Juneau Park Will Finally Get Its Sword

Spirit of Service. Photo courtesy of Juneau Park Friends.

There is a curious granite cube in Juneau Park. Its appearance is not monumental, like its towering neighbors, the statues of Solomon Juneau and Leif Erickson. What with its inscriptions in Gothic script and rusticated surfaces, it appears funereal. Furthering the tombstone analogy, it even bears a date: August 1926.

That’s when the Loyal Knights of the Round Table, a luncheon group founded by lawyers, dedicated the “Spirit of Service,” which is what they named this 1.76-billion-year-old, 3-foot cube of red granite, which happens to be the Wisconsin state rock. The south face is inscribed in Gothic lettering:

𝔗𝔬 𝔰𝔶𝔪𝔟𝔬𝔩𝔦𝔷𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔖𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔖𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔦𝔠𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔲𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔄𝔲𝔤𝔲𝔰𝔱 1926

The west face, which could use a good scrubbing, informs us that:

𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔠𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔷𝔢𝔫 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔡𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔢𝔪𝔟𝔬𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔩𝔬𝔶𝔞𝔩 𝔰𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔦𝔠𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔢𝔫𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔬𝔫 𝔩𝔦𝔣𝔢

The east side, which is in fine shape, perhaps bathed by lake breezes, offers this counsel from an ancient:

ℌ𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔨𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔟𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔰𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔢𝔰 𝔥𝔦𝔪𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔣 / 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔫𝔬𝔟𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔪𝔬𝔱𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔬𝔫 𝔤𝔬𝔬𝔡 : 𝔙𝔦𝔯𝔤𝔦𝔩

Finally, we get to the north side, dedicated to the memory of:

𝔏𝔬𝔶𝔞𝔩 𝔎𝔫𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔶𝔢 ℜ𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 𝔗𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔄.𝔇. 512

We get the message: Service clubs were all the rage a century ago, and as the Jazz Age chipped away at social niceties, the lofty ideals of the high Victorian era struggled to retain their place amongst the common people. But something appeared to be missing, for the center of the top of the monument holds a 7-inch-deep by 2-inch-diameter hole.

Lost to Theft Eight Decades Ago, Replica to Be Installed

Rendering with sword. Rendering courtesy of Juneau Park Friends.

The monument was inspired by Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, composed between 1859 and 1885. That’s where we learn about the Knights of the Round Table, Merlin, King Arthur, Camelot, the Lady of the Lake and — Excalibur, the sword embedded in a rock.

There had once been such a sword in said rock, and it didn’t even last 20 years.

The sword was gone by 1947, when the monument was mentioned in a news article that did not clarify how long ago it had been stolen. But a suitable replacement will be installed later this year thanks to the Juneau Park Friends group and the intrepid research of Chris Rute, AIA, RIBA, who, since his retirement from the city of Milwaukee, has excelled at finding historical things that need preservation. It was he who sounded the alarm on the possible demolition of the Alonzo Robinson-designed Central City Plaza and nominated it successfully for preservation.

The alphabet that follows his name stands for his accreditation by the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Institute of British Architects. The latter is a nice touch for this project.

According to a press release:

“Juneau Park has always been a place where Milwaukee’s history, culture, and public ideals come together. … Restoring the Spirit of Service Monument allows us to honor a unique piece of Milwaukee’s heritage and ensure that its message endures for the next century.”

To Be Fabricated Locally

Vanguard Sculpture Services of Milwaukee will manufacture the sword, which will be topped with a 2-inch pommel (“with a simple crosshatch design, or other as requested”), a 5-inch grip (“leather look”), an 8-inch-wide guard, and 5 inches of a 2 5/8-inch blade sticking out of the slab, with a sturdy mounting apparatus in the hole.

We are assured that the artifact will be a “bronze casting as one continuous piece from top to bottom, alloy 873.”

Alloy 873!

Although the sword will not be the original, the artisans have selected a period-appropriate alloy for its composition, as the “Everdur” alloy was developed by the metallurgists of the DuPont Chemical Company in the 1920s. Apparently the silicon mixed with the bronze produces a metal known for its “great corrosion resistance, high strength and fluid casting,” and is widely used in the casting of art objects and maritime applications.

A.D. 512?

The mythical King Arthur was a 12th-century legend. The year 512 is often cited by fraternal groups in their emblems, pins and other paraphernalia.

Where and When?

The “Spirit of Service,” still without its sword but soon to get it, sits directly across from the former University Club on the east side of N. Prospect Avenue and E. Wells Street, about 25 feet from the sidewalk. A date has not yet been set for the dedication.

Spirit of Service Monument

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