When the Peabody Memorial to Soldiers was dedicated, in 1924, most of the men it honored for military service during World War I were still alive. Indeed, many were less than a decade removed from their classroom days at Peabody High School.
Today, no veterans of what they called the Great War remain anywhere. And the building that housed Peabody High School is now called Obama Academy. But the memory of those alumni is still honored there, thanks in large part to that memorial's restoration in time for its centennial.
The memorial’s unveiling took place Thu., May 30 — 100 years to the day after its dedication. The long-neglected bronze monument depicts seven heroic figures facing outward in a circle around a flagpole. It has been cleansed of its green corrosion and black patina, and the missing right hand of one of the seven figures — the figure of Victory — has been replaced.
“It’s beautiful. I’m so thrilled,” said Bob Creo, the 1970 Peabody graduate who, in 2020, began the push to restore famed artist Frank Vittor’s sculpture. The school district calls the statue “the most significant … piece of public art” at a city school.
Creo was one of a few hundred people at the re-dedication, including Mayor Ed Gainey, state legislators and several city councilors, not to mention more than 100 Obama students and a 75-member school choir who attended on a sunny Thursday.
Like so many things, the restoration project was derailed by the pandemic, and by Creo’s move to Florida. But about a year-and-a-half ago, it was championed anew by James Hill, a history buff and former aide to Mayor Bill Peduto who’d spent some time at Peabody when he was a student at Schenley High.
Hill co-chaired the renovation campaign with Matthew Falcone, president of Preservation Pittsburgh. The nonprofit group served as fiscal sponsor for the project, which grew to include an extensive renovation of the outdoor quad where the statue stood, along East Liberty Boulevard.
Hill said he believed a restored monument would be appreciated most in an outdoor classroom/lounge space that students liked using. The area — located outside the school’s original main entrance, with its four landmark Ionic columns — is now outfitted with nine tables with picnic umbrellas.
Ultimately, the whole project cost about $200,000, with some $20,000 of that going toward restoring the monument.
“I’m so happy and proud, and more honored that the kids are going to be able to have a nice space now,” said Hill.
Falcone said the funds came from some 1,000 donors, including a few local foundations and the families of some of those whose names are on the monument.
Students who spoke at the ceremony included co-class presidents and graduating seniors Isaiah Trumbull and Mariah Gaines.
Trumbull said learning about the history of the project literally changed his life. He noted that among the hundreds of names on the memorial, the most famous was likely that of Malcolm Cowley, the writer, editor and member of the “Lost Generation” who played a big role in the careers of writers like Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner. After graduating from Peabody, Cowley attended Harvard before leaving to drive ambulances and munitions trucks for the French army.
Trumbull said Cowley’s experience had inspired him: He, too, will be attending Harvard and commissioning in the army.
“For students, this memorial inspires us to reflect and dedicate ourselves to work in service of the community and the nation,” Trumbull said.
The memorial was restored over a period of three weeks by Michael Belman, of Fine Art Conservation Services LLC.
Belman said he used air abrasion to strip the corrosion and patina from the bronze, then layered on tinted transparent lacquer to protect it. To replace the Victory figure's missing right hand, Belman cast its left hand and reversed it. The newly fabricated hand was bolted on.
Victory’s right hand is bestowing a laurel upon the figure of a soldier with a sword. Other figures in the sculpture include: Columbia (a now-archaic personification of the United States) blowing a horn to summon a soldier to duty; a mother saying goodbye to her uniformed son; and Immortality, a hooded figure in a somber posture.
“The allegorical figures are gorgeous and poignant,” Belman said. “The figures are beautifully gestural.”
“It really was worth putting the energy into bringing back its full dignity,” he added.
Vittor was born in Italy but lived most of his life in Pittsburgh. In his time, he was renowned nationally. His best-known works here include the Honus Wagner statue outside PNC Park and the controversial statue of Christopher Columbus in Schenley Park (whose fate has been debated in various courtrooms ever since Pittsburgh's art commission voted to remove it in 2020). Vittor's other war monuments include the limestone World War II memorial in Morrow Park, on Baum Boulevard.
Last Thursday’s event also included the Obama Academy choir’s inaugural performance of the school’s first alma mater song, “Eagle Pride,” composed by school’s music director, Aisha Sharif-Lucas.
Peabody High was founded in 1911. It was renamed the Barack Obama Academy of International Studies in 2012.
