Polk County Doughboy Memorial

Description

One example of E.M. Viquesney’s “Spirit of the American Doughboy” statues, located in Bolivar, Missouri. It is made from pressed copper, and has a copyright stamp of 1920, attributed to Walter Rylander, business partner to Viquesney. It was dedicated on November 11, 1925, a large parade and celebration were held in conjunction with the dedication. The statue was unveiled by the sister of a fallen Polk County WWI Veteran, Ruth Keeling in honor of her brother Howard. The American Legion Post in Bolivar was named for Howard Keeling as well. Like the Pettis County Viquesney Doughboy, this example included an attribution to Walter Rylander, copyright 1930. There are only a handful of these Doughboy statues with such a stamp designation, and was the result of Viquesney having to temporarily having to transfer the rights to his work to avoid a copyright lawsuit filed against him by Jules Berchem who operated a foundry out of Chicago Illinois, and claimed the “Spirit of the American Doughboy” was taken directly from John Paulding’s statue titled, “Over the Top”. Viquesney would later regain the rights and attributions to his work, by Rylanders copyright stamps remain in place for a few Viquesney Doughboys.

Information obtained from the E.M. Viquesney Doughboy Database