TURNOUT was a bit down, but nonetheless enthusiastic, for Forgotten NY’s Sunnyside tour on a drizzly day in October 2018. Here the group is photographed at the Sunnyside Doughboy in Windmuller (Doughboy) Park in Sunnyside’s hilliest section. Doughboy Park, located on one of northwest Queens’ more imposing unleveled hills, marks an important route taken by travelers from mid-Queens to the East River, where the Hellgate ferry braved uncertain currents. The major road through was known as Hurlgate, or Hellgate, Ferry Road, and we know it today as Woodside Avenue.
Originally titled “The Returning Soldier,” the statue is perhaps better known for its pedestal inscription “Lest We Forget.”
The monument was commissioned by the Woodside Community Council at a cost of $5,000. Its granite pedestal was designed by C. N. Kent. The sculptor Burt Johnson was born in Flint, Ohio, and lived for a time in Flushing, Queens. He also created the doughboy statue for the Flanders Field Memorial (1929) in Manhattan’s Dewitt Clinton Park.
Unlike more active war memorial figures, Johnson’s depiction of the doughboy portrays a somber World War I soldier, with a downcast bandaged head, holding his helmet in front and his gun to the side. The sculptor’s health was failing as the piece was being completed, and he supervised the final work from his wheelchair.
Woodside residents remember that even before the statue was erected local soldiers gathered here at the “mustering ground” before departing to fight in World War I. Ten men who left from this site did not return as they made the supreme sacrifice and gave their lives for their nation. The statue was dedicated on Memorial Day in 1923. The ceremony included music by St. Mary’s Military Band, a rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” by the children of P.S. 11, the doughboy’s unveiling by Gold Star Relatives, and blessings by ministers from St. Paul’s and St. Sebastian’s Churches.
In 1928, the American Federation of Arts selected the Woodside Doughboy as the best war memorial of its kind. In 1990, the Woodside Doughboy benefited from an extensive conservation, and in 1995 and 1998 the site was upgraded with new plantings and fencing. The improved statue and park remain a neighborhood focal point, where, since the dedication in 1923, community members have gathered at the monument each Memorial Day for patriotic ceremonies. NYC Parks
The park’s original name, Windmuller Park, honors prominent banker Louis Windmuller, who built a mansion on the park site toward the end of the 19th Century. His children donated the land in 1936 to the city for use as a park.
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop. As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site.
4/7/25
2 comments
That statue always reminds of my rottweiler who would put her front paws on the fence and bark endless bark at the statue. She was such a dumb dumb.
Although “doughboy” is associated with the infantrymen of World War 1 the term actually dates back to the Mexican-American War of the 1840’s.