"The bronze statue created by sculptor, William Francis Duffy, was commissioned by the Cultural Council as part of the Art in Public Places program. Just a little larger than life size and facing north towards Washington D.C., the statue weighs approximately 1,500 lbs. and stands atop a marble base, inscribed with:
Charles E. Bennett, 1910-2003, 'In God We Trust'
Friend – Scholar, Statesman – Preservationist, Citizen – War Hero"
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"One of the local dignitaries who met [John F.] Kennedy in 1960 when he arrived at Imeson Airport was the late U.S. Rep. Charles E. Bennett, who is memorialized in statuary in Hemming Plaza a few feet northwest of the Kennedy monument.
Bennett was elected to Congress in 1948 by the voters of North Florida and subsequently re-elected 21 times. When he left Washington in 1993, Bennett had secured his place in history as Florida’s longest-serving member of Congress.
The bronze depicts Bennett standing with two canes, a reference to the polio he contracted while serving in the U.S. Army in World War II.
The statue sits on a granite base inscribed with “In God We Trust.”
That’s because in 1954, “Charlie,” as he preferred to be called, sponsored the bill that put those four words on every U.S. coin and piece of currency.
Bennett grew up in Jacksonville and graduated in 1934 from the University of Florida law school. He practiced in Jacksonville until he was elected to the state Legislature in 1941.
Bennett served for a year before resigning to join the Army. He was discharged in 1947 after being awarded the Bronze and Silver Stars.
While in Congress, Bennett sponsored legislation that created the Fort Caroline National Memorial in Arlington and the Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve.
He proposed a code of ethics that was adopted in 1958 as the first such code for government service and he was a champion of historic preservation, education and military issues.
Bennett also helped secure funding for the statue of Andrew Jackson that’s in the Laura Street roundabout at the Landing.
The statue of Bennett in Hemming Plaza was dedicated April 23, 2004, seven months after he died.
It faces northeast, “so Charlie can be forever looking toward his beloved Fort Caroline and Washington, D.C.,” said Emily Lisska, executive director of the Jacksonville Historical Society."
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