1919_news_article
The Time-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana
November 9, 1919 (section 3, page 3, column 3)
New Orleans Public Library

TO COMMEMORATE SERVICES
OF MEN WHO SERVED IN WAR

     The auditorium with memorial features costing more than a million dollars which it is proposed to erect through a campaign launched by the Association of Commerce, the memorial live oak grove and shaft in Audubon Park, and the memorial arch to service men of the Ninth Ward are the most important movements for memorials to New Orleans heroes of the world war now on foot.

     In selecting a worthy memorial the Association of Commerce asked for expressions of public opinion on an auditorium or a parkway and the majority decided in favor of the former.  A committee of which Wilson Williams was chairman presented resolutions advocating the auditorium to the directors, who indorsed them.  A permanent committee, of which R. J. Shwarts is chairman, was then named to select a type of building and decide on the means of financing the project.  At a recent meeting the secretary of the association was authorized to immediately prepare such information to be submitted to the committee.  Many styles of auditoriums in other cities now are under consideration.

     A towering grove of sixty-odd magnificent live oaks raising their moss-draped arms to heaven in mute tribute to men who died that democracy might live and in their center a shaft of noble proportions graven in commemoration of all Louisiana heroes of the world war will be the way in which the city and state will combine to show their appreciation of the services of their warrior sons.

     The trees, planted in Audubon Park through subscriptions received by the Audubon Park Commission and Auxiliary Association and The Times-Picayune, and dedicated on the Fourth of July last, are slender and small at present, but they are thriving, and the ultimate beauty of the memorial live oak grove may be imagined by a glance at their formation.

     More than $3000 for the monument has been collected to date and with the extension of subscriptions to state as well as city.  It is hoped $15,000 will be raised for a memorial that will be a mecca to all Louisianians who lost relatives in the war.

     Dedication of a memorial to 1200 New Orleans service men in the shape of what is said to be the first permanent monument to be erected in the United States since the recent war will take place within a few weeks when the Ninth Ward Memorial Arch in McCarthy Square is unveiled by Miss Frances Ruth Fabing, who saw active service overseas with Base Hospital Unit 24, and who is the only woman whose name will be inscribed on the monument.

     The arch is being erected to commemorate all soldiers, sailors, marines, Red Cross and other workers of the Ninth Ward who served in the war, and who were liable to be called to the front.  The idea originated with Dr. E. S. Kelly, a prominent citizen of the ward.  He organized a committee which obtained $8000 through a house-to-house canvass, personal subscriptions and several entertainments, all the money being raised within the boundaries of the Ninth Ward.

     The monument is a handsome granite structure 28 feet 6 inches high, 21 feet 2 inches wide, and 7 feet thick.  It will bear four bronze tablets, one to contain the names of those who died in service, two the names of white men who served, and a fourth the names of negroes who served.  The arch is being made by Weiblen and will be completed within a week.  The only delay in unveiling may be caused by the bronze tablets, which are on their way from New York.

     Final plans for the dedication exercises will be made at a meeting of the monument committee at the Victorious Club, 717 Lesseps street, Monday at 8 p.m.



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