The Doughboy

The sculpture honors those servicemen from Greenwich Village who gave their lives in World War I. The dramatic bronze statue depicts a foot soldier, commonly known then as a “doughboy.” It was dedicated in 1921. The monument was a gift of the Jefferson Democratic Club, whose headquarters once stood opposite this statue on the site now occupied by 299 West 12th Street. It is by Philip Martiny (1858–1927), a well-known sculptor of his day, who received numerous public commissions, including the statues on the Surrogate Courthouse in Lower Manhattan, and the Chelsea Doughboy statue at 28th Street and 9th Avenue, another of the nine such statues erected in New York City’s parks.