Mourning Doughboy
Standing at the center of the Franklin Town Common is the town’s World War I memorial, often referred to as the “Mourning Doughboy“. Dedicated in 1929, the monument honors the 423 men from Franklin who served during the First World War, including the 13 who lost their lives. The memorial captures a deeply reflective moment. The bronze soldier stands at rest with his helmet lowered before him and his rifle grounded at his side. This posture conveys the emotional weight carried home from war,
The sculpture is believed to be a casting of My Buddy, a work created by noted sculptor Joseph P. Pollia, an Italian- born artist who became nationally recognized for his war memorials during the 1920s and 1930s. Pollia developed a style that emphasized the inner emotion of soldiers rather than battlefield action. Franklin’s memorial is one of several castings of this design found across the country. Pollia’s work reflected the changing mood that followed World War I, when communities across America sought memorials that acknowledged sacrifice.
The “Mourning Doughboy” represents a memory of an entire generation of young men whose lives were forever changed by the First World War.
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Spanish-American War Memorial
Among the memorials on the Franklin town common, ist his mounted naval style gun and plaque commemorating Franklin residents who served in the Spanish-American War of 1898. The gun is a direct physical reminder of how warfare was changing at the turn of the twentieth century, when modern naval power began reshaping America’s role in […]
Welcome Sign
One of the things that makes Franklin unique among American towns is proudly displayed on this welcome sign: it is the home of the nation’s first public library. The story begins in 1778 then the town, newly incorporated, chose to name itself after Benjamin Franklin. The citizens asked Franklin for a bell for their town […]
Gettysburg Address Boulder
On the Town Common in Franklin sits the Gettysburg Address Boulder, one of the town’s meaningful Civil War Memorials. Dedicated in 1913 by the Grand Army of the Republic Post 60, an organization of Union veterans who served during the Civil War. This is the first monument that I have seen that has the full text of […]
