The ''107th Infantry Memorial'' is an outdoor bronze sculpture and memorial located at the intersection of East 67th Street and

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

, in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States, which honors members of the 107th Infantry who died during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Created by the sculptor Karl Morningstar Illava (1896–1954), who "drew from his own experience serving as a sergeant with the 107th," according to the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, the sculpture cost an estimated $60,000 at the time of its construction, depicts the actions of seven World War I-era soldiers, and rests on a 25-foot-wide stepped granite base designed by architects Rogers & Haneman. It was donated by the Seventh Regiment New York 107th United States Infantry Memorial Committee, which was headed by C. I. Debevoise, former colonel and commanding officer of the 107th Infantry.

Design and construction

After deciding to make seven World War I-era soldiers the focus of his sculpture, sculptor Karl Illava worked with foundry experts at the Fond G. Vignali in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy to have the figures cast in bronze in 1927. According to the city's parks department website, Illava used his own hands as the model for the hands of his subjects, and staged the "doughboys" in a manner depicting motion, "advancing from the wooded thicket bordering Central Park, as if mounting a charge." The bronze work was then anchored to a

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

on a stepped pedestal of North Jay granite designed by Rogers & Haneman, architects. The sculpture itself is 9 feet by 11 inches high, 15 feet by 8 inches wide, and 10 feet deep while the pedestal is 7 feet, 7 tall and 32 feet, 8 wide. The inscription on the monument reads: "SEVENTH REGIMENT NEW YORK / ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH UNITED STATES INFANTRY / 1917 IN MEMORIAM 1918."

History

20th century

More than 5,000 people attended the dedication of the monument on September 29, 1927. The date was chosen to commemorate the 9th anniversary of the

Battle of St. Quentin Canal The Battle of St Quentin Canal was a pivotal battle of World War I that began on 29 September 1918 and involved British, Australian and American forces operating as part of the British Fourth Army under the overall command of General Sir Hen ...

during which the regiment attacked the

Hindenburg Line The Hindenburg Line (, Siegfried Position) was a German Defense line, defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in France during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to ...

. Speakers included Colonel

Hanford MacNider Lieutenant General Hanford MacNider (2 October 1889 – 18 February 1968) was a senior officer of the United States Army who fought in both world wars. He also served as a diplomat, the Assistant Secretary of War of the United States from 1925 ...

, the Assistant Secretary of War, New York State Senator William T. Byrne, Major General

John F. O'Ryan John Francis O'Ryan (August 21, 1874 – January 29, 1961) was a Manhattan, New York City attorney, politician, government official and military officer. He served as commander of the 27th Division during World War I. He later served as a memb ...

, and General Alexander S. Diven. The sons of two fallen members of the 107th, Captain Clinton E. Fisk of Company D and Captain Fancher Nicoll of Company L., unveiled the monument. When it was unveiled, many people speculated that the lead soldier was modelled after boxer

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1923 ...

, but " ficers of the regiment denied this, saying the sculptor merely had striven to emphasize the characteristic expression of the typical soldier in action" and the sculptor said the figure was based on advertising executive Paul Cornell. On

Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between th ...

1927, the 107th Infantry Post of the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

held a religious service and Rev. Peter E. Hoey placed a floral wreath at the memorial to pay tribute to the war dead. In October 1973, The Commanding officer, Sir Gregor MacGregor of the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Ki ...

, held a wreath laying ceremony at the statue to commemorate the units World War I service with the British Army.

21st century

In May 2024, pro-Palestinian protesters vandalized the memorial to protest the Gaza war. The memorial was graffitied and an American flag was burned in front of the statue representing an

Anti-American sentiment Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and po ...

among the protesters due to the

United States support for Israel in the Gaza war Following the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the outbreak of the Gaza war, the United States has provided extensive military, diplomatic, and financial support to Israel throughout the Gaza war. This included rapid deployment of wars ...

. Some Palestinian flag stickers were then placed on the memorial's base.

References

External links