Spirit of the American Doughboy - Anniston, Alabama, USA - World War I Memorials and Monuments on Waymarking.com

Replications of E. M. Viquesney’s "Spirit of The American Doughboy" are believed to be the focal points of over ten-percent of the U. S. World War I memorials, exclusive of those memorials that are merely plaques. Additionally, some believe that except for the Statue of Liberty, Viquesney’s Doughboy replicas have collectively been seen by more people than any sculpture in the U. S., even though many don’t realize they have seen them.


Viquesney created his Doughboy in response to a national interest to honor those who died, were wounded, or served in the World War. He said he started thinking about creating a sculpture and what it should depict, as well as making preliminary sketches, during the war. (While the war was still in process, Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of War, Newton Baker, encouraged communities across the nation to erect memorial or monuments to honor the Doughboys, and that may have contributed to Viquesney’s initial thought on that line.) While he wanted to depict an American soldier in battle, he didn’t want to depict excessive might or power by portraying a soldier charging or running forward. Instead, he wanted to depict the "spirit" of the American Doughboy’s determination to preserve freedom for their country and mankind. So he portrayed a Doughboy striding firmly forward in an erect posture through "no man’s land."

The first Doughboy placed as a memorial was dedicated on the campus of Greenville, South Carolina’s Furman University June 7, 1921. That Doughboy was donated to History Museum of Upcountry South Carolina after it was replaced in 2004 by a cast replica made by artist/sculptor Maria J. Kirby-Smith. After the original Doughboy was placed at Nashville, Georgia later in the summer of 1921, Hartford City, Indiana’s Doughboy was dedicated September 28, 1921. Three were dedicated November 11, 1921, at Americus, Georgia, Anniston, Alabama, and Nashville, North Carolina, to bring the total placed in that first year of 1921 to six.

Doughboys continued to be erected until 1943, but the frequency declined in the 1930s as the depression set in and as the freshness wore off memories of the war. Viquesney’s last Doughboy was delivered to Verona, Pennsylvania in 1943.

Date the Monument or Memorial was built or dedicated: 11/11/1921 Private or Public Monument?: Private Name of the Private Organization or Government Entity that built this Monument: Anniston Post American Legion Geographic Region where the Monument is located: North America Website for this Monument: [Web Link] Physical Address of Monument: Anniston, AL USA Rate this waymark: Photo or photos will be uploaded.: yes

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Date Logged Log User Rating   11/01/2013 GwynEvie visited it 08/01/2012 Lat34North visited it 06/30/2008 Thorny1 visited it

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