Wikimedia Commons/W.H. Bass Photo Co., photographer
Langsdale’s 13-Year Campaign for Indianapolis’s Soldiers Monument
One cold night in 1875, six Civil War vets huddled in a small-town print shop in Greencastle, Indiana.
Led by newspaper man George Langsdale, they hatched a bold plan: build a monument for the common soldier, not just the brass. The idea caught fire.
Soon, the state kicked in $200,000, and German architect Bruno Schmitz won the design contest. After 13 years of work and nearly $600,000 spent, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument rose 284 feet above Indianapolis…