Father Antonio Ubach - San Diego, CA
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Metro2
N 32° 45.211 W 117° 11.760
11S E 481639 N 3623979
This bust of Ubach and is located in front of the Casa de Aguirre in San Diego's Old Town State Park.
Waymark Code: WMJKWA
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 12/01/2013
Views: 6
The lifesize bronze bust is set atop a 5 foot cement plinth with a plaque below. Ubach is depicts as a man, perhaps in his mid-50s with a long beard readin a Bible.
The plaque below informs us:
"FATHER ANTONIO UBACH
Last of the Padres
1835 - 1907
Antonio Dominic Ubach, passionate advocate for California's Native Americans and defender of Indian rights, ran St. Anthony's Indian School on this site from 1886 to 1891. Father Ubach created programs to help hundreds of Indian children adapt to American society. He lobbied government to protect the Indians and their lands and was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to lead official missions of the State. Father Ubach was immortalized in Helen Hunt Jackson's 1884 novel Ramona as the fictional character Father Gaspara. The landmark book focused national attention on the plight of the Native Americans in California. An accomplished scholar, poet and swordsman, he left Spain for America in 1855 to devote his life to religious duty for over a half century. Considered to be the last of the Padres, he was beloved and respected by all for his tireless charitable work. His funeral in 1907 was attended by thousands of San Diego citizens, settlers and Indians whose lives he touched. True to his character, his last words were "have charity.'"
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