The Doughboy
John F. Kennedy Drive Near 16th Avenue
Golden Gate Park
Dedicated 1930

The plaque reads:

This grove is dedicated to the memory of the members of the San Francisco Parlors, Native Sons of the Golden West, who gave their lives in the World's Wars I and II.

World War I 1917-1918
Names

World War II 1941-1945
Names

By the Grove of Memory Association, Native Daughters of the Golden West and Native Sons of the Golden West, June 3, 1951.

Created in bronze and natural stone by M. Earl Cummings, Doughboy memorializes members of the San Francisco Parlors of the Native Sons of the Golden West that were killed in World War I. Additional names were added after World War II to honor members who died in that war.

The Doughboy contributes to the Golden Gate Park Historic District.

Source: NRHP Nomination for Golden Gate Park Historic District submitted July 2004

Melvin Earl Cummings (1876-1936) was born in Salt Lake City. As a teenager Cummings was apprenticed to a wood carver in decorating the Mormon Temple.

He moved to San Francisco in 1896 and won a scholarship to the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art where he was a pupil of Douglas Tilden.

After three years at L'École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, funded by Phoebe Hearst, Cummings became a Professor of Sculpture at the Mark Hopkins Institute, a position he held until 1915. During this time, he shared a studio with sculptor Arthur Putnam.

In 1904 Cummings was appointed to the San Francisco Board of Park Commissioners, and In 1906 he began teaching at the UC Berkeley School of Architecture. He remained with both of these institution until his death.

Several of Cummings works were created for Golden Gate Park:

• 1907: Sundial
• 1908: Robert Burns
• 1917: Pool of Enchantment
• 1924: Rideout Fountain
• 1930: The Doughboy