The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Great cities lean on their traditions, cultural history and colorful characters.
For a long time, Terre Haute hustled through its workaday routine — week after week, month after month, year after year — and left celebrations of its roots to dedicated local historians and the outside world. Most residents understood that Johnny Wooden, Larry Bird, “Three-Finger” Brown, Theodore Dreiser and other notables once called Terre Haute home, but visitors would have to search to find any physical evidence.
That situation has changed in so many ways, thanks to so many people.
The latest and perhaps most conspicuous example will be unveiled today. The public gets its first full view of the striking Max Ehrmann statue and plaza in a ceremony at 4:30 p.m. on the northwest corner of the Crossroads of America. A life-size bronze sculpture of the beloved Terre Haute poet was crafted by Vigo County artist Bill Wolfe. The likeness of Ehrmann, with pen and paper in hand, is seated on a park bench near the intersection of Seventh Street and Wabash Avenue. The full text of his world-renowned masterpiece prose poem “Desiderata” is captured in bronze and limestone. Some oft-repeated passages from “Desiderata” are embedded in the brick pathway leading to the site.
With landscaping and additional benches, the corner will become a destination for his admirers and a place for residents to learn about their hometown.
The project began in 2007 after a new resident, Cormac O’Duffy, who moved here from Ireland, was surprised to find no public recognition of Ehrmann or “Desiderata.” That quest inspired the formation of the Cultural Trail Coalition. The goal of that diverse collection of local people was to fill the cultural void by creating public sites honoring internationally famous Terre Hauteans such as Eugene V. Debs, Dreiser, Paul Dresser and Ehrmann. Because Ehrmann stayed in his hometown to live and work, the coalition decided to start with him.
Nearly three years of meeting, planning and fundraising has reached completion. That conclusion is impressive, considering the funding — $80,000 in donations and another $60,000 through in-kind contributions — was raised during the worst recession since the 1930s.
Today’s ceremony will reveal the city’s commitment to its culture. The Ehrmann statue and plaza is right in the heart of downtown, not hidden.
Every resident is welcome to attend, sit down next to Max and see that “the universe is unfolding as it should,” as he once wrote.
By embracing its history, Terre Haute has become more embraceable. This city has an identity.
