memorialday

Another in Richmond's seemingly endless string of 2nd-place trophy ceremonies.

Gabriel Heatter Frederick D. Owen and nine-year-old George Hearst – about to pull a silken cord that will remove the flags and unveil the National Maine Monument, Memorial Day, May 30, 1913.

Gabriel Heatter was a renowned American radio commentator, who began his career as a sidewalk campaigner for William Randolph Hearst during the publishing giant's 1906 mayoral campaign.

Frederick D. Owen served with the Department of Public Buildings and Grounds, in Washington, DC., and also did the actual unveiling of the McKinley memorial in Canton, the Harrison memorial in Indianapolis and many others." [1] [2]

Master George Hearst's father, newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, had popularized the slogan "Remember the Maine" as a way of gaining up support for war with Spain over the blowing up of the battleship Maine in Havana harbor fifteen years earlier. W. R. Hearst also spearheaded the movement to create the Maine Monument.

Attilio Piccirilli sculptured a statue of Columbia Triumphant driving a seashell chariot. It is located at the Columbus Circle entrance to Central Park, New York.

--Complete coverage of events: New York Times

Pixel Wrangler: Thanks! We'll fix the title and date in the source data and reload the description.

That can't be Gabriel Heatter. Heatter was born in 1890 (and died in 1972). In 1913 he would have been only 23 years old.

Incidentally, young George Hearst also died in 1972. He was born in 1904.

Wystan: I agree that the gentleman on the left cannot be Gabriel Heatter, 1890-1972. The ribbon on his lapel indicates he is a member of the National Maine Monument Committee, but his name is not given. When we update the record, we'll add the identity of George Hearst, but leave the other man unidentified. Thanks for the heads up!

Now, some 3½ years later, I have the correct identification for the gentleman standing with little George Hearst at the unveiling of the Maine Monument in New York City. (That old British saying comes to mind ... "A change is as good as a rest" ;)

This is, of course, Frederick D. Owen of the Department of Public Buildings and Grounds, Washington, DC.

The New York Times reported that Frederick Owen also did the actual unveiling of the "McKinley memorial in Canton, the Harrison memorial in Indianapolis and many others." [1] [2]

Two Independent Verifications
I have included a link to a confirming captioned photograph of Frederick D. Owen from 1910. He is also identified in a 1915 photograph at a cornerstone laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, in the Harris & Ewing Collection at The Library of Congress.

I have also modified/edited the original description to reflect the corrected information.

Part of the festivities for the dedication of the Maine Monument in Central Park. May 30, 1913.