Statue comes out of storage to stand guard at City Hall

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Visitors to Wichita City Hall can now see the original 1970 gift from Orléans, France, to the City: a stone statue of Joan of Arc, a patron saint of France.

Orléans presented the statue for Wichita’s centennial in 1970 as a sign of gratitude for what Wichita soldiers did for Orléans during World War II.

“On Aug. 16, 1944, the U.S. Army’s 137th Infantry from Kansas’ 35th Division liberated the City of Orléans from Nazi occupation,” Lindsay Benacka, Wichita director of arts and cultural services, said. “This began a long-standing, long-lasting international friendship between the two cities.”

The stone statue was a copy of one sculpted by Princess Marie d’Orléans, the youngest daughter of King Louis-Phillipe the First, which stands in the Palace of Versailles.

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