News Items from The Kansas City Journal ~ Old News That's New to You from Vintage Kansas City.com

January 27, 1910

MONUMENT TO GEN. PRICE.

Will Be Erected in Independence by

Daughters of the Confederacy.

A monument to General Sterling Price will likey be erected within a short time on the east side of the Independence court house by the Independence chapter, Daughters of the Confederacy. Yesterday afternoon a delegation from the chapter went before the county court seeking permission, which was granted, providing the monument erected would be an ornameantal one.

Labels: Civil War, county court, Independence, statues

June 16, 1909

GIVEN TO GARFIELD SCHOOL.

Col. Fleming Presents Bronze Tablet

of Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech.

The class day exercises of Garfield school will be held tonight at the Independence Boulevard Christian church. A feature of the exercises will be the presentation to Garfield school of a bronze tablet containing Lincoln's Gettysburg address The address will be made by J. A. Runyan, industrial commissioner of the Commercial Club, and the tablet will be accepted on behalf of the Kansas City board of education and the Garfield school by General Milton Moore, who will also present the certificates of graduation to the seventy-five students graduating this year. The tablet is 18x25 inches of bronze, and was presented to the school by Colonel Fred W. Fleming. It will probably be placed in the main hall way of the enlarged Garfield school before the opening of the fall term in September.

A committee consisting of Colonel Fleming, chairman; Judge John G. Park, Fred C. Adams, J. M. Fox, Rev. Dr. G. H. Combs and E. C. Meservey, representing the Northeast Improvement Association, took the matter up with the board of education about a year ago of needed improvements to the Garfield school building. The board has purchased 100 feet of ground lying east of the present building on which an addition will be erected during the coming summer, and the entire school building renovated inside and out.

Labels: Abraham Lincoln, churches, Judge Park, Northeast, schools, statues

June 3, 1909

5,000 SEE THE MEYER

MEMORIAL UNVEILING.

MANY TRIBUTES TO THE FIRST

PRESIDENT OF THE PARK BOARD.

Addresses by Leon Smith, Henry D.

Ashley and Mayor Crittenden.

Cord Releasing Flag Pulled

by Phillip Meyer.

At the unveiling yesterday afternoon of the bronze and marble memorial in honor of August R. Meyer, first president of the park board, at the Paseo and Tenth street, a drowed of 5,000 persons witnessed the ceremonies. Members of the Meyer statue comittee, Mayor Thomas T. Crittenden, Leon Smith, president of the Commercial Club, and business associates and friends of the man whose memory was to be honored, rode to the scene of the memorial services in carriages. Chief of Police Frank Snow headed the processoin with a detachment of mounted police, followed by Hiner's band and Company K, of the Third regiment, national guards. Colonel Cusil Lechtman, attended by the majors and captains of the regimennt, rode in advance of the guards.

Before the arrival of the parade the crowd had gathered in front of the statue and locked traffic on Tenth street. Many women and children were in the crowd, and when the mounted police turned west on Tenth street from the Paseo the pushing back of those in the middle of hte street crushed the smaller children, and women begged the police to help them out of the jam.

A raised platform had been erected on each side of the statue, which his located on the Paseo grounds just north of and facing Tenth street. The committee occupied the platform and Mrs. Meyer accompanied by her children and friends sat in an au tomobile in front of the statue. Following a selection by the band Leon Smith made an address in which he told of the services rendered by Mr. Meyer in whose honor the shaft was erected.

FATHER OF PARK SYSTEM.

The subject of the bronze portrait in relief which adorns the marble statue was the father of the park system in Kansas City. He was not only president of the first park board, but was also president of the Commercial Club, which was instrumental in securing the statue. A few days after the death of Mr. Meyer, December 1, 1905, the Commercial Club met and instituted a popular subscription for a monument to the memory of one of Kansas City's foremost men. The amount to be raised was placed at $25,000. Daniel Chester French, the great American sculptor of New York was selected to do the relief. It is the fist monument ever unveiled by this city.

Henry D. Ashley, an old friend of Mr. Meyer's, spoke for three-quarters of an hour in eulogy of the man, whom he declared had done more for the beauty of Kansas City than any other one man. He said that his friend was not only interested in beautifying Kansas City, but was prominent in every public enterprise and civic improvement. Following Mr. Ashley an address was made by Mayor Crittenden. He said, in part:

TRIBUTE BY MAYOR.

"The biting frost of death does not kill the fruit of patriotism. It bears on everlastingly. Thee handiwork of Washington is still our daily benefit, and the richest asset of Lincoln's life will pay dividends from generation to generation. While our distinguished townsman August R. Meyer, sleeps, grateful multitudes are daily reaping harvests of bloom and bower and flower and fountain, children of his busy brain. In life he gave abundantly the best he had -- his talents; in death we give him freely the best we have -- our gratitude.

"This great citizen, forerunning his time, saw wisely that the modern city must not confine itself merely to commerce, but must beautify as well; that it must not only have stores and banks and lawns, where the rich and the poor could enjoy the health giving sunlight and pure fresh air."

Labels: Commercial Club, Mayor Crittenden, military, music, parades, Park board, Paseo, Police Chief Snow, statues, Tenth street

April 6, 1909

MONUMENT TO A. R. MEYER.

Sculptor Here to Discuss Unveiling,

Which May Take Place May 7.

Daniel Chester French, sculptor and designer of the monument to be erected to the memory of A. R. Meyer, first president of the park board, on the Paseo near Twelfth street, was here yesterday to consult with the committee of the Commercial club in regard to the unveiling. The members. The members of the committee are: E. M. Clendening, Frank A. Faxon, William Barton, H. D. Ashley, C. J. Schmelzer and George Kessler. The committee and Mr. French visited the site of the memorial and practically decided on May 7 as the date of the unveiling.

The sculptor said that the bronze statue was about finished and would be here in about two weeks. It will be seven and a half feet in height and will be supported by a bronze background.

Mr. French said that it was his second visit to Kansas city and he spoke in admiration of the parks and boulevards. He left for New York last night.

Labels: Commercial Club, Edwin Clendening, Frank Faxon, George Kessler, New York, Park board, Paseo, statues, Twelfth street

February 7, 1909

STATUE FOR THOS. H. BENTON.

State to Be Asked to Appropriate

$25,000 Towards It.

Aided by the representatives in the legislature from Jackson county, the Daughters of the American Revolution will ask for an appropriation of $25,000 from the state with which to erect a monument in honor of Thomas Hart Benton. The monument is to be located in one of the public parks in Kansas City.

A committee representing the society met yesterday in the office of State Senator M. E. Casey, with the entire Jackson county delegation in the legislature. The members of the legislature agreed to work for the appropriation.

As Jackson county has never asked for a state appropriation, not having a state institution of any kind within its borders, the representatives believe the appropriation can be secured.

If the amount is secured the bill provides that the money shall be spent under the direction of the governor, state auditor and the regent of the society.

Labels: arts, organizations, statues

November 27, 1908

WANTS DRINKING FOUNTAIN.

Humane Society Secretary Favors

One at the Junction.

To the Journal:
I am glad to see that the long talked of public comfort station seems in a fair way to become a certainty; also that a statue, or ornament of some kind will probably be placed at the Junction. This is a very favorable location for something of that kind, as it could be seen for several blocks from east, west and south. The ornament should, therefore, be imposing and significant.

In connection with the station and ornament there should also be placed in the vicinity of the Junction, and close on the sidewalk, a drinking fountain, for persons only, where the thirsty, at all times, day or night, might obtain a cool refreshing drink of pure water. This fountain should be placed so as to be accessible from the sidewalk, at proper distance from the station, and arranged so as to drain through it. The two fountains erected by the Humane Society, one at Fourth and Broadway, the other at the western terminus of our great intercity viaduct, are proving great conveniences for horses and dogs. Now let the city do as well for thirsty humans, as this seems a favorable opportunity. -- F. M. FURGASON, Secretary Humane Society

Labels: fountains, Humane Society, public works, statues, the Junction

July 7, 1908

SWOPE STATUE AT THE GATE.

Likeness of Donor to Grace the Entrance.

On recommendation of Member George W. Fuller yesterday the board of park commissioners decided to begin negotiaions through the Commercial Club for a statue of Colonel Thomas H. Swope to be erected at the entrance to Swope park. The Commercial Club recently became interested in a statue of the donor of the park, and has asked the board to assist in its purchase.

Labels: Commercial Club, statues, Swope park, Thomas Swope

April 25, 1908

MEYER STATUE WILL

STAND ON PASEO.

SITE IS CHOSEN BETWEEN NINTH

AND TENTH STREETS.

BRONZE STATUE TO BE ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF A. R. MEYER ON THE PASEO, BETWEEN NINTH AND TENTH STREETS.

After spending almost the entire day yesterday going over the boulevards and through the parks of the city, the members of the Meyer statue committee, together with Daniel Chester French, the sculptor, late yesterday agreed upon a point on the Paseo between Ninth and Tenth streets, for the location of the bronze statue to be erected of the late A. R. Meyer, first president of the park board. The statue will be near the south end of the block and will face toward the south. The immediate surroundings for the statue will be decided upon by the park board.

This will be the first public statue to be erected in Kansas City, and will be in honor of the man to whom perhaps more credit is due for the splendid park and boulevard system for which Kansas City is now noted, than any other.

The model for the monument was sent ahead by Mr. French with the request that it not be opened until his arrival. It was first opened at 10 o'clock yesterday morning in the Commercial Club rooms, in the presence of Mr. French and the members of the statue committee. The model was unanimously accepted by the committee and, on recommendation of that body, was later accepted by the city art committees. A committee composed of E. M. Clendening, H. D. Ashley and Frank A. Faxon was named to frame a suitable inscription for the base of the monument.

The monument consists of a main structure of Knoxville marble fifteen feet in height, about seven feet in width and two feet in depth from front to back, resting on a base of the same material about ten by six feet.

The monument is surrounded by an ornamental cap, and the main stone, containing the portrait of Mr. Meyer, is supported by an ornamental stone, resting on the base proper. The portrait of Mr. Meyer will be in bronze, let into the main stone of the monument, and will show a figure seven and a half feet in height. It has been the endeavor of the sculptor to suggest Mr. Meyer as the originator of the park system, and he is represented as standing out of doors with his right hand resting on an open map, which lies upon a marble Pompeian table. The left hand holds a pair of field glasses, and a tree under which he is standing is introduced at the right.

Mr. French will remain in Kansas City until tonight. He expects to have the statue finished in about a year.

Labels: arts, Commercial Club, Edwin Clendening, Frank Faxon, Ninth street, Paseo, statues, Tenth street, visitors

June 1, 1907

HOME IS FOUND FOR VENUS.

Statue Will Be Placed in Rotunda of

the Grand Hotel.

The beautiful replica of Venus Genetrix, which has been resting temporarily in the park board rooms of the public library, Kansas City, Kas., waiting action of the school board regarding its disposition, will find place in the new Grand hotel, Sixth street and Minnesota avenue, Monday. After the rejection of the statue by the board, W. J. Buchan, its donor, cast about for a more appreciative donee, and finally decided on J. B. Hoober, the lessee of the hotel, for the recipient of the gift.

Hoober was delighted with the piece of art work. He said yesterday that he had long been an admirer of Venus Genetrix and had called up Mr. Buchan directly after the rejection of the statue had been made known, offering to place it in the rotunda of the hotel.

In the Grand the Venus will be mounted on a rosewood pedestal twenty-eight inches high, with the face inclined toward the stairs leading to the parlor floor rotunda from the offices. On both sides are large mirrors, so placed as to reflect its snowy whiteness into the waiting rooms, and it will be further set off by red rugs on the floor and orange tapestries hung especially as background.

There was a great deal of talk in Kansas City, Kas., yesterday concerning the action of the board in rejecting the statue. Before 9 o'clock at least 100 people had visited the park board rooms and throughout the day groups of ten or twelve were gathered around the gilded couch of the reclining goddess. The approving comments that were passed might have been sufficient to raise a blush even to that brow of stone.

In the afternoon a committee of business men, instigated my Henry McGrew, one of the trustees of the Grand hotel, who had been instrumental in getting the statue for the hotel rotunda, visited Venus. They were unanimous in declaring it artistic and not immodest.

Labels: arts, hotels, Kansas City Kas, libraries, Minnesota avenue, statues

May 31, 1907

CHANCE FOR VENUS

SCHOOL BOARD WILL PASS ON

QUALIFICATIONS MONDAY.

NOW KEPT IN SECLUSION

PARK BOARD MEMBER AND EN-

GINEER EXPRESS VIEWS.

Both Call It a Perfect Work of Art --

Mr. Buchan, the Donor, Says

Cleveland Accepted a Sim-

ilar Statue Without a

Single Blush.

Venus Statue at Center of Library Controversy

THE STATUE OF VENUS GENETRIX REJECTED BY

THE KANSAS CITY, KAS. SCHOOL BOARD.

The fate of the statue Venus Genetrix, now reposing in the basement of the public library in Kansas City, Kas., will in all probability be finally decreed at Monday night's meeting of the board of education. The members of the board who have been keeping this particular piece of art in seclusion ever since its presentation by Senator W. J. Buchan, will be asked to render their final decision at the next meeting. It is understood that a large number of lovers of art will attend Monday night's meeting and try to convince the board that by turning down the gift it will be depriving the library of a valuable and beautiful work of art. Leading citizens are manifesting much concern in the matter. The majority of them are in favor of giving Venus the most conspicuous location in the library building.

George Kessler, landscape architect, who has been employed to lay out a park and boulevard system in Kansas City, Kas., examined the statue at a recent meeting of the Kansas City, Kas., park board and pronounced it a most beautiful work of art.

PERFECT WORK OF ART.

J. P. Angle, a member of the park board, to whose office the statue was consigned by the park board, says that he has never gazed upon a more perfect work of art.

"While I do not put myself up as a critic in statuary," said Mr. Angle yesterday, "yet I have visited many art galleries, and from the collections of fine art I have seen I am frank to say I I do not believe I could pick a more beautiful piece of statuary than that which the school board has rejected."

Nathaniel Barnes, former postmaster, in speaking about the statue says that no one with a spark of love for the fine art could find the slightest objection to Venus. However, he suggests that if the school board is in doubt as to the propriety of accepting the gift and giving it a proper place in the library building, a commission might be appointed to determine its worth as a piece of fine art and also decide whether or not it should be exhibited in the library.

Mr. Buchan, the donor of the statue, in speaking about his gift and the subsequent action of the school board, said:

"I think the whole affair is too ridiculous to discuss. I went over to Italy, in my trip around the world, and while there did not forget my home town. I saw this beautiful statue in the original at Rome and bought the fine replica I presented to the board of education in Florence. I made a special trip to Florence to get the piece and paid $450 for it. It cost in transportation another $100.

FUNNY TO BUCHAN.

"For the life of me, I can't understand the aversion of the school board for the statue. A man who was making the trip with me got a similar one for the library at Cleveland, O., and he tells me there were no objections from growing young people there.

"The funniest thing about the deal is that the excuse of the board is that young girls and boys who see the statue may have read Ouida's book in which it is criticized. Now, I may be wrong in my judgement of immoral things, but I think a girl or boy who reads Ouida's proscribed books can not be injured much by looking on the4 excellent piece of art work she condemns."

W. E. Griffith, a member of the board, said yesterday that the statue was too nude to be placed in the rotunda of the library, if not in a collection of such pieces.

"I am not prudish," said Mr. Griffith, "but I am opposed to tempting girls and boys who have not reached the age of discretion, to make remarks and draw inferences. The statue was given to us in good faith, but it is unfit. We can not help that. We are only sorry we can not use it out of courtesy to Mr. Buchan. The statue would not be half so suggestive if there was no drapery at all."

WOMEN NOT DISPLEASED.

Attorney Edward Barker, 713 Minnesota avenue, who has taken considerable interest in the disposition of the Venus, yesterday conducted a party of women, including his wife, to the park board rooms where the statue is stored temporarily awaiting further action of the school board.

"What do you think of it?" Mr. Barker asked them.

"Oh, it is just lovely," they answered in chorus.

Afterward, all of the women said they would not be ashamed to have the Venus installed in their parlors or hallways.

"The school board is trying to out-Comstock Comstock," is the way Attorney Barker expressed his opinion of the action of that body regarding the Venus.

Labels: architects, arts, George Kessler, Kansas City Kas, libraries, Minnesota avenue, statues