''The Hiker'' is a bronze statue created by

Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson Theodora Alice Ruggles Kitson (née Ruggles, January 29, 1871 – October 29, 1932), known as Theo A.R. Kitson, was an American sculptor. Life Theodora Alice Ruggles was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, to Cyrus W. and Anna H. Ruggles. As ...

. It commemorates the American soldiers who fought in the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

, and the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War, known alternatively as the Philippine Insurrection, Filipino–American War, or Tagalog Insurgency, emerged following the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in December 1898 when the United States annexed th ...

. The first version of it was made for the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 1906, but at least 50 copies were made, and were erected widely across the United States. "''The Hiker'' depicts a hero stripped of his parade uniform and shown as a soldier reacting to the challenges of the battlefield."Little, Carol Morris, ''A Comprehensive Guide to Outdoor Sculpture in Texas'', University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas 1996, p. 70.

Original

When she created ''The Hiker'', Kitson already had a reputation for sculpting war memorial statues. For the title of her work, Kitson used the term that American soldiers in both the Spanish–American War and the Philippine–American War gave themselves: "hikers". Leonard Sefing, Jr., a Spanish–American War veteran from

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

, was selected as the model for the statue after a photograph of him was entered into a national contest. The original statue was unveiled at the

on Memorial Day, 1906. The statue stands in front of the armory at 15 Church Street. Also known as the Student Soldier Memorial, it is a monument to the 218 University of Minnesota students who served in the

. The statue is tall and stands on a granite base, depicting a soldier clad in a period uniform with a

campaign hat A campaign hat, sometimes called campaign cover, is a broad-brimmed felt or straw hat, with a high crown, pinched symmetrically at the four corners. The campaign hat is occasionally referred to as a Stetson, derived from its origin in the company ...

and a

Krag–Jørgensen The Krag–Jørgensen is a repeating bolt-action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Norway, Denmark, and the United States. About 300 we ...

rifle. Today this statue, now missing the muzzle of the rifle, is popularly known as

Iron Mike Iron Mike is the '' de facto'' name of various monuments commemorating servicemen of the United States military. The term "Iron Mike" is uniquely American slang used to refer to men who are especially tough, brave, and inspiring; it was original ...

Locations

Kitson's work proved to be very popular, largely because of its realism and historical accuracy. In 1921, the Gorham Manufacturing Company, located in Providence, Rhode Island, bought the rights to the statue, and over the next 44 years Gorham cast at least 50 ''Hiker'' statues. The earliest installations tended to be in the northeastern United States, with post-World War II statues installed mostly in the South and West. Because of the wide distribution of the statues, they were used in a 2009 study measuring the effects of air pollution over the last century.

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hiker (Kitson), The 1906 sculptures Bronze sculptures in the United States Military monuments and memorials in the United States Spanish–American War memorials in the United States Sculpture series Sculptures of men Statues in the United States