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WWI Remembrance of Legacy Exhibit
About The Event
The Library Company of Burlington will join many other libraries throughout New Jersey, exhibiting various aspects of World War I as the nation commemorates the Centennial of World War I. While exhibit space is somewhat limited at the Library Company, historian Erik L. Burro and Library Director, Sharon Vincz, decided to honor the American Doughboy, in a photo tribute to those who contributed to the ultimate victory “over there”. The images in the series will be derived from the photographic survey Erik Burro had recently completed of the major WWI monuments around the state and within the Delaware Valley. Librarian Vincz commented, “We thought it a wonderful way to remember those who served in the Great War and recognize the artists who depicted them in stone and bronze throughout our region.”
Burlington has always been proud of its veterans and the part they played in that conflict. After a successful fundraising campaign, supported by all the city’s civic and veteran organizations, Burlington was able to erect its own doughboy monument on High Street, just a few years after the war. Its sculptor, Roland Hinton Perry of New York, had produced civil war monuments, statues and architectural elements in other parts of the country, before America declared war in 1917. The Burlington statue entitled, The Rock of the Marne, was mounted on a five foot granite pedestal in front of American Legion Post 79, next to Burlington City’s former High School building, which has since been demolished. On the front of the pedestal is a dedication tablet listing the twenty Burlington men who made the supreme sacrifice for their country in the years 1917-1918. Perry created the same bronze figure for the City of Syracuse, NY, but is not dramatically enhanced by a memorial building, such as Burlington’s, which architecturally features the major WWI battles fought by America’s soldiers. A special guest at the 1923 dedication was Franklin D’Olier, a former officer of the American Expeditionary Force, who had grown up in Burlington City. He was one of the founders of the American Legion in Paris in 1919. He served as the Legion’s first National Commander and would eventually return to New Jersey and became president of Prudential Life Insurance Co. in Newark.
In the spring of last year, in anticipation of the Centennial, Erik Burro had begun a survey of monuments throughout New Jersey. He was surprised to discover nearly 50 figurative monuments, many by famous sculptors, among the nearly 200 WWI memorials around the state. Some had been cared for over the years, while others were neglected, vandalized or forgotten. He has participated with the State of New Jersey in updating records and documented information that is now available on national WWI Centennial website.
The Library Company exhibit will begin on April 1st through Memorial Day, May 29, 2017.
Contact : Sharon Vincz, 609-386-1273 or Erik Burro, 609-387-3636
Category: New Jersey, Museums and Exhibitions
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