Life Letterbox LbNA #69630 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Feb 20, 2016 |
| Location: | Memorial Park |
| City: | Jacksonville |
| County: | Duval |
| State: | Florida |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Planted by: | As the Magpie Flies  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | Citroner |
| Last found: | Jan 6, 2017 |
| Status: | FFFam |
| Last edited: | Feb 22, 2016 |
Nowadays, the opening of a strip joint or adult video store might trigger a neighborhood uproar. About ninety years ago, it was a nude male statue in Riverside’s Memorial Park. The bronze image made its debut not long after World War I, or “The Great War,” as people called it prior to the even greater horrors of WWII. Unveiled on an overcast Christmas Day, 1924, “Life” depicted “the winged figure of youth,” a muscular character rising valiantly and victoriously above “the mad maelstrom of earthly passions.” Its message, though, flew over some heads of some Riverside residents. These critics felt that the figure’s undress proved too distracting, mocking community standards of decency. Although the statue is not nearly as graphic in detail as it could be, they believed that the figure went “the full monty,” in modern terms. Other opinions prevailed, however, and the sculpture has made its silent pleas for peace until today.
Surrounded by a fountain, “Life” memorializes the 1,200 soldiers from Florida who made the supreme sacrifice during the First World War. A St. Augustine sculptor, C. Adrian Pillars, began work on the statue in 1922. He drew inspiration from a sentimental war poem by soldier-poet Allan Seeger, a young New York native who enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and lost his life in WWI.
In spite of the statue’s obvious maleness, gossip claimed that a female had posed for most of it. Other rumors insisted that the model had been a driver for General John J. Pershing, the commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Force during WWI. Actually, the figure was based on the likeness of a 16-year-old high school football end from St. Augustine, Percy Reginald Palethorpe, Jr. His father, who hailed from England, was a retired busker, someone who sings, dances, or plays music in public, usually for donations. Percy’s mother was born in Kentucky, as was he. The 6’3”, 180 pound boy received $1 per hour for posing for “Life,” or about $10 in today’s money. Percy didn’t attend the unveiling. (Six years later, according to the 1930 census, he still lived in St. Augustine and worked as an engineer on a steam locomotive. He died in St. Johns County in 1965.)
Today, Life, is still a major draw in the Riverside area and has recently been renovated and restored. Take a stroll around the circular park and enjoy the river view, the ample green space, and the sounds of Riverside residents young and old enjoying some fresh air. When you find yourself at the foot of the statue, the St. Johns River its backdrop, head to your right along the path. You’ll eventually see a foam green maintenance building to your right, tucked away with trellises of ivy adorning its façade. They’ll be a concrete globe much smaller than the one featured in the fountain at one corner of the building. Looking at the side of the building that puts this globe to your left, pick the trellis on the left (closest to the globe) and look on the ground at it’s base, behind the ivy. There you’ll find a letterbox commemorating this park, these people, the beautiful artwork of Pillars, and of course, the male form that we’re lucky survived much more modest times.
Hike length: 0.5 miles
Surrounded by a fountain, “Life” memorializes the 1,200 soldiers from Florida who made the supreme sacrifice during the First World War. A St. Augustine sculptor, C. Adrian Pillars, began work on the statue in 1922. He drew inspiration from a sentimental war poem by soldier-poet Allan Seeger, a young New York native who enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and lost his life in WWI.
In spite of the statue’s obvious maleness, gossip claimed that a female had posed for most of it. Other rumors insisted that the model had been a driver for General John J. Pershing, the commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Force during WWI. Actually, the figure was based on the likeness of a 16-year-old high school football end from St. Augustine, Percy Reginald Palethorpe, Jr. His father, who hailed from England, was a retired busker, someone who sings, dances, or plays music in public, usually for donations. Percy’s mother was born in Kentucky, as was he. The 6’3”, 180 pound boy received $1 per hour for posing for “Life,” or about $10 in today’s money. Percy didn’t attend the unveiling. (Six years later, according to the 1930 census, he still lived in St. Augustine and worked as an engineer on a steam locomotive. He died in St. Johns County in 1965.)
Today, Life, is still a major draw in the Riverside area and has recently been renovated and restored. Take a stroll around the circular park and enjoy the river view, the ample green space, and the sounds of Riverside residents young and old enjoying some fresh air. When you find yourself at the foot of the statue, the St. Johns River its backdrop, head to your right along the path. You’ll eventually see a foam green maintenance building to your right, tucked away with trellises of ivy adorning its façade. They’ll be a concrete globe much smaller than the one featured in the fountain at one corner of the building. Looking at the side of the building that puts this globe to your left, pick the trellis on the left (closest to the globe) and look on the ground at it’s base, behind the ivy. There you’ll find a letterbox commemorating this park, these people, the beautiful artwork of Pillars, and of course, the male form that we’re lucky survived much more modest times.
Hike length: 0.5 miles