Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Lady Liberty in McKennan Park
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Lady Liberty in McKennan Park
Lady Liberty in McKennan Park is not just a statue or a historical marker but a story woven from patriotism, pioneer lore, garden‑club determination, and the everyday people who refused to let a symbol of freedom disappear even if a bunch of vandals try to ruin it.
We follow the legacy of Charles A. Sells, the pioneer who owned the original wooden carving and claimed it was modeled by Statue of Liberty sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi. We revisit the day in 1943 when twins Thelma and Elma Iverson unveiled the statue before thousands of Sioux Falls residents — a moment rooted in a family whose father, Sherman Iverson, once served as mayor of South Sioux Falls and was honored as Sioux Falls’ Father of the Year.
From the Garden Club’s grassroots fundraising campaign to the statue’s removal after vandalism, and finally its triumphant return as a bronze replica in 2002, this episode celebrates how a small neighborhood park became home to a big American symbol.
Join us as we connect McKennan Park’s Americana charm to the iconic Statue of Liberty, uncovering how liberty lives not just in national monuments, but in local stories, community action, and the places we gather every day.
National Park Service — Joseph Pulitzer & the Pedestal Fundhttps://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/historyculture/joseph-pulitzer.htm
National Park Service — Statue of Liberty History Overviewhttps://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/historyculture/index.htm (nps.gov in Bing)
Sioux Falls Parks & Recreation — McKennan Parkhttps://www.siouxfalls.gov/parks/parks/mckennan (siouxfalls.gov in Bing)
Siouxland Heritage Museumshttps://www.siouxlandmuseums.com/
South Dakota State Archives — Accession Record referencing Charles A. Sellshttps://sdarchives.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/accessions/1009
Dakota Conference Papers (Augie) — includes historical context from the erahttps://www.augie.edu/sites/default/files/2008dakconfpapers.pdf
Ancestry Genealogy Search — Charles A. Sellshttps://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/results?firstName=charles&lastName=sells&page=2
View all episodes
By Local Lou
5
2626 ratings
Lady Liberty in McKennan Park is not just a statue or a historical marker but a story woven from patriotism, pioneer lore, garden‑club determination, and the everyday people who refused to let a symbol of freedom disappear even if a bunch of vandals try to ruin it.
We follow the legacy of Charles A. Sells, the pioneer who owned the original wooden carving and claimed it was modeled by Statue of Liberty sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi. We revisit the day in 1943 when twins Thelma and Elma Iverson unveiled the statue before thousands of Sioux Falls residents — a moment rooted in a family whose father, Sherman Iverson, once served as mayor of South Sioux Falls and was honored as Sioux Falls’ Father of the Year.
From the Garden Club’s grassroots fundraising campaign to the statue’s removal after vandalism, and finally its triumphant return as a bronze replica in 2002, this episode celebrates how a small neighborhood park became home to a big American symbol.
Join us as we connect McKennan Park’s Americana charm to the iconic Statue of Liberty, uncovering how liberty lives not just in national monuments, but in local stories, community action, and the places we gather every day.
National Park Service — Joseph Pulitzer & the Pedestal Fundhttps://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/historyculture/joseph-pulitzer.htm
National Park Service — Statue of Liberty History Overviewhttps://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/historyculture/index.htm (nps.gov in Bing)
Sioux Falls Parks & Recreation — McKennan Parkhttps://www.siouxfalls.gov/parks/parks/mckennan (siouxfalls.gov in Bing)
Siouxland Heritage Museumshttps://www.siouxlandmuseums.com/
South Dakota State Archives — Accession Record referencing Charles A. Sellshttps://sdarchives.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/accessions/1009
Dakota Conference Papers (Augie) — includes historical context from the erahttps://www.augie.edu/sites/default/files/2008dakconfpapers.pdf
Ancestry Genealogy Search — Charles A. Sellshttps://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/results?firstName=charles&lastName=sells&page=2
More shows like Local Lou
View all
Radiolab
43,898 Listeners