Built 1927 Sculptor Leonard Crunelle NRHP Reference # 86001089 Added to NRHP 30 April 1986 | Architect John A. Nyden MPS Black Metropolis TR Opened 1927 | |
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Location 35th Street and King Drive
Chicago, IL Address 3500-, 3518 S Martin Luther King Dr, Chicago, IL 60653, United States Similar Ida B Wells‑Barnett House, Heald Square Monument, Wabash Avenue YMCA, Delaware Building, Sydney Kent House | ||
The Victory Monument, created by sculptor Leonard Crunelle, was built to honor the Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, an African-American unit that served in France during World War I. It is located in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville District in the Douglas community area of Chicago, Illinois. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on September 9, 1998. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 30, 1986. An annual Memorial Day ceremony is held at the monument.
Contents
Description and history
The Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art describes the monument:
In 1908 while Aaron Montgomery Ward was contesting the land use law for Grant Park for a second time in the Illinois Supreme Court, the Art Institute of Chicago considered locating the Fountain of the Great Lakes at 35th Street and Grand Boulevard (the latter has been renamed as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive.) Instead, the Victory Monument was installed at this intersection.
The Bud Billiken Parade has for many years traveled along King Drive. In some years, the Parade has started at 31st and King and in other years it has started as far south as 39th and King Drive. It has often started very near this monument.
Features
The monument features 4 bronze panels and a sculpture of a soldier atop that was added in 1936. To the north of the monument is a court with 4 plaques in the large tilings. The plaques honor Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., Truman Gibson, Sr./Truman Gibson, Jr., Franklin A. Denison, & George R. Giles. To the south of the monument is a flagpole that flies the United States flag, Municipal Flag of Chicago, POW/MIA flag.