and “fight ties. It still stands on the north side of 2011–12, the contracting company shoulder to shoulder with them in the courthouse as of fall 2018, but it undertaking a renovation of the 1883 protecting things American.” To a has not remained undisturbed since courthouse building took an interest burst of applause, Fuller avowed there its 1920 dedication. In 1937–38, when in locating the adjacent monument’s was “not room in America for the the Works Progress Administration time capsule but decided against American Legion and the communist (WPA) constructed a street entrance this after determining that the effort party.” He concluded his brief speech tunnel under the monument site to could weaken or crack the monument.

FALL 2018 129 Thus, the monument and its time capsule remain for future genera- tions as a lasting memorial to Todd County’s World War I war dead.31 In the years since the monument’s dedication, the interest shown by states and local communities in establishing veterans’ memorials has fluctuated, with a renewed surge in recent decades. These fluctuations seem to illustrate the blurry intersec- tion between historical consciousness and collective, or public, memory and therefore can provide insight into how Americans understand, use, and shape memory of the past. The Todd County monument is sig- nificant because it was created at the end of World War I when William Lee’s and other county residents’ understanding of the war was based on their just-​concluded experience of View of courthouse and monument, 2012. the event. Given their varied ethnic backgrounds and political and socio-​ a new and larger political context—​a Lee did not live to witness much economic situations, they likely held reminder not only of the wartime sac- of this postwar unrest. He died in mixed perceptions and interpreta- rifice of the soldiers and sailors, but November 1920, five months after the tions of what they and the nation had also of the responsibility of citizens to dedication of the memorial he had just gone through, but the passage carry on the challenge of preserving championed. But William Lee’s legacy of time had not yet influenced their the American way of life from per- lives on as the monument continues memory of the war or allowed for ceived internal threats, to ensure that to remind viewers of the sentiment much reflection upon the meaning of the soldiers who died had not sacri- and patriotism of the Todd County cit- that experience. ficed their lives in vain. izens who endured World War I. Nonetheless, the incorporation of a time capsule within the monument indicates that residents understood the war was a historically signifi- Notes cant event. As originally conceived 1. Commissioners’ Record, Todd County American Studies Today Online, Mar. 2, 2011, in 1918, the granite monument and Board Meeting Minutes, Dec. 2, 1918, Bk. 5, Office http://www.Americansc.org.uk/Online/Public time capsule, intended to last for of County Board of Commissioners, Todd County _Memorials.htm; “AHA Statement on Confeder- Courthouse (hereafter, Commissioners’ Record); ate Monuments,” Perspectives on History 55, no. 7 ages, manifested both Lee’s and Todd “Memorial to Soldier Dead,” Long Prairie Leader, (Oct. 2017): 52–53. County’s patriotism, sense of history, Dec. 5, 1917, 1; “County Board Proceedings,” Long 4. “Soldiers’ Monuments” and “Proposed and desire to remember and honor Prairie Leader, Dec. 12, 1918, 4. Several counties Monuments,” American Stone Trade 17, no. 9 (e.g., Ottertail, Goodhue, and Polk) had a higher (Apr. 1, 1918): 15. For examples of coverage of the sacrifice of the 64 Todd County death count than Todd, but 64 is still higher than memorials planned during 1917–18 in Minnesota: young men who gave their lives most other counties. See MnMilitaryMuseum. “Armory Dedicated to Virginia Sailors and Sol- toward winning the war. By 1920, org for access to select county war histories. Lee diers Asked by Mayor Johnson; Meet Friday,” when the monument was dedicated, served several terms (1902–12) on the MNHS Virginia Daily Enterprise, Aug. 21, 1918, 1; Minot Executive Council. statues: Mark Levitch to author, Oct. 27, 2017; Jill however, the nation had entered into 2. Lisa M. Budreau, Bodies of War: World War I Schramm, “Monumental Memorial,” Minot Daily an uneasy postwar era that informed and the Politics of Commemoration in America, News, Feb. 24, 2017; “Monument for Minot the speeches of Governor Van Sant 1919–1933 (New York: New York University Press, Heroes,” Ward County (ND) Independent, May 23, 2010), 3. 1918, 9; “A War Memorial Building Proposed,” and Commander Fuller. They placed 3. Mona Doreen Greenberg and Robert P. Minneapolis Morning Tribune, Nov. 19, 1918, 8; the meaning of the monument into Watson, “Public Memorials in American Life,” “A War Memorial Building,” Minneapolis Morning

130 MINNESOTA HISTORY Tribune, Nov. 29, 1918, 14; “Museum Proposed,” B. F. Bowen and Co., 1915), 2:469; “Wm. E. Lee,” Leader, Apr. 29, 1920, 1; “Attendance Will Be St. Paul Dispatch, Nov. 21, 1918, 1; “To Honor Sol- Princeton (MN) Union, Nov. 18, 1920. Large,” Long Prairie Leader, May 20, 1920, 1; “Invi- diers,” St. Paul Dispatch, Dec. 13, 1918, 11; “For 10. Commissioners’ Record; “Memorial to tation to Dedication Ceremony,” Grey Eagle State Memorial,” St. Paul Dispatch, Dec. 4, 1918, 1; Soldier Dead.” Gazette (Todd County, MN), May 27, 1920, 5. “County Memorial Being Considered,” Wendell 11. Commissioners’ Record, Todd County 22. “Parade Will Be a Feature,” Long Prairie (MN) Tribune, Jan. 10, 1919, 1; “Memorial Fountain Board Minutes, Dec. 2, 1918; “Memorial to Sol- Leader, May 13, 1920, 1; “Two Cannon Given by and Shaft Secured,” Madison (MN) Independent dier Dead”; “County Board Proceedings,” Long Government for Monument,” Long Prairie Leader, Press, Jan. 10, 1919, 1. Jennifer Wingate, Sculpting Prairie Leader, Dec. 12, 1918, 4. May 20, 1920, l; “Program for Dedication,” Long Doughboys: Memory, Gender, and Taste in Ameri- 12. Commissioners’ Record, Minutes of Prairie Leader, May 27, 1920, 1; author conversa- ca’s World War I Memorials (Burlington, VT: Ash- County Board Meeting, Dec. 2 and 3, 1918, Bk. 5; tions with Shirley Lundsford, Todd County gate, 2013), 4, 10; Steven Trout, On the Battlefield “County Board Proceedings,” Long Prairie Leader, Museum administrator, 2012. of Memory: The First World War and American Dec. 12, 1918, 4; “Fine Monument to Todd Heroes,” 23. “Dedication of Monument Late This Remembrance, 1919–1941 (Tuscaloosa: University Staples (MN) World, Dec. 5, 1918, 1. Other than Month”; “Attendance Will Be Large”; “Program of Alabama Press, 2010), 9; Charles Moore, board minutes, any materials, letters, notes, etc., For Dedication”; “Ceremonies Are Impressive,” “Memorials of the Great War,” American Maga- received by the commissioners prior to and ref- Long Prairie Leader, June 3, 1920, 1; “Invitation to zine of Art (May 1919): 233. erenced at their meetings apparently have not Dedication Ceremony”; “Pay Tribute to Nation’s See American Magazine of Art (Feb., Mar., May, been preserved. Dead,” Todd County Tribune, May 27, 1920, 1; and Sept. 1919) for various articles on war memo- 13. Commissioners’ Record, Minutes of “Memorial Day Observed Monday,” Todd County rials. For a brief guide to outdoor sculptures in County Board Meeting, March 3, 1919, Bk. 5, Tribune, June 3, 1920, 1. Minnesota, including the Long Prairie monu- 611–12; “County Board Proceedings,” Long Prairie 24. Ibid. ment, see Moira F. Harris, Monumental Minnesota: Leader, Mar. 13, 1919, 7; Commissioners’ Record, 25. Ibid. A Guide to Outdoor Sculptures (St. Paul, MN: Pogo Minutes of County Board Meeting, April 7, 1919, 26. American Legion Weekly, Aug. 15, 1919, Press, 1992). Bk. 6; “County Board Proceedings,” Long Prairie front cover. 5. “War Memorials,” American Magazine of Leader, Apr. 17, 1919. 27. Long Prairie Leader, June 3, 1920, 2. Art (Mar. 1919): 180; “Fine Arts Board Issues 14. “Work to Begin Next Week,” Long Prairie 28. “Memorial Day Observed Monday,” 1–2. Warning on War Memorials,” West Virginian, Leader, May 1, 1919, 1; “Todd County’s War Monu- For a discussion of the post–World War I years, Dec. 26, 1918, 1; “What Kind of Memorial?” Liter- ment,” Long Prairie Leader, May 15, 1919, 1; “Full see Robert H. Zieger, America’s Great War: World ary Digest, Mar. 1, 1919, 30; “Artists Here to Help Speed Ahead in the Barre District,” American War I and the American Experience (New York: Guard Against Ugly War Memorials,” Minneapo- Stone Trade 18, no. 8 (Mar. 1918): 29; “Proposed Rowman & Littlefield, 2000), Ch. 7. lis Sunday Tribune, Apr. 13, 1919, 16; Bulletin of Monuments,” American Stone Trade 18, no. 11 29. “Ceremonies Are Impressive.” the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Apr. 1919): (June 1919): 41; “Advertisements,” American Stone 30. “Memorial To Soldier Dead,” Long Prairie 27–28; “News and Comment,” Minnesota History Trade 18, no. 2 (Aug. 1918): 44; “Complete Sets of Leader, Dec. 5, 1918, 1; “Todd County First To Put Bulletin 3, no. 2 (Feb. 1919): 54; “War History Standard Soldiers’ Designs,” American Stone Up Soldier’s Memorial,” Little Falls Herald, May Activities,” Minnesota History Bulletin 3, no. 2 Trade 18, no. 2 (Sept. 1918): 15–16, 27–30. 23, 1919, 7; “Minutes of the Meeting of the Board (May 1919): 111, 112. The April 1919 Minneapolis 15. “Todd County’s War Monument.” of County Commissioners of Todd County, Min- Institute of Arts bulletin provided a summary 16. “Todd County’s War Monument”; “Begin nesota, Held November 1st and 2nd, 1937”; of the American Federation of Arts’ guidelines Work on Monument,” Long Prairie Leader, Aug. 28, “County Board Proceedings,” Long Prairie Leader, for war memorials, by John R. Van Derlip. The 1919, 1. Nov. 24, 1937, 11; “New Court House Entrance Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts was a chapter 17. Commissioners’ Record, Minutes of the Approved by County Board,” Long Prairie Leader, of the AFA, whose advisory committee included County Board Meeting, July 14, 1919, Bk. 6, 11; “For Nov. 4, 1937, 1; “Work on Entrance Will Begin Dec. Cass Gilbert, designer of the Minnesota State Dedication Exercises,” Long Prairie Leader, July 17, 13,” Long Prairie Leader, Dec. 9, 1937, 1–2; “Work Is Capitol. 1919, l; “County Board Proceedings,” Long Prairie Started on New Entrance,” Long Prairie Leader, 6. Session Laws of Minnesota for 1919, Ch. 438; Leader, July 24, 1919, 3. Dedication ceremony Dec. 16, 1937, 1; “War Memorial Is Being Moved “Minnesota Has Spent $2,231,700 in Memorials committee members were Arthur B. Church, Here,” Long Prairie Leader, Dec. 23, 1937, 1; “Mak- to World War Heroes,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, Joyce Lewis, M. S. Hillman, and Charles H. Taylor ing Progress on Tunnel Project,” Long Prairie Nov. 12, 1925, 9; Franklin F. Holbrook and Livia of Long Prairie; F. C. McGivern and the Reverend Leader, July 7, 1938, 1; “Project at Court House Appel, Minnesota in the War with (St. W. H. Johnson of Staples; William Bauer of Little Completed,” Long Prairie Leader, Sept. 28, 1938. Paul: MNHS, 1932), 2:245. Sauk; and J. C. Miller of Bertha. 31. Commissioners’ Record, Minutes of the 7. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census, 18. “Begin Work on Monument”; “For Dedi- County Board Meeting, Nov. 23, 1976, Bk 13, 170; Population, Minnesota, Thirteenth Census of the cation Exercises”; “County Board Proceedings,” Minutes of the County Board Meeting, Dec. 3, United States, 1910 (Washington, DC: Government Long Prairie Leader, July 24, 1919, 3; George Broth- 1976, Bk 13, 173. On the courthouse renovation, Printing Office, 1913), 2:1010. ers Book of American Granite Estimates (Dixon, IL: author’s phone interview with Travis Fuecht- 8. Frank B. Simmons, “Wm. E. Lee, An Appre- George Bros. Co., 1919); phone interview with mann. ciation,” Long Prairie Leader, Nov. 25, 1920, 1, 5; Travis Fuechtmann, Contegrity Group, Little O. B. DeLaurier, “Township History: Burnhamville Falls, MN, Oct. 31, 2012; phone interview with and Bruce,” Long Prairie Leader, Sept. 18, 1941; Todd Olson, Cold Spring Granite Co., Cold Spring, Photos on p. 118, 119, 123, 128 (left), 130, “History of the American Heritage National MN, Oct. 31, 2012. Edward Pluth; p. 120, 121, 124, 128 (right), Bank,” Todd County Historical Society Museum, 19. “Todd County’s War Monument”; “Begin 129, MNHS collections; p. 125, 127, Todd Long Prairie, MN. Work on Monument.” County Museum. 9. “William E. Lee, Once Speaker of the 20. “Dedication of Monument Late This House, Dies,” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, Nov. Month,” Long Prairie Leader, Sept. 11, 1919, 1; “The 17, 1920, 1; “Legislators Past and Present,” Minne- Soldiers and Sailors Monument Is Completed,” sota Legislative Reference Library, https://www Long Prairie Leader, Oct. 30, 1919, 1. .leg.state.mn.us/legdb/; Clara K. Fuller, History of 21. “Will Dedicate Monument,” Long Prairie Morrison and Todd Counties, Minnesota, Their Leader, Apr. 15, 1920, 1; “Monument Dedication People, Industries and Institutions (Indianapolis: to Be County Memorial Day Event,” Long Prairie

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