On Wednesday, November 11, 2020, New Yorkers observed Veterans Day. Until 1954, the annual November 11th observance had been known as “Armistice Day” commemorating the day and hour World War 1 hostilities ceased: the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. 

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11th as the first commemoration of Armistice Day. In 1926, the U.S. Congress resolved that “…the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations.” Armistice Day became a federal holiday by an Act of Congress in 1938.  In 1954, Congress changed the holiday to “Veterans Day” in order to account for all veterans in all wars.

In our blog commemorating Veterans Day last November [link], writer Stuart Marques explored the fascinating history of New York City’s “….elaborate welcome home events for our soldiers and the generals who led them, and often riotous celebrations.” This year we will examine a quieter tribute, the Eternal Light Flagstaff memorial monument. Located in Manhattan’s Madison Square Park, the memorial honors the United States Army soldiers and Navy sailors who fought in World War I. 

Like most New York City celebratory events of that era, Grover Whalen orchestrated the “Illumination Day” activities. Appointed by Mayor Hylan as the city’s official greeter in 1919, Grover Whalen had the idea to throw ticker-tape receptions for returning World War I soldiers and to continue the practice for distinguished guests over the next three decades. Famous for his top hat and the carnation he always wore in his lapel, Whalen presided over more than 1,000 public events, and organized more than 150 ticker-tape parades before he retired in 1953.

Department store magnate Rodman Wanamaker, a confidante and ally of Whalen, had donated the $25,000 cost of the flagstaff. On Illumination Day Wanamaker set alight the star on the flagstaff, and in brief remarks, said “. . .We are gathered here today to thoughtfully recall the valiant deeds of those who make it possible that our nation might be saved. We are here in memory of those who will never be here, but whose sacrifice has made possible our country’s preservation.”

After the ceremony, the New York Times reported that Wilson and Randolph Hearst, the 7-year-old twin sons of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, distributed cigarettes to the disabled soldiers, who later rode in trucks in the Armistice Day parade up to the Central Park mall.

The Municipal Archives’ collections of Whalen materials provides ample documentary evidence of Whalen’s organizational skills. No detail was too small. The papers in his collection related to the Eternal light illumination on November 11, 1923 are typically extensive.

Architect Thomas Hastings (1860-1929), of the firm Carrere and Hastings, designed the monument. Paul Wayland Bartlett (1865-1925), a student of French master sculptor Auguste Rodin, sculpted the decorative bronze cap at the base of the flagstaff including garlands and rams heads. The star-shaped luminaire at the top of the pole is intended to be lit at all times as an eternal tribute to those who paid the supreme sacrifice. 

According to the Department of Parks and Recreation, the original wooden flagstaff, towering 125-feet tall, was said to be hewn from a century-old tree culled from “the virgin forests of Oregon and transported over the Rocky Mountains.” The monument has been repaired and upgraded on several occasions. In 1976, the original wooden flagstaff was replaced with a metal mast. In 2017, the Madison Square Park Conservancy refurbished the luminaire, and in 2018 removed the fences that had confined the monument and redesigned the surrounding plaza. The Eternal Light continues to serve as the site where the annual citywide official Veterans Day ceremony takes place and the Veterans Day parade embarks up Fifth Avenue.