Emory Seidel

Emory Pius Seidel (May 14, 1881 – April 23, 1954) was a Chicago sculptor, painter and designer who created numerous sculptures and paintings that are displayed publicly throughout the United States. He was affiliated with the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1925, he was awarded the John C. Shaffer Prize from the Art Institute of Chicago. His work is considered to be part of the "Art Deco" style.

Early life and education Seidel was the third of ten children born to Emeron Michael Seidel and Amelia Wolf and was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He began formal art studies at the age of 10. He studied art under Ephraim Keyser in the Maryland Institute of Baltimore and also worked under Charles Mulligan of Chicago. He also studied under Wellington J Reynolds.

Move to Chicago It is not known when he moved to Chicago but he was already there by 1903. are part of an entire bridge designed to commemorate the veterans of World War I. In 1930 Seidel designed the original plans for the bridge. As a period publication stated, using an artist made the bridge “remarkable in its beauty and unique in its design... which will help bring realization that bridges need not be as drab as gas tanks, telephone poles and other things that must be put up with along public thoroughfares.”

Dedicated on Armistice Day, November 11, 1931, the New York Street Pershing Memorial Bridge integrates several figures into the concrete structure, two at each end in mirror image, and in niches at the center of the bridge deck. Each statue shows a hooded female figure in a kneeling position, her eyes closed in retrospection. One hand rests on a plain slab in front of her holding a wreath. Her other hand, resting in her lap, clasps a helmet of the World War I dough-boy type. The figures rise 10 feet 6 inches above the sidewalk level, while the folds of their robes flow down the piers, incorporating them into the structure of the bridge.

He is also responsible for the bronze relief that is part of the monument dedicated in 1930 in honor of Jacques Marquette next to the Damen Avenue bridge over the Chicago River's South Branch.

The Morgan Memorial in Freeport, Illinois is one of the most appreciated attractions of Read Park.