Ohio History Journal

Story of the First Geological Survey in Ohio  135

 

Among the other books which contained useful reference

material were Hasse's Economic Material in the Documents of

the States, Ohio, II; Ohio, Second Geological Survey, Columbus,

1869; G. P. Merrill's The First Hundred Years of American

Geology, New Haven, 1924; and, for the biographical informa-

tion, Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, New York,

1900.

In the periodical and newspaper field, the most essential

publication used was The American Journal of Science and Arts,

New Haven, 1836-37-38; but two others, both important, were

The Western Monthly Magazine, 1836, and The Buckeye and

Cincinnati Mirror, Cincinnati, 1835-36-37.

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OHIO'S TALLEST BUILDING

THE A. I. U. CITADEL, AT COLUMBUS.

 

The first object to impress the visitor to Columbus is

the A. I. U. Citadel, or to be more explicit, the Citadel

of the American Insurance Union. It rises in its white

majesty high above all other buildings. In the night-

time, the beacon, blazing from its summit, is easily mis-

taken by the traveler, at a distance, for a celestial

body -- a star of the first magnitude.

This beautiful and imposing structure was built in

three years by a force of 650 men. It is 555 feet and 6

inches tall and 188 feet square at its base. It is slightly

taller than the Washington Monument and 74 feet 6

inches taller than the Great Pyramid of Khufu, in

Egypt. This towering structure was designed by C.

Howard Crane, of Detroit, and his plans were executed

by Roger J. Waring, resident architectural superin-

tendent. John Gill & Sons, of Cleveland, were the build-

ers, and J. L. Dombrosky the superintendent of con-

struction. It includes more than 600 office rooms, a

number of storerooms, 600 rooms of the Deshler-

Wallick Hotel and a theatre with a seating capacity

of 4000.

Artistic features from classic mythology and groups

symbolical of the protective mission of insurance crown

and ornament this beautiful building.

"The Citadel is America's first aerial lighthouse and

the beacons serve a two-fold purpose." From the sky

(136)

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A.I.U. CITADEL (137)

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138       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

they may be seen at a distance of eighty or ninety miles,

and will guide aviators who fly by night. They serve,

also, as a warning to airmen passing over the city.

This building was dedicated September 21, 1927,

with imposing ceremonies. The theatre was crowded

to its capacity. Distinguished visitors from a distance

were present. By airplane came Hon. James J. Davis,

United States Secretary of Labor, from Pittsburgh, on

the morning of the previous day. The representatives

of many fraternal insurance organizations were present.

United States Senator Simeon D. Fess was on the pro-

gram and delivered an address, as did also Hon. James J.

Davis, of the President's Cabinet.

Hon. John J. Lentz, President of the American In-

surance Union, and the man to whom the Citadel owes

its inception and completion, presented this building "to

the City of Columbus; to the State of Ohio; and to the

Nation."

Mayor James J. Thomas, of Columbus, made a brief

speech in accepting for the city.

Albert Bushnell Hart, Professor Emeritus of Gov-

ernment at Harvard University, a historian of inter-

national reputation, made an impressive address, in the

course of which he set forth the significance of the word

"Citadel" as follows:

That word "Citadel" has a peculiar significance as the archi-

tectural culmination of a great humanitarian institution. In the

old days of strong fortifications such cities as Nuremberg, Chester

and Quebec were defended, first of all, by a surrounding wall,

the foundations of which were protected by a moat. Within

that wall was added, as a second line of defense, a Citadel,

such as the lordly castle still standing inside the wall of that

famous fortress, Carcassonne, in southern France. There the

garrison could make a second stand and wear the enemy out

by an enduring hold on that inner line of endurance.

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Ohio's Tallest Building              139

 

The name of Citadel is especially appropriate as a watch-

word of a great life insurance company; for millions of families

in the United States protect themselves, from the "terror by

night and the destruction that wasteth at noonday," through this

defensive institution.

Doubtless that is the reason why John Lentz and the Board

of the American Insurance Union gave to this magnificent build-

ing its fitting name of "The Citadel." In our complex modern

civilization, with its vast opportunities of accumulating money,

counter-balanced apparently by equally extensive and alluring

ways of losing money, the wise family erects various solid forti-

fications against those dreadful foes, poverty and helplessness.

At one point of danger they erect a savings-bank deposit. An

alarming crack in the masonry is made solid by a Liberty Bond;

but when all else is gone there still remains, unassailed within

their walls, a rampart of security--the solemn obligation of a

great life insurance company to safeguard and defend the wel-

fare of the stricken family.

A group of architectural decadents in our time misspend

their time in decrying the modern lofty building as crude, as

tasteless, as outside the canons of classic form. Towers? Spires?

Skyscrapers? What else were the Pyramids of Egypt, the

Tower of Babel, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Colossus

of Rhodes, the Coliseum at Rome, the cloud-piercing spires of

Cologne and Chartres and York and the magnificent domed

churches of St. Peter in Rome, and St. Paul in London? In all

ages civilized men have loved to approach the stars with the

work of their hands.

Look at that gem-encrusted bell tower of Giotto, in Florence,

the porcelain Pagoda of Nanking, the great masonry upheaval

called St. Alban's Cathedral, and the soaring Eiffel Tower, in

Paris. Do they not all speak the aspiration of men to reach the

skies? Our Citadel today carries our spirits upward beyond the

level of our daily selves and thoughts and aspirations. . . .

The purpose of a Citadel is never to overpower, but to

protect. A Citadel is built for defense; it cannot send forth

armies, cannot bombard distant cities. It is a refuge for the

weak; it is a holdfast; it is a key to the situation; it is the

acme of self-defense against danger and destruction.

Perhaps it was as a Governor of Mooseheart that John J.

Lentz learned to believe in Napoleon's maxim which is so com-

pletely applicable to this great Citadel: "What is possible is

already done; what is impossible must be done." It is that

power to envisage the future, that promise of things hoped for,

that evidence of things not seen; that has made him such a power

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JOHN J. LENTZ (140)

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Ohio's Tallest Building              141

in the world, that has placed him among the group of great direc-

tors of corporations in the United States, that has made possible

this prodigious evidence of the power of mind over matter.

Yet John Lentz is not a lone statue on the apex of a monu-

mental building. We have found him a team-worker, a man

who can share responsibility with other people, broad in counsel,

strong in action, with illimitable confidence in the future. He

can dream dreams and then make them come true.

In the elaborate and beautiful folio brochure, which

carries a full description of the building and the pro-

gram of ceremonies attending the dedication, is found

the following poem by Mrs. Marie W. Vandegrift, Na-

tional Editor of the American Insurance Union.

The Citadel.

O Citadel!

I could not love thee more

E'en had mine own hands carved thy grace;

Unless my eager finger-tips

Had fashioned each immortal face

Of every figure which adorns thee;

Thy sculptured bronze by my own hand

Been chiselled deep;

The tow'ring steel of thy design

Been summoned by some thought of mine;

The flame-baked clay for thy great form

Been softly tinted, rich and warm,

Beneath my fervid eyes;

That glorious beauty as you rise

Into the clouds

Been pre-ordained by my instruction;

Unless each sign of imagery,

Each miracle of symmetry,

Been from my ardent labor,

I could not love thee more!

And yet,

If thy great purpose shall succeed

As minister to those in need;

If thou shalt reign in majesty

As monarch of security;

If thy great portals shall reveal

A shrine of endless love and zeal,

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142       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

A sacred place, where those who dwell

Within thy walls, O Citadel!

Shall toil, with hearts compassionate,

To nurture truth and banish hate;

Where each reveres the holy call

Of service unto one and all;

Where childhood's right to liberty

From ignorance and poverty

Shall be upheld; where grief

Shall be dispelled by thy relief;

Where all shall pray that wars may cease,

And all shall work for world-wide peace,

American ideals unfurled,

And love enthroned in all the world,

Then will I love thee more indeed!

The following ode, written by Charles H. Orr, was

sung to the air of our national hymn on the morning of

the dedication:

Ode to the Citadel.

Oh, beauteous tower on thee

Our eyes rest lovingly,

We sing thy praise.

Thou art our city's pride,

Thy fame on every side

Shall travel far and wide

Through endless days.

Long may thy shaft on high

Upraised unto the sky

Our hearts elate.

To use of mankind all,

Each proud and stately hall,

Each steel-bound granite wall,

We dedicate.

Each man must have his day,

All here will pass away,

But thou wilt stand;

Sunkist at break of day,

Catching the sun's last ray;

Breasting the storm at play;

Forever grand.

Note--The American Insurance Union Magazine, of October, 1927, is

elaborately illustrated and fully devoted to the dedicatory ceremonies.

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