...
Paul Phillipe Cret
photograph from
The Providence Journal, January 29, 1996

.....As a memorial to the Rhode Island soldiers who died in World War I, a one-hundred and fifteen feet high, fluted Westerly granite shaft was erected in 1929. After six years of disagreement between the city council and mayor over the location and design of a monument in commemoration of Providentians lost to the war, the design of French born architect Paul Cret finally won a competition held in 1926. Professor of design at the University of Pennsylvania, Cret was drafted into the French army while vacationing in Europe and therefore fought for France during WWI. After surviving the conflict, he completed many designs including the Ben Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia, and the Federal Reserve building in Washingon, D.C. Cret's designs also include many war memorials throughout the US and Europe. The competition for the WWI memorial in Providence was conducted under the code of the American Institute of Architects with Henry H. Kendall of Boston acting as professional advisor. Submissions for the competition included a modern design by William Lescaze. Construction of the monument was authorized by the council on June 25, 1927, and the monument was dedicated on Armistice Day, November 11, 1929, when Post Office Square was renamed Memorial Square.

.....The monument stands on a base inlaid with four bronze plaques designed by Cret and cast by the Gorham company. The plaques portray airplane, battleship, tank, and machine gun. The top of the shaft has band of stars which, juxtaposed with the fluted lines of the column, represent the American stars and stripes. A personified female figure of Peace, designed by Paul C. Jennewein and carved by Fiorator, stands atop the column. On the lower part of the column is a memorial frieze with figures in relief, symbolizing citizen virtues. Inscribed above the frieze are the names of of major battles in which the citizens of Rhode Island fought. The plinth is comprised of four large faces which are inscribed with the city’s dedication of the monument, and quotations by Lincoln, Wilson, and Emerson. Following a structural design feature of the 1920's, the stone sections of the monument were engineered to support one another.According to William H. Jordy, although the column itself has a classical motif, Cret's design was not really classical. The fluting is very broad, modern tendencies. According to Elizabeth G. Grossman, Cret's intention was that it should not to be apparent when viewing the monument "what its message is -- the glory of war or the grief of lives lost in it." Cret believed "it was the function of the architect to provide people with a place to think for themselves.

WWI Memorial in front of Licht Judicial Complex
image from The Providence Journal, January 29, 1996
photograph by Timothy C. Barman

.....The placement of the memorial was in part a response to the need for visual improvement in the area, which was destroyed by the construction of an elevated railroad to the East Side train tunnel in 1908. The original site was also chosen so that the monument could visually unify the surrounding streets. This area between Post Office square and the foot of College hill was a difficult site, and Cret wrote in 1927 that "We tried a lot of different forms...On the very irregular lot, I thought that a round shaft was the best solution, and I tried to make it a little interesting at least in detail." Cret had previously expressed that the principal aspect of a monument was to "have it suitable for the site." According to Grossman, the WWI Memorial was of the few times Cret designed a single column for a war memorial, a fact which displays that he was responding to the difficulty of the site. The single column not only provided a focal point to the streets, but also responded to the domes, cupolas, and spires of its surroundings. Grossman wrote, "The monumenet acts like a lighting rod, collecting the icons of Providence."...

.....In the 1886, however, the monument was taken down to accomodate the downtown river relocation project, and in 1995 was reassembled in front of the Licht Judicial Complex. The architect who selected the new site, William D. Warner, prefered the small square to the traffic of the old site. Unfortunately, it has been expressed that in its the new site the memorial does not interact with the cupolas, domes, and spires of Providence as much as before. The memorial's current place in the Gardner-Jackon or Memorial Park, however, overlooks the new riverwalk park on the Providence River. The park embraces the World War I memorial as well as a Korean War Memorial, a sculpture onoring the explorer Giovanni da Verrazano. The WWI memorial remains open and approachable from all four directions.

.....Recently, the park has become a public space during Waterfire events for which the Astronomical Society of Southern New England sets up telescopes for public viewing.

sources:

Cady, John Hutchins, The Civic and Architectural Development of Providence, Providence: Akerman Standard Press, 1957

Castullucci, John, "The man behind the WWI Monument," The Providence Journal, Providence, R.I.: January 29, 1995

Freeman, Robert & Lasky, Vivienne, Hidden Treasure: Public Sculpture in Providence, Providence: Rhode Island Bicentenial Foundation, 1980

Imbrie, Katherine, "Urban oases: Parks, gardens and even a library to help you escape the Providence whirl," The Providence Journal. Providence, R.I.: Jul 26, 2001.

Van Siclen, Bill, "WaterFire is still hot, despite funding fears," The Providence Journal. Providence, R.I.: Oct 18, 2003.