From The Peopling of NYC

DeWitt Clinton Park

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(From Arts & Culture of Hell's Kitchen, New York City, DeWitt Clinton Park http://www.hellskitchennyc.com/dewitt.htm, Site visited 4/21/2007)

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(From Wikipedia: DeWitt Clinton, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DeWittClinton.jpeg, Site visited 4/22/2007)

DeWitt Clinton Park is one in a long line of public parks celebrating the achievements of unique individuals in New York's history. It was named after DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769–February 11, 1828), a prominent politician who is considered responsible for the creation of the Erie Canal, a historically vital transportation point that runs between and connects the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. Educated at Columbia University, Clinton would go on to work as secretary to then-governor of New York, George Clinton, who happened to be his uncle. Later, he would move onto the New York State Assembly and Senate until finally being elected as major of New York in 1803. He would serve as mayor from 1803 to 1807, followed by two more terms of 1808 to 1810 and 1811 to 1815. In 1817, DeWitt Clinton would become governor of New York and would preside over the opening of the Erie Canal, sailing the boat Seneca Chief across it during the ceremony.

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The statue featured here is a tribute to the "doughboys", a term that, although highly contested,, has been popularized in usage when referring to American soldiers. Itself featuring one such doughboy, the statue stands as a memorial to the causaulties of war as well as the honor and bravery that inevitably are part of it. Inscribed under the statue are a few lines from the poem Flanders Field by John McCrae, reproduced here:

If ye break faith; With those who died; We shall not sleep; Though poppies grow; On Flanders Field.

(From NYC Government Parks: DeWitt Clinton Memorial, http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=11973, Site visited 4/22/2007)

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