Then and Now: Spokane’s Lincoln statue erected in time to honor living Civil War veteran
1930: Flags are draped over the tall statue of Abraham Lincoln at Main Avenue and Monroe Street as the crowd waits for the unveiling on Armistice Day in 1930. A telegraph signal sent from President Herbert Hoover in Washington initiated the lifting of the shrouds to reveal Alonzo Victor Lewis’ 12-foot sculpture of Lincoln while as many as 40,000 people watched. Armistice Day, marking the cessation of World War I in 1918, was renamed Veterans Day in America in 1954, after a campaign led by World War II veterans when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the change into law. (Spokesman-Review photo archives)
Armistice Day in 1930 brought a massive crowd to downtown Spokane to see the unveiling of the Abraham Lincoln statue at Main Avenue and Monroe Street. It had been a long time coming.
The Lincoln Memorial Association formed to commission a bronze of Abraham Lincoln to honor members of the Grand Army of the Republic, the fraternal organization of Union soldiers from the Civil War, while some were still alive.
They commissioned artist Alonzo Victor Lewis , who was born in Utah in 1886. He had studied art in Chicago and lived in Spokane briefly between 1911 and 1915 before moving on to Tacoma, then the Seattle area. In 1915, he had created a 10-foot statue of Lincoln for a Tacoma high school. Two years later, he was still trying to get paid the $4,500 he had bid for the job. It was unveiled at Lincoln High School on Feb. 12, 1918, the former president’s 110th birthday.
Starting in 1919, Lewis began teaching at the University of Washington.
While Lewis would become known for public art of heroic figures, he was often struggling to pay his bills and avoid debt collectors.
Spokane organizers wanted a 12-foot Lincoln that Lewis said would cost $25,000. Although contracts were signed around 1922, the project languished for years in Lewis’ studio as Spokane volunteers struggled to raise the money.
Fundraisers were still hoping to honor the last of the Civil War veterans still living. With 1930 as the target date, the fund was still $7,800 short in March of that year. They were in danger of forfeiting the much-anticipated work. A fall deadline kicked off a summer of intense fundraising. Finally, Lewis sent a letter in August that the statue had been cast in New York and was on a train to Spokane from the foundry. The fund was still short by $169.38, but that money had been pledged and would be collected soon.
Lewis had sculpted the president reviewing his troops with a Union overcoat draped over his shoulder.
Robert R. Stewart, 84, attended the dedication of the statue from his home in Davenport, Washington. He was 18 when he served in the 150th Illinois volunteers in 1865. He was the last living member of his GAR unit.