|
Felix de Weldon Builds
the Original Iwo Jima Monument at his own expense
With the government burdened by the vast war debt,
there was no funding available in 1945 to build an Iwo Jima Monument.
So de Weldon agreed to build the monument at his own expense and
lend it to the government at no cost. This is confirmed by correspondence
dated in 1947 and signed by no less than Secretary of the Navy,
James Forrestal (who himself had witnessed the Flag Raising), as
well as by testimony in the Congressional Record on March 1, 1946
giving unanimous Congressional approval for a voluntary committee
of friends of the Marine Corps “for the acquisition of the
statue and its preservation in an attractive location in Washington
City.” See also “Sculptor Finances Iwo Statue,”
Washington Daily News, November 10, 1945; and “Dedication
of Iwo Statue Also a Tribute to Sculptor,” Quantico Sentry,
November 8, 1951.
To build this original monument De Weldon needed a very large sculpture
studio. With an eye toward history he chose an 18th century studio
on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. used by the famous sculptor
Paul Bartlett in the 19th Century to sculpt the frieze for the U.S.
CAPITOL. He first rented and then purchased the brick building and
the grounds around it from the Bartlett family. De Weldon used the
studio to build both this Original 1945 Iwo Jima Monument and the
1952 Marine Corps Memorial.
The Commanding Officer of the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.,
C. Davis, in Orders dated 30 June 1945 implemented an Order from
the Commandant dated 28 June 1945 which detailed 5 marines to report
for duty at de Weldon’s sculpture studio on Randolf Street
for the next three months to serve as “models and as helpers
in assembling and moving material which will go into the construction
of this memorial. In view of the fact that they will spend much
of their time posing as models, it is important that the men chosen
be excellent physical specimens and representative of the Corps.”To
help supervise the project, de Weldon chose an old New York art
associate, Bill Petsco, as the original monument’s construction
foreman and supervising sculptor. Bill commuted by car from New
York City to Washington every week to work on the 1945 monument.
Amazingly, within 3 months the 4 ft. model had been scaled up to
become the first Iwo Jima Monument. It was made of cast stone over
a steel skeleton, which was then welded to a steel base, which in
turn was set into an even larger concrete base. In all it weighed
10,000 pounds!
Since the Marine Corps was then part of the Navy, this original
Monument was erected in front of the Old Navy Department Building
(now the Federal Reserve Building) on Constitution Avenue. After
its unveiling on the170th birthday of the Marine Corps in 1945,
this original Iwo Jima Monument became a symbol of National pride
during the last year of World War II. A light-weight, hollow traveling
version of the monument was made and the poster of this indelible
image was crucial to the 7th War Bond Drive, which, it is said,
raised enough money to erase half the debt incurred during the war.
Now that’s art!
Next...Unveiling
ceremony in 1945
|
