Put-in-Bay: The Construction of Perry's Monument, Ohio (Images of America Series) Book

Definitely one of the most narrowly focused of the Images of America series I have ever read, by the same token this installment goes into the most depth on a particular topic that I have ever read as well (as with most of the series you might get 15 photos and a few pages before another subject is tackled).

It was interesting to learn that there were numerous attempts to build a monument prior to what was actually built, with the first organized movement begun in 1852, and that earlier efforts focused not on South Bass Island but Gibraltar Island instead. Later with 11 separate bills in Congress failing between 1890 and 1903, it was the approaching 100th anniversary of the battle that helped success finally be achieved. It was also interesting to read that one of the chief personalities behind the monument was John Eisenmann, who in addition to be an architect and an engineer also designed the Ohio state flag (adopted in 1902). It was also interesting to read that several states were successfully convinced to aid in the monument's construction, among them Kentucky because of the number of men from Kentucky from Harrison's army that volunteered to serve in Perry's fleet. We also see in an early chapter the four top winning designs submitted for the monument, all of which look to me remarkably similar to what was actually chosen.

The bulk of the book is a rather meticulous photographic record of the construction of the monument, including photos of the site before construction, of the site being cleared, and of ceremonies relating to the construction (including one of a top hat wearing former President Taft at the centennial ceremonies on September 11, 1913 and a funeral procession carrying the remains of the officers to be re-interred in the memorial crypt, also that same date) as well as many detailed and technical photos of various equipment and processes relating to the construction of the monument. There are short but informative sections of text, such as one that states that the rotunda was the most difficult part of the construction (made with a combination of reinforced concrete and from what I understood, faced with decorative panels of Bedford (Indiana) limestone) and another section that said that Milford Pink Granite (from Milford, Massachusetts) was selected for the shaft of the column because "the plan was for the monument to appear white; however, the natural tendency of pure white stones is to take on a bluish cast of a clear blue sky…[and the] pink tone of Milford Pink Granite counters this tendency and helps the structure stand out a distance." The text can often be pretty technical at times but I imagine pretty interesting to someone more engineering or architecturally minded than me. Some of the terms like echinus, abacus, soffit of the abacus, and the necking could have been better described but there were diagrams, unusual for the Images of America series, as well as a glossary (which did a good job and was the first glossary I recall seeing in the series). It was interesting to read that the plaza or esplanade was the final segment of construction, originally envisioned as being almost 5 acres, but a shortage of funds lead to it being "a modest plaza of only 160 square feet" and eliminated a planned museum and peace temple. The monument opened we learn "with no elaborate ceremony on June 13, 1915," with an official dedication taking place on July 31, 1931 and after Congress granted the president the ability to add the monument to the National Park Service, Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared it the Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial National Monument in July 1936.

The book closes with a glossary, endnotes, and two appendices, a tiny one with a photograph dedicated to the official photographer of the project (G. Otto Herbster, 1881-1968, the first time I have ever seen in the Images of America series any mention let alone seeing who took the photographs in the book) and a longer appendix listing height, weights, and expenses relating to the monument (it is 352 feet above lake level for instance, the estimated weight of the column is 18,400 tons, and 3,084 pieces of granite make up the column overall).