It was late last year when The Swellesley Report fielded an intriguing email request from the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, a Chicago-based non-profit organization that wanted to feature Wellesley’s own Memorial Grove in an upcoming World War I-themed book titled, 100 Cities 100 Memorials. Did we happen to have any pictures lying around for inclusion in the book?

Um, yeah. Just a few (dozen).

Pictures of Wellesley’s Memorial Grove were essential for inclusion in the book, we were told by a Pritzker representative, because the Grove had officially received a national designation as a World War I Centennial Memorial, along with 99 other such memorials across the country. It was a chance to showcase the beauty and history of Memorial Grove, which honored the 326 Wellesley citizens who served, and the six residents who died in the Great War, as it was once called.

Not ready for its close-up

Memorial Grove looks good today, but not long ago the area wasn’t ready for inclusion in a glossy coffee-table style tome. Funds that had been appropriated at Special Town Meeting in 1919 for the creation of Memorial Grove were long gone, of course. Most of the six elm trees planted over 100 years ago to honor the six Wellesley men who did not return home from the war had themselves fallen long ago due to disease. A boulder inscribed with the names of those who died during the war had been placed in town, but it was grimy and sad-looking, and inexplicably wasn’t even part of Memorial Grove. Indeed, the meaning of the area was so forgotten that the Grove narrowly avoided the fate of becoming a parking lot in the latter part of the 20th century.

It was time for an intervention. So when Army veteran and member of the Wellesley American Legion Post #72 Tory DeFazio heard in 2016 about the 100 Cities/100 Memorials Program, created to help draw attention to WWI memorials across the United States, his curiosity was piqued.

When he learned that the Priztker Museum would award grants of $2k to successful applicants to improve memorials and commemorate the 2018 centennial of World War I, DeFazio was in, along with a group of the town’s movers and shakers.

A glimmer of hope

The Pritzker Military Museum & Library gave the grant application the green light, plans were made, and by 2017 refurbishment of the Grove was complete. As part of the project, Memorial Grove along with 99 other memorials across 37 states, received a national designation as a World War I Centennial Memorial, and inclusion of the park in 100 Cities, 100 Memorials, published this year.

A few other memorials Wellesley joined out of the 100 in achieving national landmark status include Chicago’s Soldier Field; San Francisco’s War Memorial Veterans Building and Opera House, and Washington, D.C.’s National World War I Memorial at Pershing Park, where “A Soldier’s Journey” sculpture wall will be installed in 2024. The sculpture wall is part of a larger effort to honor the 4.7 million American Veterans who served.

“More than 4 million American families sent their sons and daughters to serve in uniform during World War I,” said Terry Hamby, commissioner of War One Centennial Commission. “116,516 U.S. soldiers died in the war and another 200,000 were wounded. These memorials represent an important part of remembering our past and preserving our culture.”

The town celebrated the re-dedication of Wellesley’s World War I Memorial Grove on Saturday, May 19, 2018 as part of Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend. In 1919 Katharine Lee Bates of “America the Beautiful” fame wrote a special poem, “Welcome,” on the occasion of celebrating the veterans’ return. That poem was read at the original dedication of Memorial Park. In 2018, Wellesley College President Paula Johnson read the poem at the memorable re-dedication event.

Wellesley cleans up good

Today the Grove, located on State Street off of Washington Street, adjacent to the Fuller Brook Path, features a large granite boulder (all cleaned up now) inscribed with the names of the six Wellesley residents who died during WWI. Six trees have replaced the elms that once honored those who died. A granite bench overlooking the State Street pond bears remembrance to all 335 residents who served (out of Wellesley’s population of 6,000 at the time). An historic information plaque on the path through the Grove tells its story.

There’s even an amazing Wellesley Media video about the history of Memorial Grove narrated by Tory DeFazio, and including a reading of Bates’ poem by Marianna DeFazio.

As it turned out, Swellesley didn’t come to the attention of the non-partisan patriotic organization all on its own. Wellesley resident Tory DeFazio gave us a plug during the application process, bringing to the committee’s attention a story we had done about the area. And the project as a whole certainly wasn’t a one-person show.

“The more I looked into it, the more my interest was provoked, and I learned even more at the Wellesley Historical Society. Then more and more people became interested,” DeFazio said.

Civics 101

In the end, it took a cast of many to ensure the continued memory of a part of Wellesley’s heritage including:Town Historian Beth Hinchcliffe; (American Legion Post 72 members Richard Dillon (died 2019), Pete Jones and John Saunders; Town Executive Director Meghan Jop; James Joyce from Wellesley Media; Barbara McMahon from the Community Preservation Committee; Brandon Schmitt from the NRC; Royall Switzler, chair, Celebrations Committee; the Wellesley Park and Tree Division; the Wellesley Townsman; the Select Board; the Wellesley Historical Society; and many others.

Other New England awardees

Massachusetts: Adams, Mount Greylock Veterans War Memorial Tower; Harvard, World War I Memorial; Springfield, Godfrey Triangle WWI Monument; Worcester, Memorial Grove

Maine: Portland, Jacob Cousins Memorial

Rhode Island: Newport, Miantonomi Memorial Tower Park

You can see the entire list of 100 awardees at ww1cc.org/100Memorials.

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