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July 18, 1942

Hon. F. H. La Guardia
City Hall
New York, New York

My dear Mr. Mayor:
At the suggestion of our good friend Mr. Piccirilli, I am venturing to bring to your attention again the matter of a place to erect the figure which won the sculpture competition of Artists for Victory. 

Because we believed ourselves to have your approval for the erection of this figure in front of the New York Public Library, as given over your signature to Paul Manship, we went ahead with our competition only to be told when our $1,000 prize had been given in good faith to the winning sculptor, Thomas Lo Medico, that the Park Commission would not allow us to erect the statue in front of the Library. We must now appeal to you, Mr. Mayor, to give us some other location where we may erect this figure. 

To us this is a very important matter, as Artists for Victory, Inc. is the organization of twenty-five leading art societies of New York, many with nationwide affiliation which represent 10,000 artists, which banded together this winter to do what they could to help in America's effort to win the war. In a burst of patriotism, we determined on this competition and after deliberation decided on the subject "Wings for Victory" for the following reasons: first, as you know, aviation is still the only service in the armed forces which must rely on volunteers for its enlistment; also, it forms part of each of the services. Our desire was to erect in temporary material, and for a short time only, and I quote, "a single figure or combination of figures which would be powerful, simple, and inspiring." By erecting this figure in front of the New York Public Library where so many young students pass each day, we hoped by its presence not only to in-