People clad in dresses and suits dating back to the Civil War gathered around a towering statue of Abraham Lincoln, while men in military color guard uniforms stood stoically in front, facing the audience with flags raised and rifles at rest.
On Saturday, the Sons of Union Veterans led the rededication of Lincoln’s statue in Downtown Long Beach to mark its centennial anniversary. The ceremony, which took place at Lincoln Park, celebrated the original dedication of the statue on July 3, 1915.
“The legacy of what Lincoln did for our country and what the Sons of Union Veterans did to put this statue here is something that is, in my opinion, worth much more recognition,” said Rhiannon Leigh, an attendee of the rededication.
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Thomas Chumley, the leader of the Long Beach division of the Sons of Union Veterans, said that fundraising to build the statue took five years. It was the first replica of the famous “Standing Lincoln” statue in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, he said.
The ceremony lasted about half an hour and consisted of a flag ceremony and a speech on Lincoln’s achievements and virtues by Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert.
Haubert’s speech focused heavily on Lincoln’s fairness and incorrigible character as a lawyer. Haubert noted that it was at this time that Lincoln earned the nickname “Honest Abe,” even once giving a client back half of his money in one case because he had felt like they were overpaying him.
The statue stands at the Pacific Avenue entrance of Lincoln Park, which is located southwest of the intersection of Pacific Avenue and West Broadway in Downtown Long Beach near the Downtown Long Beach Public Library.