Artist: Johnson, BurtTitle: "Goddess of Fruit"
Location: Garfield Park, Holt Avenue, Pomona
Date of Manufacture: 1922
Date of Installation: dedicated November 11, 1923
Foundry or Fabrication: CAST.BY. ROMAN BRONZE WORKS BKLYN. Back of base
Dimensions: approximate, including base: 20' - 0" x 3' - 6.5" x 5' - 9" Plaque: bronze plaque located on the front of the granite base
Inscriptions: 1917/1918
HERE WE ENDEAVOR/TO HONOR THOSE/FROM POMONA VALLEY/WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/FOR THEIR COUNTRY
Artist's signature on bottom proper right side of sculpture, "BURT W. JOHNSON, SC."
Siting: The sculpture is located in the middle of a park on Holt Ave. in Pomona. There is a playground approximately 50' to the east of the monument and a small building of washrooms approximately 50' to the southwest of the monument.
Description: The Service Men's Memorial Statue was commissioned to commemorate the men of Pomona Valley who fought during World War I. The sculpture is composed of two standing figures. The female figure, "Goddess Pomona" is standing slightly behind the male figure with the proper right foot forward. Her proper right arm is stretched forward and she is grasping a sword in her proper right hand. Her proper left arm is located on the proper left shoulder of the male figure. The male figure is dressed in arm pants, shirt and lace-up boots. His proper left foot is forward and his proper right hand is reaching to grasp the hilt of the sword held by the female figure. The sculpture is located on top of a three tiered granite base on top of a concrete footing.
- The female figure, the "Goddess in Pomona" is a copy of a sculpture located in the Pomona Public Library, which was made by an Italian sculptor in 1888 and dedicated to the City of Pomona on July 4, 1889 (Pomona Valley Historian, by Burt W. Cohoon).
- The weight of the entire monument is more than 30 tons. The bronze itself weighs 3000 pounds. (The Progress, November 10, 1923).