DUBUQUE LIVING WAR MEMORIAL COMMITTEE

DUBUQUE LIVING WAR MEMORIAL COMMITTEE. As WORLD WAR II was coming to an end, a group of Dubuque residents formed an organization with the intention of having a war memorial established. Among the members of this group were Gerald "Red" MCALEECE, Orlin J. CONLON, Robert C. REILLY, and Meyer ZUCKERMAN. In October 1945 M. H. Czizek, a local attorney, explained his plan for a Dubuque Living War Memorial to a special meeting of the City Recreational Department. The plan called for the construction of a memorial that would be used for indoor and outdoor sports using a state statute authorizing such a project. Under the statute, a city could issue unlimited bonds to erect a memorial and take up to twenty years to pay off the debt. A. A. Rhomberg added that it might also be possible to raise money through the Federal Works Agency. (1)

The project was endorsed by the DUBUQUE TRADES AND LABOR CONGRESS in November. (2) The same month, Albin Anton RHOMBERG stated his belief that Dubuque was deficient in providing recreational opportunities. Chamber of Commerce President Frank L. Wagner stated that the proposed memorial should not be placed in competition with other civic improvements. (3)

In December, 1945 Clarence "Pants" ROWLAND, involved in the 1914 construction of the first municipal park in the United States in Dubuque, spoke at a luncheon for local businessmen called by the Living War Memorial committee. (6) By the end of December, it was established that the Living War Memorial committee was working to establish the stadium. (4)

In January, 1946 the stadium committee and the Living Memorial Committee were nearly identical in membership. That month the Reverend W. H. Hill suggested that the committee adopt the name "Living War Memorial" for the stadium. (5)

The idea of living memorials was not unique to Dubuque. The Junior Chamber of Commerce of Wilmington, Delaware in August, 1946 was actively seeking ideas. Representatives stated their interest in "a living memorial---not some stone monument, a a memorial that will mean something to us today and in the future." (6) In Milwaukee, a fund-raising campaign was opened to raise raise $320,000. The county's share was $128,200. There the living memorial was used to provide engineering scholarships at the state university. (7) On the second anniversary of his death, the president of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Foundation announced that a living memorial would be in the form of establishing a system of international scholarships. (8)

In May, 1950 the council put into motion activities that would lead to a municipal stadium. In a special session, the council learned that the park board could levy an extra 1.25 mill tax with a simple approval of the voters. After a positive vote, the park board could issue bonds backed by the income expected from the levy in Dubuque--estimated at $50,000 annually. The Iowa Supreme Court had ruled that a baseball stadium was among the improvements a park board could make on park property. (9)

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Source:

1. "Way to Attain Program Told," Telegraph-Herald, October 16, 1945, p. 15

2. "City Labor Group Supports Stadium, Telegraph-Herald, November 20, 1945, p. 17

3. Liska, Ed, "Second Guessing" (column), Telegraph-Herald, November 21, 1945, p. 27

4. 'Get Back to Baseball,' Rowland Advices (sp) Dubuque," Telegraph-Herald, December 18, 1945, p. 8

5. Liska, Ed, "Second Guessing" (column), Telegraph-Herald, December 20, 1945, p. 12

6. "Memorial Ideas Wanted," Telegraph-Herald, August 13, 1946, p. 9

7. "Bong Memorial Fund Campaign is Opened," Telegraph-Herald, September 12, 1946, p. 10

8. "FDR Memorial Rites Staged," Telegraph-Herald, April 13, 1947, p. 10

9. "Council Sets Up Stadium Plan," Telegraph Herald, May 23, 1950, p. 11