Controversy surrounded Bowdoin’s World War I monument from the moment it was conceptualized, and debate began about what type of commemoration it should be: a window, a swimming pool, a monument? Even once the committee settled on the idea of a physical monument, they cycled between different versions, notably a rostrum, before settling on a flagpole after more than a decade of on-and-off deliberation. By 1930, the internal conversations around the flagpole were about funding—one alumnus’s brother donated $187 to have the flagstaff memorialized specifically for him.
The most notable flagpole controversy, however, is related to the placement of the memorial. On April 12, 1930, about half of the student body moved the soon-to-be-erected flagpole shaft from its proposed location in the middle of the quad, into the chapel in what the April 16 copy of the Orient called an “EPIC MIDNiGHT DEMONSTRATION.” The protest ended up having an effect—the flagpole’s location ended up where it is now, rather than the proposed spot. So, what do these controversies tell us about the memorial, but more important Bowdoin itself—both the student body and the institution?
The most important thing about the debates surrounding funding and memorial type is that these issues dominated the conversations between members of the committee. Letters back and forth over those ten years reveal a group of people who seemed more focused on the money and logistics than the men being commemorated. Of course, a certain degree of planning is bound to be involved in any memorial—however, it must be noted that remembrance of the dead Bowdoin men played very little role in decisions surrounding the memorial.
The student protest was inarguably illogical. The memorial’s location was one of the few consistent details from the early days of the committee, and the student body waited until it was practically already being built to take up issue with it. However, we must also note that after years of failing to acknowledge the role of those being commemorated, Sills and the committee were suddenly concerned about the students disrespecting the fallen men. Alumni like William P.F. Robie sent angry letters to Sills, expressing protest against “the alleged insult of Bowdoin students against the memorial for our fallen soldiers.” Sills’ response to Robie calls the Orient’s article “facetious,” and says that “the whole incident could be regarded in the light of those student pranks that happen so frequently.” In the Orient article he refers to, however, the editors explicitly address this idea, writing that “this was something more than a wild prank.” Scrawled on the walls of the chapel, still remaining to this day, are the words “Night of the Great Revolution.” The student protest, while perhaps short-sighted, was indeed a revolution—and the Bowdoin institution denigrated that revolution. While the revolution may have technically succeeded, the controversy reveals a divided campus in 1930. Perhaps this complex portrait of Bowdoin gives more insight into the college’s values than the flagpole itself.
References
Anderson, Patricia McGraw. The Architecture of Bowdoin College. The President and Trustees of Bowdoin College, 1988, pp. 57.
Cross, John. “Whispering Pines: Night of the Great Revolution.” Bowdoin Daily Sun, 31 October 2011, daily sun.bowdoin.edu/2011/whispering-pines-night-of-the-great-revolution/. Accessed 19 May 2021.
Pierce, Henry H. to Kenneth C.M. Sills. Alumni Relations, February 28 1930. Box 2, Folder 1.13.1, George J. Mitchell Dept. of Special Collections & Archives. Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine.
Robie, William P.F. to Kenneth C.M. Sills. Alumni Relations, February 28 1930. Box 2, Folder 1.13.1, George J. Mitchell Dept. of Special Collections & Archives. Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine.
Sills, Kenneth C.M. to William P.F. Robie. Alumni Relations, February 28 1930. Box 2, Folder 1.13.1, George J. Mitchell Dept. of Special Collections & Archives. Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine.
“UNDERGRADUATES PROTEST MEMORIAL FLAGPOLE SITE IN EPIC MIDNIGHT DEMONSTRATION.” The Bowdoin Orient, 16 April 1930. Web. Accessed 19 May 2021.