Theodore Roosevelt Memorial (Portland, Oregon)

Lost monument and sculpture in Portland, Oregon

Theodore Roosevelt Memorial

45°30′49″N 122°40′27″W﻿ / ﻿45.5135°N 122.6741°W﻿ / 45.5135; -122.6741
Location| Portland, Oregon, United States
Designer| Oliver L. Barrett
Material| Tufa
Height| 18 feet (5.5 m)
Completion date| 1939
Dedicated to| Theodore Roosevelt and Spanish–American War veterans
Dismantled date| 1942

The Theodore Roosevelt Memorial is a lost monument and sculpture commemorating the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, as well as veterans of the Spanish–American War. It was originally installed in Portland's Battleship Oregon Park (now part of Tom McCall Waterfront Park). Designed by American artist Oliver L. Barrett, the 18-foot (5.5 m) memorial was erected in 1939, but disappeared in 1942 after being relocated temporarily during the construction of Harbor Drive. It featured a geometric tufa statue depicting a man not resembling Roosevelt, as well as a smaller realistic bas relief of him. The monument initially received a generally unfavorable reception, but was considered one of Barrett's best-known artworks.

## Description

[edit]

Dubbed the "Colossus of Portland", the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial was designed by Oliver L. Barrett (1892–1943), a sculptor and professor at the University of Oregon. The 18-foot (5.5 m) tall monument was made of Central Oregon red tufa,[1][2] weighed 16 short tons (15,000 kg), and commemorated veterans of the Spanish–American War.[1][3]

The monument featured a statue of a man not resembling Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States. According to Barrett, the modern work was "not designed as a likeness of Roosevelt or anyone else", but was rather "an attempt to symbolize his indomitable spirit—fighting, but constructive".[1][3] According to Grant Butler of The Oregonian, "The statue wasn't a likeness of Roosevelt, but was a more generic figure that was meant to embody his spirit and determination, and was sculpted in the modern style".[4] Barrett carved a smaller realistic profile of Roosevelt into the memorial's left side.[1] An inscription on the base read: "Our nation holds in its hands the fate of the coming years".[4] The monument has been described as "fascistic" because of its "severely geometric" contours.[1][5]

## History

[edit]

The memorial was commissioned by Spanish–American War veterans wanting to commemorate Roosevelt.[6][7] On July 17, 1938, The Oregonian published the University of Oregon's announcement of the project, which confirmed Barrett's ongoing work at the Central Oregon rock source, near Bend, Oregon. The university said Barrett was creating a "heroic" statue of a "symbolic, robed figure, holding a sword" for the park's entrance, and confirmed the monument had a depiction of Roosevelt on one side and a memorial legend on the other.[6] The announcement said the statue would be 14 feet (4.3 m) tall and capture "the spirit of courage, determination and audacity that accompanied the battleship Oregon on its historic dash and that inspired Theodore Roosevelt and his gallant men in the Spanish–American war".[6] According to The Oregonian, the monument was erected "at the behest of the late Jay H. Upton, Bend attorney, the funds being derived from a residue of an appropriation to defray expenses of a Spanish–American war veterans' convention several years ago".[8] Upton had also served as department commander of United Spanish War Veterans, a veterans' organization for the Spanish–American War, Philippine–American War, and China Relief Expedition.[2]

The monument was installed in Battleship Oregon Park in 1939, just south of the Hawthorne Bridge. The area is now part of Tom McCall Waterfront Park (pictured in 2012).

The memorial was installed in Battleship Oregon Park in February 1939,[7] just south of the Hawthorne Bridge by Southwest Jefferson Street (now part of Tom McCall Waterfront Park).[1][3] Following the installation, E. C. Sammons, chairman of the Battleship Oregon Memorial Fund, said he wished to "do away" with the monument.[1][5] In 1941, he submitted a proposal to replace the memorial with the Skidmore Fountain,[5][8] but both sculptures remained in their respective locations.

The construction of Harbor Drive required the artwork to be relocated temporarily.[1][3] Workers were supposed to cut the monument into pieces and prepare them to cross the Willamette River for storage at the Stanton Yard facility. However, the memorial disappeared in 1942, and its exact method of removal and current whereabouts remain unknown.[3] City officials attempted to locate the sculpture without success, and contemporary historians and art admirers have continued to search for answers.[1] Portland did not maintain a record of public art at the time, and the memorial was not inventoried. Some local Spanish–American War veterans inquired about the monument's whereabouts. According to The Oregonian, "On the whole they apparently didn't think too highly of the memorial as art, but they nevertheless were a bit put out that the city had misplaced it".[1] City officials considered moving Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider (1922)—Alexander Phimister Proctor's equestrian statue of Roosevelt installed in the South Park Blocks—to the site previously occupied by the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial, but nothing came to fruition.[1][7]

In 1972, the city's property-control officer Don Eckton recalled, "I think I remember it cracked when they were taking it apart... It wouldn't surprise me a bit if it isn't underneath that highway", referring to Harbor Drive.[1] Amy Platt, digital history manager at the Oregon Historical Society, has shared: "One theory is that it was demolished in place and buried in pieces in the park. Another is that some unknown person offered to haul it away and put it in a bunker somewhere."[1]

## Reception

[edit]

The memorial was reportedly an "instant landmark" upon its installation and a site not to be missed by visitors to downtown Portland.[1] The Oregonian called the artwork "a man-sized controversy".[1] Critics described the monument as "a Frankenstein's monster", "a monstrosity", and "bad art".[5] Others said the statue was "stately" and resembled Benito Mussolini, the 27th Prime Minister of Italy.[1][2][7] In 1945, following Barrett's death in 1943, Hermione Bain of The Register-Guard said the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial was one of the artist's best-known public artworks, along with Shemanski Fountain in Portland's South Park Blocks.[9] The Oregonian published in 1983:

Some critics said the memorial's statue resembled Benito Mussolini (pictured).

> When in February of '39 [Barrett's] work was unveiled ... the figure proved to be a massive, 14-foot-tall hunk of tufa, cubistically planed. What's more, rather than the heroic president it purported to honor, it resembled no less an anti-hero than Mussolini. The timing, with the Axis war boiling toward our shores, couldn't have been worse. 'A monstrosity!' the public roared. 'A Frankenstein!' The berated monster didn't hang around long. In 1941, during the reconstruction of the marine park, it was found necessary to move him temporarily to warehouse quarters. Though it would seem hard to lose such a massive man-stone, it was the last the figure was ever heard of or seen.[10]

In 2017, Douglas Perry of The Oregonian described the memorial as "one of Portland's lost public-art masterpieces (or grotesque curiosities, depending on one's artistic taste)".[10] The newspaper's Grant Butler included the monument in his overview of "14 Portland treasures trashed in the name of progress", and wrote, "if you look closely, it actually bears closest resemblance to the art deco figure of Academy Award trophies".[4] Perry called the work "striking" in his 2018 overview of "29 only-in-Portland people and places you'll never see in the Rose City again".[3] In 2019, he wrote: "The memorial was not well received... Most Portlanders shrugged when they learned the memorial had disappeared, if they learned about it at all. This was the statue, after all, that had been derided as 'uncommonly ugly' and 'apropos of nothing,' and it hadn't been around long enough to grow on people."[1] Perry also opined:

> Maybe Barrett's Theodore Roosevelt Memorial was ugly. Maybe its style did not fit its time. But it was a large-scale piece by a well-known Oregon artist, and it honored war veterans and one of America's greatest presidents. The monument, whatever critics thought of it, was arguably Barrett's most ambitious undertaking. Its disappearance deserved more than a collective shrug.[1]

## See also

[edit]

* Cultural depictions of Theodore Roosevelt
* List of Spanish–American War monuments and memorials

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Perry, Douglas (January 10, 2019). "What happened to Portland's 'fascist' Theodore Roosevelt Memorial? Mystery remains years later". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
2. ^ a b c "Oliver L. Barrett Dies at Age of 50". The Bend Bulletin. August 11, 1943. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
3. ^ a b c d e f Perry, Douglas (November 14, 2018). "29 only-in-Portland people and places you'll never see in the Rose City again". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
4. ^ a b c Butler, Grant (July 2017). "14 Portland treasures trashed in the name of progress". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on September 24, 2019. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
5. ^ a b c d "Skidmore Left a Fountain... and a Controversy". The Sunday Oregonian. November 9, 1941. p. 85.
6. ^ a b c "Heroic Statue to Honor Ship". The Sunday Oregonian. July 17, 1938. p. 47.
7. ^ a b c d Gleason, Norma Catherine (January 23, 1983). "The Portland Public Art Tradition". The Sunday Oregonian. p. 130.
8. ^ a b "Battleship Oregon Park Seeks Skidmore Fountain". The Oregonian. September 30, 1941. p. 1.
9. ^ Bain, Hermione (March 1, 1945). "Barrett Sculpture Exhibited". The Register-Guard. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
10. ^ a b Douglas, Perry (February 2017). "A disappearing president, the real face of 'Portlandia': The fascinating history of 25 Portland public-art gems". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on September 15, 2019. Retrieved September 28, 2019.

* v
* t
* e

Public art in Portland, Oregon

Sculptures

* 118 Modules
* Ainu and Native American power boards
* Allow Me
* Alluvial Wall
* Along These Lines
* Artwall
* Ascension
* Awning
* Bell Circles II
* Broken Wall Memorial
* Brushstrokes
* Burls Will Be Burls
* The Burnside Nest
* Bust of York†
* Cairns
* Capitalism
* Cat in Repose
* Chinatown Gateway
* City Reflections
* Constellation
* Continuation
* Contact II
* Coraline's Curious Cat Trail†
* Da Tung and Xi'an Bao Bao
* Daddy Long Legs
* David Campbell Memorial
* Dog Bowl
* Driver's Seat
* Echo Gate
* Electronic Poet
* Facing the Crowd
* Farewell to Orpheus
* Festival Lanterns†
* Floribunda
* Folly Bollards
* Fountain to a Rose†
* Friendship Circle
* From Within Shalom
* Garden Wreath
* Ghost Ship
* The Green Man of Portland
* Heart Beacon
* Holon
* Host Analog
* Howard's Way
* Ideals
* In Honor of a Lifetime of Sexual Assault†
* In the Shadow of the Elm
* Interlocking Forms
* Inversion: Plus Minus
* John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial
* Kerf
* Korean Temple Bell
* Kvinneakt
* Leland I
* Lewis and Clark Memorial Column
* Liberty Bell
* Little Prince
* Mago Hermano (Brother Wizard or Magician)
* Memory 99
* Mimir
* Nash
* Nepenthes
* Nightmare Elk†
* O Cruceiro
* Oregon Landscape
* Oregon Holocaust Memorial
* Oregon Irish Famine Memorial
* Passage
* Peace Chant
* People's Bike Library of Portland
* Perpetuity
* Pod
* Portland Immigrant Statue
* Portlandia
* The Promised Land†
* The Quest
* The Responsibility of Raising a Child
* Ring of Time
* The Rippling Wall
* River Legend
* Royal Rosarian
* Running Horses
* Salmon Cycle Marker
* The Scout
* Sculpture Stage
* Silicon Forest
* Silver Dawn
* Soaring Stones
* Solar Wreath
* Spanish–American War Soldier's Monument
* Spanish–American War Veterans Memorial†
* Stack Stalk
* Stratum
* Streetcar Stop for Portland
* Talos No. 2
* Tecotosh
* Terra Incognita
* Theodore Roosevelt Memorial†
* This All Happened More or Less
* Thor
* Three Figures
* Tikitotmoniki Totems
* Transcendence
* Tree of Life
* Triad
* Trio
* Trigger 4
* Unfolding Rhythms
* Untitled
* Killmaster
* Morrison
* West
* Upstream Downtown
* Urban Hydrology
* Uroboros
* Velosaurus
* Ventana al Pacifico
* Victory Bell
* Voices of Remembrance
* Water, Please
* We Have Always Lived Here
* Weather Machine
* Whistlestop for an Organ Teacher
* Wind Gate
* Winter Rider No. 2
* Yankee Champion
* You Are Here

| Fountains|

* Animals in Pools
* Charles Frederic Swigert Jr. Memorial Fountain
* Chiming Fountain
* The Dreamer
* Essential Forces
* Fountain for Company H
* Frank E. Beach Memorial Fountain
* Keller Fountain
* Lovejoy Fountain
* Loyal B. Stearns Memorial Fountain
* Memorial Fountain
* Pioneer Woman
* Salmon Street Springs
* Shemanski Fountain
* Skidmore Fountain
* Thompson Elk Fountain†

|

Portrait
statues|

* Paul Bunyan
* Captain William Clark Monument
* Coming of the White Man
* The Dream
* Benjamin Franklin
* Thomas Jefferson
* Joan of Arc
* Vera Katz
* Abraham Lincoln†
* Oddo Memorial
* Sacajawea and Jean-Baptiste
* Harvey W. Scott†
* Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider†
* George Washington†
* York: Terra Incognita

Murals

* Black Lives Matter street mural†
* Capax Infiniti
* Conduit
* The Continuity of Life Forms
* George Floyd mural†
* The Knowledge
* Lovejoy Columns
* Never Look Away
* Oregon History
* Packy mural†
* Portland Memorial Mausoleum Mural
* Tri It
* We Stand with You
* Women Making History in Portland
* Woodstock Mural

Related

* A Donkey, 3 Rocks, and a Bird.
* Art collection of Oregon Health & Science University
* Benson Bubbler
* Black Lives Matter art
* Elkhorn
* Fathom (art installation)
* Graffiti in Portland, Oregon
* Horse rings
* Martini glass sign
* Robot Alley
* Santa Clones

Key: † No longer extant or on public display

* v
* t
* e

Theodore Roosevelt

* 26th President of the United States (1901–1909)
* 25th Vice President of the United States (1901)
* 33rd Governor of New York (1899–1900)
* Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1897–1898)
* New York City Police Commissioner (1895–1897)

Presidency
(timeline)|

* First inauguration
* historic site
* Second inauguration
* Foreign policy
* "Square Deal"
* Booker T. Washington dinner
* Conservation
* Newlands Reclamation Act
* Transfer Act of 1905
* Antiquities Act
* Pelican Island
* Devils Tower National Monument
* Muir Woods National Monument
* United States Forest Service,
* United States Reclamation Service
* National Wildlife Refuge System
* Roosevelt Arch
* Conference of Governors
* Northern Securities Company breakup
* court case
* Coal strike of 1902
* Pure Food and Drug Act
* Food and Drug Administration
* Meat Inspection Act
* Expediting Act
* Elkins Act
* Hepburn Act
* Aldrich–Vreeland Act
* Tillman Act of 1907
* Federal Employers Liability Act
* Kinkaid Act
* Big stick ideology
* Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty
* Panama Canal Zone
* Panama Canal
* Venezuelan crisis
* Roosevelt Corollary
* Occupation of Cuba
* Russo-Japanese War
* Treaty of Portsmouth
* 1906 Nobel Peace Prize
* Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907
* Army War College
* Roosevelt Hall
* College football meetings
* Bureau of Investigation
* Department of Commerce and Labor
* Bureau of Corporations
* Keep Commission
* Inland Waterways Commission
* Bureau of the Census
* Great White Fleet
* Perdicaris affair
* Cabinet
* White House West Wing
* State of the Union Address, 1901
* 1906
* 1908
* White House desk
* Federal judiciary appointments

Other
events|

* Spanish–American War
* Rough Riders
* Battle of Las Guasimas
* Battle of San Juan Hill
* "Bull Moose" Progressive Party
* New Nationalism
* Assassination attempt
* Boone and Crockett Club
* Smithsonian–Roosevelt African expedition
* "River of Doubt" Amazonian expedition

Life and
homes|

* Birthplace, boyhood home replica
* Sagamore Hill Home and Museum
* Maltese Cross Cabin
* Elkhorn Ranch
* Pine Knot cabin
* New York State Executive Mansion
* Gravesite

Writings
and speeches|

* Theodore Roosevelt bibliography
* The Naval War of 1812 (1882 book)
* "The Strenuous Life" (1899 speech)
* League to Enforce Peace
* "Citizenship in a Republic" (1910 speech)
* "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual" (1912 post-assassination-attempt speech)
* Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography (1913 book)
* The Forum magazine articles
* Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia
* Archival collections

Elections|

* 1898 New York state election
* Republican National Convention: 1900
* 1904
* 1912
* 1916
* United States presidential elections: 1900
* 1904
* 1912

Legacy|

* Bibliography
* Mount Rushmore
* Mount Roosevelt
* Theodore Roosevelt Center and Digital Library
* White House Roosevelt Room
* Theodore Roosevelt National Park
* Theodore Roosevelt Wilderness
* Theodore Roosevelt Island
* Roosevelt National Forest
* Roosevelt Park (San Antonio)
* Roosevelt Study Center
* Theodore Roosevelt Association
* Mount Rushmore Anniversary coins
* Statues
* New York City
* Portland, Oregon
* Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park
* Monument Assemblage
* Theodore Roosevelt Monument
* Roosevelt Memorial, Portland, Oregon
* Proposed presidential library
* Theodore Roosevelt United States Courthouse
* Roosevelt River
* Theodore Roosevelt Bridge
* Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge
* Theodore Roosevelt Award
* SS President Roosevelt
* USS Theodore Roosevelt (1906, 1961, 1984)
* Roosevelt Road
* U.S. postage stamps

Popular
culture|

* Teddy bear
* "Speak softly, and carry a big stick"
* Books
* Films
* Terrible Teddy, the Grizzly King, 1901 film
* The 'Teddy' Bears, 1907 film
* Roosevelt in Africa, 1910 documentary
* The Rough Riders, 1927 film
* Teddy, the Rough Rider, 1940 film
* Rough Riders, 1997 miniseries
* The Roosevelts, 2014 documentary
* Theodore Roosevelt, 2022 miniseries
* Elkhorn, 2024 series

Related|

* Political positions
* "Bully pulpit"
* Ananias Club
* "Nature fakers"
* League to Enforce Peace
* A Guest of Honor
* "Muckraker"
* "Roosevelt Republican"
* Barnes vs. Roosevelt libel trial

Family|

* Alice Hathaway Lee (first wife)
* Edith Kermit Carow (second wife)
* Alice Lee Roosevelt (daughter)
* Theodore Roosevelt III (son)
* Kermit Roosevelt (son)
* Ethel Carow Roosevelt (daughter)
* Archibald Roosevelt (son)
* Quentin Roosevelt (son)
* Theodore Roosevelt IV (grandson)
* Cornelius V. S. Roosevelt III (grandson)
* Quentin Roosevelt II (grandson)
* Kermit Roosevelt Jr. (grandson)
* Joseph Willard Roosevelt (grandson)
* Edith Roosevelt Derby (granddaughter)
* Theodora Roosevelt (granddaughter)
* Theodore Roosevelt Sr. (father)
* Martha Bulloch Roosevelt (mother)
* Anna "Bamie" Roosevelt (sister)
* Elliott Bulloch Roosevelt (brother)
* Corinne Roosevelt (sister)
* Cornelius Roosevelt (grandfather)
* James Stephens Bulloch (grandfather)
* James Alfred Roosevelt (uncle)
* Robert Barnhill Roosevelt
* Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (niece)
* Gracie Hall Roosevelt (nephew)
* Pete (dog)

* ← William McKinley
* William Howard Taft →

* ← Garret Hobart

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Features|

* Ankeny pumping station
* Friendship Circle
* Japanese American Historical Plaza
* Salmon Street Springs
* Sculpture Stage
* Visitors Information Center

Events|

* Bite of Oregon
* End Domestic Terrorism rally (2019)
* March for Science Portland (2017)
* Oregon Brewers Festival
* Portland Rose Festival
* Portland Saturday Market
* Waterfront Blues Festival
* Women's March on Portland (2017)

Transit|

* Burnside Bridge
* Hawthorne Bridge
* Morrison Bridge

Related|

* Harbor Drive
* Portland (steam tug 1947)
* Portland Public Market
* Theodore Roosevelt Memorial (1939–1942)
* USS Oregon (BB-3)

* Category

Portals:

* Oregon
* Visual arts

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template