4. A Statue in Pelham Bay Park Commemorates Soldiers from the Bronx Who Died in WWI
Architect and landscape architect, John J. Sheridan, designed the Bronx Victory War Memorial in partnership with sculptors Belle Kinney and Leopold Schultz. The memorial honors the 947 soldiers from the Bronx who fought and died in World War I. Sheridan had a personal connection to the project, having served as an infantry captain during the war. The memorial itself includes a plaza and terrace with a 75-foot tall Corinthian column, topped with a bronze victory figure. The plaque at the statue’s base reads “A Grateful City Erected This Shaft to the Glorious Memory of its Bronx County Sons Who Gave Their Lives For Their Country in the World War.” The memorial was erected in 1932 and dedicated in September 1933. Local officials attended and spoke at the ceremony, including Mayor John P. O’Brien, Bronx Parks Commissioner Thomas J. Dolen and former acting mayor Joseph V. McKee.