Indiana World War Memorial Plaza
Encyclopedia
The Indiana World War Memorial Plaza is an urban feature located in Indianapolis, Indiana
, originally built to honor the veterans of World War I. The five-city-block plaza was conceived in 1919 as a location for the national headquarters of the American Legion
and a memorial to the state's and nation's veterans. At the north end of the plaza is the American Legion Mall, which is the site of the administration buildings of the Legion, as well as a memorial cenotaph. South of that is the Veterans Memorial Plaza with its obelisk.
The centerpiece of the plaza is the Indiana World War Memorial, modeled after the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Within is a military museum, the Shrine Room, and an auditorium. At the south end is University Park, the oldest part of the plaza, filled with statues and a fountain. On October 11, 1994, the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza was designated a National Historic Landmark District
.
from its temporary headquarters in New York City. The American Legion, chartered by Congress in 1919 after World War I, is an organization of veterans that sponsors youth programs, promotes patriotism and national security, and provides commitment to Americans who have served in the armed forces. Three Indianapolis veterans wanted to attract the Legion to the city, which already had the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
. At an American Legion national convention in Minneapolis during November 1919, cities sent representatives to lobby to become the new headquarters. Indianapolis drew support because of its central location within the United States and the city's shows of patriotism. Although Washington, D.C.
received the most votes on the first ballot, Indianapolis gained a majority and won the second with 361 votes out of 684 cast.
The city and state then had to provide a location, and one of the promises the city made was to erect a fitting memorial to those who served in World War I. Thus, in January 1920 a public library, St. Clair Park, University Park, and two occupied city blocks were designated as the site for the plaza, with one new building for the American Legion to use as their national headquarters, various public buildings, and a war memorial. The Indiana War Memorial Bill was passed in July 1920 and appropriated $2 million for construction and land. Work began in 1921. The city and state reached an agreement whereby the city would pay for the site and maintenance costs, while the State of Indiana
would pay for the memorial's construction. The Plaza was dedicated by the Legion in November 1921 with the laying of a cornerstone from the bridge over the River Marne at Château-Thierry
.
Various architects were invited by an appointed War Memorial Board to submit designs for a memorial intended to honor all who fought in World War I and also to provide meeting places, archives, and offices for the American Legion. The partnership of Walker and Weeks
of Cleveland, Ohio
was chosen in 1923. Their plan consisted of a main memorial and two auxiliary buildings, an obelisk
, a mall, and a cenotaph
. Bids for the American Legion building, one of the two auxiliary buildings, were put out in 1925 and construction by the Craig-Curtiss Company began the same year. In style the structure complimented the nearby local library. The second auxiliary building was not constructed until 1950. The Neoclassical design incorporated the existing library, federal building, and University Park. One additional building was planned but never built.
The War Memorial and the parks in the plaza are an example of the City Beautiful movement
, which supported classical, uniform, and beautiful public architecture. The plaza covers a five-block strip north of Monument Circle between St. Clair, Pennsylvania, New York, and Meridian Street
s. In 1989, the plaza was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
, and it was named a National Historic Landmark District in 1994. The Historic District includes the plaza as well as the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library
, immediately north of the plaza, and the Birch Bayh Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse
, immediately south. The Scottish Rite Cathedral
is across the street on the west side of the plaza, and the Minton-Capehart Federal Building is across the street on the east side.
The Indiana World War Memorial Plaza is a popular location for celebrations, including the Fourth of July festival, Veterans Day, and Memorial Day services. The Chase Tower
, located three blocks directly south of the Memorial building, has a roof with a design similar to the Memorial's.
in neoclassical
style, similar to the public library just to the north. The east building at Meridian and St. Clair, designated building B on the original plan, houses the Indiana Department of the American Legion, the American Legion Auxiliary
, and the National Forty and Eight
. The four-story building served as the national headquarters until the second building was completed.
The larger west building at Pennsylvania and St. Clair, building C, serves as the Legion's national headquarters. The headquarters deals with the mail, archives, and other internal administrative functions of the Legion; the lobbying efforts of the Legion are based in its Washington, D.C.
office. Its two wings each mirror building B and are joined by a recessed central entrance.
Three semi-circular granite memorials list the names of the Hoosier
s killed in World War II, the Korean War
, and the Vietnam War
.
cenotaph centered in it resting upon a base of red and dark green granite. Four shafts of black granite, with gold eagles surmounted on them, mark the corners of the square. The inscription on the north face of the cenotaph memorializes James Bethal Gresham, a Hoosier who was the first member of the American Expeditionary Force
to be killed in action in World War I. A native of Evansville
, he was a corporal in the 16th Infantry Regiment
and was killed at Bathelemont, France on November 3, 1917. The inscription on the south side says "A tribute by Indiana to the hallowed memory of the glorious dead who served in the World War."
. The fountain has two basins, spray rings, and multicolored lights. On the east and west sides fly the flags of the fifty states
, which were installed in 1976 for the US Bicentennial. They were replaced with the flags of countries of the Americas
during the 1987 Pan American Games
. The square was originally paved with asphalt, but it was landscaped with grass and trees in 1975.
Walker & Weeks planned for the Indiana World War Memorial Building to be the plaza's centerpiece, sitting between the federal building and public library. The work for the actual memorial to the veterans of World War I began in early 1926. Five of the seven buildings located on the site had to be demolished before the actual construction commenced; the other two, Second Presbyterian Church and First Baptist Church, were not demolished until 1960. General John Pershing laid the cornerstone
of the memorial on July 4, 1927, saying he was "consecrating the edifice as a patriotic shrine". Funding problems in 1928 slowed the building of the interior. Even a new contractor in 1931 and $195,000 provided by the Public Works Administration
in 1936 did little to speed the process of completing the structure. Although the interior was incomplete, it was dedicated on November 11
, 1933 by Governor
Paul McNutt and Lt. Gen. Hugh Drum, Deputy Chief of Staff of the United States Army. In 1949 a local newspaper leaked the information that the memorial was already deteriorating, its limestone
scaling, paint peeling, leaks forming, and plaster cracking; further reports were published in 1961. Despite proposals to instead develop the area, the memorial and surrounding landscaping were finally finished in 1965.
The memorial's design is based upon the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. At 210 feet (64 m) tall it is approximately seventy-five feet taller than the original Mausoleum. The blue lights which shine between columns on the side of the War Memorial make the monument easily recognizable. It is the most imposing Neoclassical structure in Indianapolis due to its scale and size.
The cubical structure is clad in unrelieved ashlar Indiana limestone
on a high, lightly rusticated base, and is topped with a low pyramidal roof that sheathes its interior dome. It stands on a raised terrace approached by a wide monumental staircase. The structure has four identical faces. On each face an Ionic
screen of six columns, behind which are tall banks of windows, and is surmounted by symbolic standing figures designed by Henry Hering
: Courage, Memory, Peace, Victory, Liberty, and Patriotism. The sculptures are repeated on each façade. On the south side, standing on a pink granite base in the center of the grand access stairs, is Hering's colossal exultant male nude bronze Pro Patria (1929); it is 24 feet (7.3 m) high, weighs seven tons, and was the largest cast bronze sculpture in the United States.
The north and south entrances are guarded by shield-bearing limestone lions, and on each corner of the terrace sits an urn. The pyramidal roof is stepped and has a lantern on top. Above the tall bronze doors on each side is the inscription "To vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the world." On the north side is the building's main inscription:
The main entrance of the Indiana War Memorial Museum is on the north façade, which opens into a large hall with Tennessee marble
floors and Art Deco
Egyptian themes. The museum is housed mainly on the lower level of the monument and honors the efforts of Hoosier
soldiers in a timeline from the American Revolutionary War
to modern conflicts. World War I and World War II are featured most prominently. Aside from firearms, it features an Cobra helicopter, and the USS Indiana
's commission plate. There are over 400 military flags housed in the museum, more than 300 of which are from the American Civil War
. Indiana's Liberty Bell
replica is located near the main entrance. It is of the kind given to each state by the federal government in 1950 to encourage the purchase of savings bonds.
Additional museum exhibits are displayed on the main level of the monument. An exhibit replicating the radio room of the includes original equipment from World War II was opened on November 7, 2009. The Grand Foyer main level features the 500-seat Pershing
Auditorium, built and decorated with materials donated from several states and World War I allies. The memorial also has three meeting rooms on the main level; these rooms were originally named in honor of General George Patton, General Douglas MacArthur
, and Admiral Chester Nimitz
. In 2009, the rooms were renamed in honor of Hoosier veterans: Admiral Raymond A. Spruance
, General David M. Shoup
, and Major Samuel Woodfill
.
Above the main level is the Shrine Room, nearly a vertical double cube, 110 ft (33.5 m) high and 60 ft (18.3 m) on a side, clad in materials collected from all the allied nations of World War I. Accessed by two staircases from the Grand Foyer, the Shrine Room Stairway's American Pavonazzo marble walls bear the names of all Hoosiers who fought in World War I. On the east and west sides are paintings by Walter Brough of the leading soldiers of France,
America, Great Britain, Belgium, Italy, and Serbia. Surrounding the room are sculptor Frank Jirouch's marble frieze depicting events of World War I. At the center of the space, beneath a giant hanging 17 feet (5.2 m)-by-30 feet (9.1 m) American flag, is the Altar of Consecration, flanked at the corners with cauldrons on tripod stands. Above the flag is the Star of Destiny, made of Swedish crystal, representing the future of the nation.
University Park occupies the southernmost block of the plaza. It was originally intended to serve as the site of a state university, but this never occurred. Instead, it was the site of churches, a high school, and a training ground for Union soldiers during the American Civil War. In 1876 it was transformed into a city park. Surrounding the square are statues of prominent Hoosiers. Benjamin Harrison
's statue is on the south side, designed by Henry Bacon
and Charles Niehaus; seated Abraham Lincoln
is in the southeast corner, designed by Henry Hering
in 1934; and Schuyler Colfax
is on the east side, designed by Lorado Taft
in 1887. There are also sculptures of Pan and the nymph Syrinx
designed by Myra Reynolds Richards in 1923. University Park was redesigned in 1914 by George Kessler
for the park and boulevard system
he had developed for Indianapolis, which included a fountain at the center. Street lamps on the walkways have acorn globes and fluted shafts, and two of them decorated with lions' heads stand on the backs of metal turtles.
The Depew Memorial Fountain
is a free standing fountain completed in 1919. It is composed of multiple bronze
figures arranged on a five-tier granite
stone base with three basins. The bronze sculptures depict fish, eight children dancing, and a woman on the topmost tier dancing and playing cymbals. The dimensions are approximately 25 x 45 x 45 feet (13.7 m).
The fountain was commissioned in memory of Dr. Richard J. Depew by his wife, Emma Ely, following Dr. Depew's death in 1887. When Mrs. Depew died in 1913, she had bequeathed $50,000 from her estate to the city of Indianapolis for the erection of a fountain in memory of her husband "in some park or public place where all classes of people may enjoy it." The original design was created by Karl Bitter
, who was killed in a traffic accident in 1915 before the work could be finished. Following Bitter's overall design, Alexander Stirling Calder
created the bronze figures and the fountain. Architect Henry Bacon
designed the fountain's setting.
A memorial plaque on south side of the large granite basin reads "Depew Memorial Fountain. A gift to Indianapolis from Emma Ely Depew in memory of her husband Richard Johnson Depew M.D. whose long and honorable life was spent in untiring service to his fellow men."
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, originally built to honor the veterans of World War I. The five-city-block plaza was conceived in 1919 as a location for the national headquarters of the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
and a memorial to the state's and nation's veterans. At the north end of the plaza is the American Legion Mall, which is the site of the administration buildings of the Legion, as well as a memorial cenotaph. South of that is the Veterans Memorial Plaza with its obelisk.
The centerpiece of the plaza is the Indiana World War Memorial, modeled after the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Within is a military museum, the Shrine Room, and an auditorium. At the south end is University Park, the oldest part of the plaza, filled with statues and a fountain. On October 11, 1994, the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza was designated a National Historic Landmark District
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
History
The origins of the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza lay in a 1919 attempt by the city of Indianapolis to lure the newly formed American LegionAmerican Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
from its temporary headquarters in New York City. The American Legion, chartered by Congress in 1919 after World War I, is an organization of veterans that sponsors youth programs, promotes patriotism and national security, and provides commitment to Americans who have served in the armed forces. Three Indianapolis veterans wanted to attract the Legion to the city, which already had the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument (Indianapolis)
The Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument is a tall neoclassical monument in the center of Indianapolis, Indiana that was designed by German architect Bruno Schmitz and completed in 1901....
. At an American Legion national convention in Minneapolis during November 1919, cities sent representatives to lobby to become the new headquarters. Indianapolis drew support because of its central location within the United States and the city's shows of patriotism. Although Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
received the most votes on the first ballot, Indianapolis gained a majority and won the second with 361 votes out of 684 cast.
The city and state then had to provide a location, and one of the promises the city made was to erect a fitting memorial to those who served in World War I. Thus, in January 1920 a public library, St. Clair Park, University Park, and two occupied city blocks were designated as the site for the plaza, with one new building for the American Legion to use as their national headquarters, various public buildings, and a war memorial. The Indiana War Memorial Bill was passed in July 1920 and appropriated $2 million for construction and land. Work began in 1921. The city and state reached an agreement whereby the city would pay for the site and maintenance costs, while the State of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
would pay for the memorial's construction. The Plaza was dedicated by the Legion in November 1921 with the laying of a cornerstone from the bridge over the River Marne at Château-Thierry
Château-Thierry
Château-Thierry is a commune in northern France about east-northeast of Paris. It is a sub-prefecture of the Aisne department in Picardy.-History:...
.
Various architects were invited by an appointed War Memorial Board to submit designs for a memorial intended to honor all who fought in World War I and also to provide meeting places, archives, and offices for the American Legion. The partnership of Walker and Weeks
Walker and Weeks
Walker and Weeks was an architecture firm based in Cleveland, Ohio founded by Frank Ray Walker and Harry F. Weeks .-Background:...
of Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
was chosen in 1923. Their plan consisted of a main memorial and two auxiliary buildings, an obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
, a mall, and a cenotaph
Cenotaph
A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...
. Bids for the American Legion building, one of the two auxiliary buildings, were put out in 1925 and construction by the Craig-Curtiss Company began the same year. In style the structure complimented the nearby local library. The second auxiliary building was not constructed until 1950. The Neoclassical design incorporated the existing library, federal building, and University Park. One additional building was planned but never built.
The War Memorial and the parks in the plaza are an example of the City Beautiful movement
City Beautiful movement
The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy concerning North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of using beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. The movement, which was originally associated mainly with Chicago,...
, which supported classical, uniform, and beautiful public architecture. The plaza covers a five-block strip north of Monument Circle between St. Clair, Pennsylvania, New York, and Meridian Street
Meridian Street (Indianapolis)
Meridian Street is the primary north-south street in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.Meridian Street was formerly aligned with US 31 for much of its length in the city of Indianapolis, before being re-routed to a segment of Interstate 465. The street delineates east addresses from west...
s. In 1989, the plaza was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, and it was named a National Historic Landmark District in 1994. The Historic District includes the plaza as well as the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library
Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library
The Indianapolis Public Library is the public library system that serves the citizens of Marion County, Indiana, United States and its largest city, Indianapolis...
, immediately north of the plaza, and the Birch Bayh Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse
Birch Bayh Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse
The Birch Bayh Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, formerly known as the U.S. Courthouse and Post Office and as Federal Building, is a courthouse of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, located in Indianapolis. It is a distinguished example of Beaux-Arts...
, immediately south. The Scottish Rite Cathedral
Scottish Rite Cathedral (Indianapolis, Indiana)
The Scottish Rite Cathedral is a historic building designed by architect George F. Schreiber, located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is owned by the Valley of Indianapolis Scottish Rite, an affiliated body of Freemasonry. It was built between 1927 and 1929 at the cost of...
is across the street on the west side of the plaza, and the Minton-Capehart Federal Building is across the street on the east side.
The Indiana World War Memorial Plaza is a popular location for celebrations, including the Fourth of July festival, Veterans Day, and Memorial Day services. The Chase Tower
Chase Tower (Indianapolis)
Opened in 1990 near Monument Circle in Indianapolis, the Chase Tower is the tallest building in Indianapolis. It surpassed the AUL Tower in Indianapolis for the distinction...
, located three blocks directly south of the Memorial building, has a roof with a design similar to the Memorial's.
American Legion Mall
The two auxiliary buildings on the plaza are used by the American Legion. Both buildings were constructed from Indiana limestoneIndiana Limestone
Indiana Limestone, also known as Bedford Limestone is a common regional term for Salem limestone, a geological formation primarily quarried in south central Indiana between Bloomington and Bedford....
in neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
style, similar to the public library just to the north. The east building at Meridian and St. Clair, designated building B on the original plan, houses the Indiana Department of the American Legion, the American Legion Auxiliary
American Legion Auxiliary
The American Legion Auxiliary is a U.S.-headquartered patriotic service organization for women interested in voluntary service. It is a non-profit organization, affiliated with The American Legion...
, and the National Forty and Eight
Forty and Eight veterans organization
The Forty and Eight is an organization of veterans of the United States armed forces. Its official name is "La Société des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux," which is French, and translates as "The Society of Forty Men and Eight Horses."-History:...
. The four-story building served as the national headquarters until the second building was completed.
The larger west building at Pennsylvania and St. Clair, building C, serves as the Legion's national headquarters. The headquarters deals with the mail, archives, and other internal administrative functions of the Legion; the lobbying efforts of the Legion are based in its Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
office. Its two wings each mirror building B and are joined by a recessed central entrance.
Three semi-circular granite memorials list the names of the Hoosier
Hoosier
Hoosier is the official demonym for a resident of the U.S. state of Indiana. Although residents of most U.S. states typically adopt a derivative of the state name, e.g., "Indianan" or "Indianian", natives of Indiana rarely use these. Indiana adopted the nickname "Hoosier State" more than 150...
s killed in World War II, the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Cenotaph Square
Cenotaph Square is located between the two auxiliary buildings used by the American Legion. It is in a sunken garden with the rectangular black graniteGranite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
cenotaph centered in it resting upon a base of red and dark green granite. Four shafts of black granite, with gold eagles surmounted on them, mark the corners of the square. The inscription on the north face of the cenotaph memorializes James Bethal Gresham, a Hoosier who was the first member of the American Expeditionary Force
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces or AEF were the United States Armed Forces sent to Europe in World War I. During the United States campaigns in World War I the AEF fought in France alongside British and French allied forces in the last year of the war, against Imperial German forces...
to be killed in action in World War I. A native of Evansville
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
, he was a corporal in the 16th Infantry Regiment
16th Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 16th Infantry Regiment is a regiment in the United States Army.-Formation:The 34th Infantry Regiment and 11th Infantry Regiment consolidated into the 16th Infantry Regiment on 3 March 1869. The 11th Infantry's history prior to the consolidation is normally included with the 16th's.-U.S...
and was killed at Bathelemont, France on November 3, 1917. The inscription on the south side says "A tribute by Indiana to the hallowed memory of the glorious dead who served in the World War."
Veterans Memorial Plaza
The Veterans Memorial Plaza, also called Obelisk Square, has an obelisk and fountain and is located on the plaza south of the Mall. The 100 feet (30.5 m) black granite obelisk was built in 1923, and the square was completed in 1930. Near the base of the obelisk are 4 feet (1.2 m)-by-8 feet (2.4 m) panels placed in 1929 representing law, science, religion, and education intended to represent the fundamentals of the nation. The obelisk rises from a 100 feet (30.5 m), two-level fountain made of pink Georgia marble and terrazzoTerrazzo
Terrazzo is a composite material poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of marble, quartz, granite, glass or other suitable chips, sprinkled or unsprinkled, and poured with a binder that is cementitious, chemical or a combination of both...
. The fountain has two basins, spray rings, and multicolored lights. On the east and west sides fly the flags of the fifty states
Flags of the U.S. states
The flags of the U.S. states exhibit a wide variety of regional influences and local histories, as well as widely different styles and design principles. Modern state flags date from the 1890s when states wanted to have distinctive symbols at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago...
, which were installed in 1976 for the US Bicentennial. They were replaced with the flags of countries of the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
during the 1987 Pan American Games
1987 Pan American Games
The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, from 7 August to 23 August 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas competed in 30 sports earning...
. The square was originally paved with asphalt, but it was landscaped with grass and trees in 1975.
The War Memorial
Cornerstone
The cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or...
of the memorial on July 4, 1927, saying he was "consecrating the edifice as a patriotic shrine". Funding problems in 1928 slowed the building of the interior. Even a new contractor in 1931 and $195,000 provided by the Public Works Administration
Public Works Administration
The Public Works Administration , part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933 in response to the Great Depression...
in 1936 did little to speed the process of completing the structure. Although the interior was incomplete, it was dedicated on November 11
Veterans Day
Veterans Day, formerly Armistice Day, is an annual United States holiday honoring military veterans. It is a federal holiday that is observed on November 11. It coincides with other holidays such as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, which are celebrated in other parts of the world and also mark...
, 1933 by Governor
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
Paul McNutt and Lt. Gen. Hugh Drum, Deputy Chief of Staff of the United States Army. In 1949 a local newspaper leaked the information that the memorial was already deteriorating, its limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
scaling, paint peeling, leaks forming, and plaster cracking; further reports were published in 1961. Despite proposals to instead develop the area, the memorial and surrounding landscaping were finally finished in 1965.
The memorial's design is based upon the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. At 210 feet (64 m) tall it is approximately seventy-five feet taller than the original Mausoleum. The blue lights which shine between columns on the side of the War Memorial make the monument easily recognizable. It is the most imposing Neoclassical structure in Indianapolis due to its scale and size.
The cubical structure is clad in unrelieved ashlar Indiana limestone
Indiana Limestone
Indiana Limestone, also known as Bedford Limestone is a common regional term for Salem limestone, a geological formation primarily quarried in south central Indiana between Bloomington and Bedford....
on a high, lightly rusticated base, and is topped with a low pyramidal roof that sheathes its interior dome. It stands on a raised terrace approached by a wide monumental staircase. The structure has four identical faces. On each face an Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
screen of six columns, behind which are tall banks of windows, and is surmounted by symbolic standing figures designed by Henry Hering
Henry Hering
Henry Hering was an American sculptor who was born New York City on February 15, 1874 and died there on January 17, 1949.-Early career:He was a student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens at Cooper Union and of Philip Martiny at the Art Students League of New York...
: Courage, Memory, Peace, Victory, Liberty, and Patriotism. The sculptures are repeated on each façade. On the south side, standing on a pink granite base in the center of the grand access stairs, is Hering's colossal exultant male nude bronze Pro Patria (1929); it is 24 feet (7.3 m) high, weighs seven tons, and was the largest cast bronze sculpture in the United States.
The north and south entrances are guarded by shield-bearing limestone lions, and on each corner of the terrace sits an urn. The pyramidal roof is stepped and has a lantern on top. Above the tall bronze doors on each side is the inscription "To vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the world." On the north side is the building's main inscription:
Indiana World War Memorial Military Museum
Tennessee marble
Tennessee marble is a type of crystalline limestone found primarily in East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Long esteemed by architects and builders for its pinkish-gray color and the ease with which it is polished, this stone has been used in the construction of numerous notable...
floors and Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
Egyptian themes. The museum is housed mainly on the lower level of the monument and honors the efforts of Hoosier
Hoosier
Hoosier is the official demonym for a resident of the U.S. state of Indiana. Although residents of most U.S. states typically adopt a derivative of the state name, e.g., "Indianan" or "Indianian", natives of Indiana rarely use these. Indiana adopted the nickname "Hoosier State" more than 150...
soldiers in a timeline from the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
to modern conflicts. World War I and World War II are featured most prominently. Aside from firearms, it features an Cobra helicopter, and the USS Indiana
USS Indiana
Three ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Indiana in honor of the 19th state., was a battleship commissioned in 1895 that saw action in the Spanish-American War...
's commission plate. There are over 400 military flags housed in the museum, more than 300 of which are from the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Indiana's Liberty Bell
Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American Independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House , the bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack in 1752, and was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY...
replica is located near the main entrance. It is of the kind given to each state by the federal government in 1950 to encourage the purchase of savings bonds.
Additional museum exhibits are displayed on the main level of the monument. An exhibit replicating the radio room of the includes original equipment from World War II was opened on November 7, 2009. The Grand Foyer main level features the 500-seat Pershing
John J. Pershing
John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, GCB , was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I...
Auditorium, built and decorated with materials donated from several states and World War I allies. The memorial also has three meeting rooms on the main level; these rooms were originally named in honor of General George Patton, General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
, and Admiral Chester Nimitz
Chester Nimitz
Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz, GCB, USN was a five-star admiral in the United States Navy. He held the dual command of Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet , for U.S. naval forces and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas , for U.S...
. In 2009, the rooms were renamed in honor of Hoosier veterans: Admiral Raymond A. Spruance
Raymond A. Spruance
Raymond Ames Spruance was a United States Navy admiral in World War II.Spruance commanded US naval forces during two of the most significant naval battles in the Pacific theater, the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea...
, General David M. Shoup
David M. Shoup
General David Monroe Shoup, Hon. DSO was a World War II Medal of Honor recipient and the twenty-second Commandant of the United States Marine Corps . After his retirement, he was a vocal critic of the Vietnam War.-Early years:David Monroe Shoup was born on December 30, 1904 in Battle Ground, Indiana...
, and Major Samuel Woodfill
Samuel Woodfill
Samuel Woodfill was a Major in the United States Army. He was a veteran of the Philippine–American War, World War I, and World War II. Woodfill was one of the most celebrated American soldiers of the early twentieth century. General John Pershing called Woodfill the most outstanding soldier in...
.
Above the main level is the Shrine Room, nearly a vertical double cube, 110 ft (33.5 m) high and 60 ft (18.3 m) on a side, clad in materials collected from all the allied nations of World War I. Accessed by two staircases from the Grand Foyer, the Shrine Room Stairway's American Pavonazzo marble walls bear the names of all Hoosiers who fought in World War I. On the east and west sides are paintings by Walter Brough of the leading soldiers of France,
America, Great Britain, Belgium, Italy, and Serbia. Surrounding the room are sculptor Frank Jirouch's marble frieze depicting events of World War I. At the center of the space, beneath a giant hanging 17 feet (5.2 m)-by-30 feet (9.1 m) American flag, is the Altar of Consecration, flanked at the corners with cauldrons on tripod stands. Above the flag is the Star of Destiny, made of Swedish crystal, representing the future of the nation.
University Park
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
's statue is on the south side, designed by Henry Bacon
Henry Bacon
Henry Bacon was an American Beaux-Arts architect who is best remembered for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. , which was his final project.- Education and early career :...
and Charles Niehaus; seated Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
is in the southeast corner, designed by Henry Hering
Henry Hering
Henry Hering was an American sculptor who was born New York City on February 15, 1874 and died there on January 17, 1949.-Early career:He was a student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens at Cooper Union and of Philip Martiny at the Art Students League of New York...
in 1934; and Schuyler Colfax
Schuyler Colfax
Schuyler Colfax, Jr. was a United States Representative from Indiana , Speaker of the House of Representatives , and the 17th Vice President of the United States . To date, he is one of only two Americans to have served as both House speaker and vice president.President Ulysses S...
is on the east side, designed by Lorado Taft
Lorado Taft
Lorado Zadoc Taft was an American sculptor, writer and educator. Taft was born in Elmwood, Illinois in 1860 and died in his home studio in Chicago in 1936.-Early years and education:...
in 1887. There are also sculptures of Pan and the nymph Syrinx
Syrinx (Wolter)
Syrinx is a public artwork by German-born American sculptor Adolph Wolter located at the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.-Description:...
designed by Myra Reynolds Richards in 1923. University Park was redesigned in 1914 by George Kessler
George Kessler
George Edward Kessler was a German American pioneer city planner and landscape architect.Over the course of his forty-one year career, George E. Kessler completed over 200 projects and prepared plans for 26 communities, 26 park and boulevard systems, 49 parks, 46 estates & residents, and 26 schools...
for the park and boulevard system
Indianapolis Park and Boulevard System
The Indianapolis Park and Boulevard System is a group of parks, parkways, and boulevards in Indianapolis, Indiana that was designed by landscape architect George Edward Kessler in the early part of the twentieth century. Also known as the Kessler System, the district includes and has shaped the...
he had developed for Indianapolis, which included a fountain at the center. Street lamps on the walkways have acorn globes and fluted shafts, and two of them decorated with lions' heads stand on the backs of metal turtles.
The Depew Memorial Fountain
Depew Memorial Fountain
Depew Memorial Fountain is a freestanding fountain completed in 1919 and located in University Park in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana within the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza.- Description :...
is a free standing fountain completed in 1919. It is composed of multiple bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
figures arranged on a five-tier granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
stone base with three basins. The bronze sculptures depict fish, eight children dancing, and a woman on the topmost tier dancing and playing cymbals. The dimensions are approximately 25 x 45 x 45 feet (13.7 m).
The fountain was commissioned in memory of Dr. Richard J. Depew by his wife, Emma Ely, following Dr. Depew's death in 1887. When Mrs. Depew died in 1913, she had bequeathed $50,000 from her estate to the city of Indianapolis for the erection of a fountain in memory of her husband "in some park or public place where all classes of people may enjoy it." The original design was created by Karl Bitter
Karl Bitter
Karl Theodore Francis Bitter was an Austrian-born United States sculptor best known for his architectural sculpture, memorials and residential work.- Life and career :...
, who was killed in a traffic accident in 1915 before the work could be finished. Following Bitter's overall design, Alexander Stirling Calder
Alexander Stirling Calder
Alexander Stirling Calder was an American sculptor and teacher; son of the sculptor Alexander Milne Calder, and father of the sculptor Alexander Calder...
created the bronze figures and the fountain. Architect Henry Bacon
Henry Bacon
Henry Bacon was an American Beaux-Arts architect who is best remembered for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. , which was his final project.- Education and early career :...
designed the fountain's setting.
A memorial plaque on south side of the large granite basin reads "Depew Memorial Fountain. A gift to Indianapolis from Emma Ely Depew in memory of her husband Richard Johnson Depew M.D. whose long and honorable life was spent in untiring service to his fellow men."