A Little Bit of History

[leeg]

The past is nice to revisit once in a while:

 

“THE gift of something like ten thousand dollars to the Hospital for Crippled Children in Chicago will mark the final distribution of the fund of pennies which was over-subscribed by the school children of the United States for the purpose of erecting a monument to General Lafayette of France. The name of Lafayette and the romantic part he played in the successful fight of the American colonies makes a strong appeal to the budding patriotism of school children, and it is small wonder that a fund for such a purpose extended beyond the amount desired.

 

 

Hon. Robert J. Thompson of Chicago, whose idea it was for the American school children to build this monument to Lafayette, is now consul at Sheffield, England, and as is often the case, has been up to this time almost without recognition (even to this day-LG) for his great work. There is now, however, a strong feeling that Mr. Thompson should be advanced to an important post in the French diplomatic service, because of his effective work in cementing the good feeling which exists between two nations.

 

In America, the Daughters of the American Revolution, who assisted in the contributions toward the memorial, have perhaps more appreciative of Mr. Thompson’s work than any other patriotic body, as the subject comes directly within their province. In writing Mrs. Luther Derwent, the chairman of the Daughters of the American Revolution, at Rockford, Illinois, Mr. Thompson recites for the first time the complete history of the erectio* of the Lafayette Memorial:

 

‘I first thought of a monument in Paris to Lafayette sixteen years ago. It came about in this way: The late William E. Curtis, in writing an article on the old cemeteries of Paris, gave a very interesting description of the Picpus Cemetery in the vicinity of the Place de la Nation. He incidentally referred to the fact that Lafayette was buried there by the side of his wife and that his grave was marked only by a plain granite slab, bearing no recognition from America, but that the place had become something of a pilgrimage for patriotic and curious Americans for whom a register was kept by the concierge. My attention was directed to this item by two things, both of which were conditions of my own mind, and which, in the final analysis, had no connection whatever with the patriotic ideas and sentiments with which I have been credited. I have been complimented, I presume, a thousand times in the press and personally, on the high and beautiful motives which prompted this undertaking. But I am going to tell you, for the Daughters of the American Revolution, and for the first time, just why and how I happened to think of this enterprise, one of the most successful, if indeed not the most successful of the kind ever undertaken. It was essentially selfish. While I was still a boy certain moral and family obligations made it appear to me fitting and necessary that I make a trip to Europe.

 

William E. Curtis. Correspondent for the Chicago Record-Herald and in 1891 Mr. Curtis was appointed chief of the Latin American Department and Historical Section of the World's Columbian Exposition, and was also the representative of the Department of State upon the Government Board of Management.

 

Without either money, profession, or business I had, like thousands of our young men, gotten married when I was little more than a boy, eighteen years of age, and we could not make the trip I intended without either money or position–So what was to be done? Ten years of work, perhaps more or less preparatory, but with no definite plan further than a fixed idea that I would succeed brought me no nearer to the realization of my ambition, so far as I could see, than I was at the beginning, until I read Mr. Curtis’ letter.

 

I organized the project of the Lafayette memorial and worked it out in every detail. I enlisted the ardent support of President McKinley and perfected the formation of the Lafayette memorial commission through the Commissioner General to the Paris Exposition, my friend, Mr. Ferdinand W. Peck, of Chicago. I spent about five thousand dollars in the preliminary work of the commission, which was afterwards returned to me. Something like two years had been spent in thinking the thing out, and six weeks of actual work was enough to bring it into the fullest fruition of achievement of achievement. In those six weeks over a million pieces of mail matter, circulars, programs for schools, addresses, etc., were sent out. The president and forty-three governors issued proclamations asking the schools to recognize the undertaking and to hold exercises on the nineteenth of October, 1898, as Lafayette Day. (This was the date of the fall of Yorktown).

 

Mr. Ferdinand W. Peck

 

The result was that nearly four million school children raised a fund on this day of over forty-five thousand dollars. The government appropriated fifty thousand souvenir Lafayette dollars for the fund. A premium of thirty-five thousand dollars, making from this one source eighty-five thousand dollars, was realized. The state of New York gave from its school fund ten thousand dollars and the Daughter of the American Revolution gave fifteen hundred dollars.

 

The fund amounted to about one hundred and forty-five thousand dollars. Mr. Paul Bartlett was the sculptor. He made eight or nine different studies, having commenced his work in 1898, and delivered the finished statue in 1908. Thomas Hastings was the architect. The dedication took place on July 4, 1900. The speakers were President Loubet, Ambassador Porter, Archbishop Ireland, Ferdinand W. Peck, Mrs. Manning and myself. I was appointed a special envoy (1900) to France by President McKinley and was the private guest of President Loubet at the Elysses Palace, the opera and theater.

 

Thus you see that when I launched the project it was not wholly due to patriotic feeling–it was in line with a belief that the man with a selfish motive, if the motive be square and worthy, is the man who generally meets with success.

 

It is not unlikely that the American people would view with especial satisfaction a proper recognition of Mr. Thompson’s work in his present field of activity, that is, his appointment to France, where through his though and tact we have laid the foundation and reared this great souvenir of our appreciation of the friendship of France at a time when friends were needed and when they were likewise scarce."

 

From: “National Magazine,” Affairs at Washington. September, 1913, p. 931-934.

 

 

[123cents]

Great read. Thank for posting it Lee!

[johnny9434]

hey thats a nice read

[leeg]

Appreciate it guys!

 

 

 

Grave site of Lafayette in the Picpus Cemetery in the vicinity of the Place de la Nation.

[rrantique]

Great read. Thank for posting it Lee!

 

(thumbs u

[leeg]