More often you see statues of famous people depicting them as adults. Young Dwight D. Eisenhower Statue in Abilene Kansas is an exception. Below is the story on how this came to be.
Youthful Ike immortalized
Posted: Sunday, October 17, 1999
By MATT MOLINE
Special to The Capital-Journal
ABILENE -- Not many teenagers would show up at a meeting of civic leaders wearing faded overalls and carrying a bamboo fishing pole -- and barefoot, to boot.
But 15-year-old Josh Eaton volunteered to do the job last year as a publicity stunt to help convince Abilene city commissioners to erect a statue of former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a young boy.
One year later, Eaton found himself in the spotlight Saturday at the official unveiling of a bronze statue depicting a youthful -- and barefooted -- Eisenhower on a carefree fishing expedition in Dickinson County more than 80 years ago.
After receiving the commission's endorsement of the statue plan, Eaton and fellow members of the Abilene Kids' Advisory Council spent the next 12 months raising $20,000 to pay for the statue, which depicts Ike as a boy between the ages of 10 and 14.
"By the way, Josh was the model for the statue, so to speak," said Kids' Council advisor Marty Hedges. "Josh was the one who dressed up in overalls with a fishing pole over his shoulder, and helped us to present what the council wanted Ike to be remembered as a young boy."
Created by Emporia artist John Forsythe, the statue was uncloaked at a downtown mini-park two days after the 109th birthday of the 34th American President, who spent his boyhood in Abilene before beginning a military career at West Point in 1911. Eisenhower died in 1969.
"Josh is outgoing and very willing to be involved in things, and so he was not shy about going to city hall and being the model," said mom Joan Eaton. "However, at the time we thought he would get some teasing because he went in barefoot and in overalls."
The statue unveiling marked the final event in Abilene's first annual Dwight D. Eisenhower Day celebration, hosted by the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum complex.
"It's only about a 15 minute walk from this statue to the big statue (of Ike) down at the Eisenhower Center," said director Dan Holt. "But in real life, it's a very long way for a young man from Abilene on his journey to becoming general of the Army and president. This statue of Ike as a young man is an important bridge in that walk, reminding us of the dreams of a young man and what could be accomplished."
Honored guests at the ceremony included Eisenhower's granddaughter, Anne Eisenhower Flottl, of New York City; and past and present members of the Abilene Kids' Council, which was organized in 1996 as a city planning project by local elementary and middle school students.
"The statue not only shows that we're proud of Dwight, and we remember him," said fifth-grader Stephanie Klotzbach. "It also shows that kids can do a lot of things out of dreams or ideas -- like this statue. It is an idea that turned into something big. Look at it -- being placed in a place where people can admire it and say 'Wow, a bunch of kids did that!' "
Members of the council raised funds for the project by selling commemorative bricks priced between $100 and $500 each, and inscribed with the donors' names. The bricks have been installed at the base of the statue, which is surrounded by landscaped walkways and seating arrangements.
Forsythe, who operates Veritas Foundry, in Reading, said the completed project represents the only known sculpture of the five-star general as a youth. In addition to working with Eaton as a live model for the project, Forsythe said he also consulted a rare handful of photos of a young Eisenhower-at-play in pre-World War I Abilene.
"Of course there are a lot of photos of a young Eisenhower in formal settings, such as high school graduation," he said. "But there was one shot of him camping with all his friends. And in that one I saw a sense of freedom in Ike that I hadn't seen before."
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