Year: 1909
Sculptor: John Massey Rhind
Location: Indiana Plaza
( Pennsylvania Ave. & 7th )
The Grand Army was the first veterans' organization in the United States. Composed of veterans of the Union Army in the Civil War, the society provided assistance to disabled veterans, widows, and orphans. They successfully lobbied Congress to establish Civil War pensions and, via their member Senator John A. Logan, were instrumental in establishing Decoration Day (now known as Memorial Day) as a Federal holiday.
The memorial specifically honors their founding member Dr. Benjamin Franklin Stephenson of Decatur, Illinois. The last member of the Grand Army died in 1956 at the age of 109.
