website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown,
Wisconsin
Chapter on Carl Schurz
Addendum
to Carl Schurz,
German
American
1914 Oshkosh:
The Carl Schurz Monument
July 4 Among the chief
works of art in the City of Oshkosh is the monument
to the memory of Carl Schurz, Wisconsin statesman, who represented one of
the, truest types of American patriots, with the highest ideals as to democracy
and loyalty. This beautiful statue is
located at the foot of Washington Street, with the waters of Lake Winnebago and
the hazy east shore as a background.
Upon one side of it is an imposing city recreation center, formerly the
clubhouse of the Oshkosh Yacht Club, and upon the other the municipal water
plant.
The donor of the monument, Col.
John Hicks, went to the studio of Karl Theodore Francis Bitter, of New York,
for the statue of the great apostle of democracy. It was on the date of Saturday, July 4, 1914,
that this magnificent work in bronze, upon marble, was dedicated, and the event
marked a new epoch in the history of Fourth of July celebrations here. A parade was held, led by the Arion Band, in which there were automobiles carrying those
having active part in the unveiling, and the members of Companies B and F of
the Wisconsin National Guard, the Oshkosh Kriegerverein
and the Oshkosh Maennerchor marched. A huge crowd of citizens gathered about the
monument, and those taking part were seated on and spoke from a raised platform
decorated in the patriotic colors. The Arions played “Star Spangled Banner,” and Rev. Theodore Irion,
of St. Paul’s Evangelical church, delivered the invocation.
The Maennerchor
rendered a song in German, and the monument was disclosed to view, Miss Marianne Schurz, one of the daughters
of Carl Schurz, performing the ceremony.
Gen. C. R. Boardman presented the
gift in behalf of the donor, stating that Carl
Schurz was the greatest American of German birth this country had ever known. The response of acceptance for the city was
made by Mayor John Mulva, who emphasized the “wise
and generous philanthropy of that distinguished fellow citizen, who has done so
much to beautify our public places.”
Judge Emil Baensch, of Manitowoc, was the
principal speaker, his address being an eloquent tribute to Schurz, whom he
termed a type of active American citizenship, the immigrant, and whose
character and career he sketched in detail. Oshkosh Public Library Digital Collections
