A monumental Jewish American

On the corner of Wacker Drive and Wabash Avenue stands an 11-foot-tall bronze statue titled The Three Patriots, in which George Washington stands with Robert Morris and Haym Salomon, an American Jew who played a key role in the Revolutionary War.

The statue, which this year marks its 80th anniversary, honors Salomon and Morris for their daring financial support of Washington’s troops during the Revolutionary War, and of the new nation afterward.

Salomon, a merchant and financier, raised and donated an amount estimated at between $4 and $9 billion today. The British twice arrested him-the second time, condemning him to death-but he escaped and made his way to Philadelphia. He personally raised the funds supplying the troops at the battle of Yorktown, where the British surrendered.

A proud Jew, Salomon also supported his Philadelphia congregation, stood up to antisemitic slander, and helped defeat a Pennsylvania religious standard for holding public office.

Salomon died in poverty in 1785, at age 44.

The statue was conceived in 1936 by Barnet Hodes, Corporation Counsel of the City of Chicago- and a Jewish immigrant from Poland, like Salomon. Hodes established The Patriotic Foundation of Chicago to create the statue, which would “convey American values of diversity and unity, as exemplified by Jewish participation.” Chicago Mayor Edward Kelly served as the Foundation’s honorary chairman.

In the 1930s, antisemitism was rampant both at home and abroad, and Jewish contributions to American life were being dismissed. “It was urgent to create an enduring symbol of the Jewish contribution to American history,” said Dr. Rachelle Gold, Co-President of the Chicago Jewish Historical Society.

Hodes’ daughter, Kay Kamin, agreed. Her father “wanted everyone to see an American Jewish patriot,” she said. Kamin feels the statue is part of her family legacy. Her father’s funeral procession stopped at it, she recalled.

Sculptor Lorado Taft, whose forebears fought in the Revolution, designed the piece. He envisioned it as, he said, “a powerful sermon in bronze… of civilian and military sacrifice.” Taft had created many other statues around Chicago, but this was his last; he died before its completion. His student, Leonard Crunelle, finished the piece.

Kamin’s favorite part of the work is its pedestal, which depicts a diverse crowd- including Hodes’ mother- being welcomed by the Statue of Liberty. “It’s about immigrants coming to America, to Chicago, wanting freedom,” she said. “It’s very moving.”

The pedestal also is inscribed with Washington’s words to the Jews of America in a 1790 letter he wrote to a Rhode Island synagogue: “The government of the United States… gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”

The statue was dedicated in 1941 on the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights- also the first day of Chanukah that year; a crowd of 5,000 attended. In 1971, for its 30th anniversary, the work became the first Chicago statue to be officially designated a city landmark. And in 1975, the bicentennial of his arrival in America, Chicago declared a “Haym Salomon Day.” These occasions were marked by letters from Presidents Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Ford, respectively.

“For the Chicago Jewish community… the statue is an inseparable and cherished part of our history,” Gold said.

Three Patriots is one of four Chicago statues honoring a Jewish American: one of former Governor Henry Horner stands in a park bearing his name, a bust of Chicago Symphony Orchestra musical director and conductor George Solti stands across from Symphony Center, and a bust of early Federation leader Julius Rosenwald faces the Merchandise Mart.

Three Patriots is one of dozens of statues under review by the City of Chicago. Look for updates in coming issues of the magazine.