Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider on February 15, 2010
In the center of the next block, between Jefferson and Madison, is this 18-foot tall bronze statue on a 14-foot California granite base of Theodore Roosevelt on horseback in the uniform he wore during the charge up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War.
Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider on February 15, 2010
Like the Lincoln statue, this statue was also presented to the city by Dr. Henry Waldo Coe, who met Roosevelt in 1884 in North Dakota and was a personal friend and an admirer of Roosevelt's politics until his 1919 death.
Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider on February 15, 2010
Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider was sculpted by Alexander Phimister Proctor in 1922.
Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider on February 15, 2010
Then Vice President of the United States Calvin Coolidge broke ground for the statue in August 1922, and the statue was unveiled on November 11, 1922. The statue was dedicated to the children of America. This block is now called Roosevelt Square.
Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider on February 15, 2010
A plaque on the base contains the text of the dedication in Hermann Hagedorn's Theodore Roosevelt: A Biographical Sketch from 1919:
HE WAS FOUND FAITHFUL OVER A FEW THINGS AND HE WAS MADE RULER OVER MANY. HE WAS FRAIL; HE MADE HIMSELF A TOWER OF STRENGTH. HE WAS TIMID; HE MADE HIMSELF A LION OF COURAGE. HE WAS A DREAMER; HE BECAME ONE OF THE GREAT DOERS OF ALL TIME. MEN PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIM; WOMEN FOUND A CHAMPION IN HIM; KINGS STOOD IN AWE OF HIM, BUT CHILDREN MADE HIM THEIR PLAYMATE. HE BROKE A NATION'S SLUMBER WITH HIS CRY, AND IT ROSE UP. SOULS BECAME SWORDS THROUGH HIM; SWORDS BECAME SERVANTS OF GOD. HE WAS LOYAL TO HIS COUNTRY, AND HE EXACTED LOYALTY; HE LOVED MANY LANDS, BUT HE LOVED HIS OWN LAND BEST. HE WAS TERRIBLE IN BATTLE, BUT TENDER TO THE WEAK; JOYOUS AND TIRELESS, BEING FREE FROM SELF-PITY; CLEAN WITH A CLEANNESS THAT CLEANSED THE AIR LIKE A GALE, HIS COURTESY KNEW NO WEALTH OR CLASS, NO CREED OR COLOR OR RACE. HIS COURAGE STOOD EVERY ONSLAUGHT OF SAVAGE BEAST AND RUTHLESS MAN, OF LONLINESS, OF VICTORY, OF DEFEAT. HIS MIND WAS EAGER, HIS HEART WAS TRUE, HIS BODY AND SPIRIT DEFIANT OF OBSTACLES, READY TO MEET WHAT MIGHT COME. HE FOUGHT INJUSTICE AND TYRANNY; BORE SORROW GALLANTLY; LOVED ALL NATURE, BLEAK PLACES AND HARDY COMPANIONS, HAZARDOUS ADVENTURE AND THE ZEST OF BATTLE. WHEREVER HE WENT HE CARRIED HIS OWN PACK, AND IN THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE EARTH HE KEPT HIS CONSCIENCE FOR HIS GUIDE.
Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider on February 15, 2010
There is a much newer Cultural District plaque at the statue as well, reading:
In October 1999, the Cultural District Council lit the South Park Block statues, including Phimister Proctor's Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider in honor of John E. Buchanan, Jr., of the Portland Art Museum, and Chet Orloff, of the Oregon Historical Society, for their inspired cultural leadership.
Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider on February 15, 2010
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