My first article, “Twice Uprooted Dick Dowling Statue May Be Moved Again,” was from the April 27, 1958, issue of the Houston Chronicle. It was about the brief history of the Dowling statue and it also talked about the decision-making process that went into the present location of the statue. The site that had been selected by City Parks and Recreation was apparently a site desired by the Hermann estate for a future statue of Hermann. Thus, Director of City Parks and Recreation, Gus Haycock, selected an alternate location. The article talked about the original location of the statue in front of the Old City Hall and its move to Sam Houston Park. At the time of the article, the statue was in a storage facility at Hermann Park. A former City Councilman, Tom Needham, of Irish descent, was disappointed about the new location chosen for the Irish hero. Needham expressed his discontent when he said, ” I don’t want him (the statue) shoved in some obscure corner of the park.” At the end of the article it credits Dowling for his feat at Sabine Pass and stated that he died in 1867. It also credits the Ancient Order of Hibernians as the organization who presented the Dowling statue, but based on our previous research we know otherwise. The statue was actually a combined effort of the Dick Dowling Monument Association, which was comprised by the Dick Dowling Camp of the U.C.V., the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and the Emmet Council, a catholic organization. This brings up the point I referred to in my last blog post about these groups struggle to have recognition for the statue and the way they wanted Dowling to be remembered.
My second article was from The Confederate Veteran in the November 1902 issue. It is very brief and it is an announcement of the creation of the Dick Dowling monument. It will be erected at the corner of Main Street and McKinney Avenue in Houston, Texas. Col. Philip H. Fall “easily” raised the sum of $250 for the monument and additional funds will be collected in the near future. Sculptor Frank Teiche, of San Antonio, designed the monument that would be unveiled on Jefferson Davis’ next birthday June 2, 1903. We know that the statue was not unveiled until 1905. I wonder if this was an error in recording the correct date or it was actually meant to be unveiled in 1903 and was delayed until 1905? This article was so brief that it does not answer any of our previous questions but it does raise this new one about the date of the unveiling of the statue.
Concerning article A there was no major news being reported that day but I did see a story about the honoring of one of the two remaining survivors of the Civil War. The man was reported to be turning 113 and the President was going to be in attendance. This makes me believe that the Civil War was still in the recent memory. The location of the article was in the middle of the issue of the Chronicle and was printed above the daily crossword. This makes me question how important the actual move of the statue was to many people at that time. It could be that the Civil War was still in the memory, but not as important or apparent in many people’s minds. I believe that the decline in the memory of Dowling has continued to decrease over time. I am a clear example of that, I am a born and raised Houstonian and had never heard once about Dick Dowling.
On a side note, I just wanted to say that I enjoyed this assignment because (A) I had never used the microfilm machine and thought that was really neat. Great resource that is available to us and (B) It was neat looking through The Confederate Veteran