The new Woodrow Wilson Legacy Foundation and the Glendale Unified School district are exploring a community-supported project to place a statue of the former president in the courtyard of Woodrow Wilson Middle School.
The foundation, which will promote the former president’s ideals of building a more peaceful world, opened its doors yesterday in Los Angeles on the 100th anniversary of Wilson’s entry into public life (winning the nomination for governor of New Jersey).
After a morning ceremony at Los Angeles City Hall, foundation dignitaries came to Wilson Middle School to meet with GUSD officials, the school principal, and several middle school students.
Donald Wilson Bush (left center, holding Los Angeles welcome certificate) with supporters, GUSD officials, and Wilson Middle School students.
Donald Wilson Bush, great-great grandson of Woodrow Wilson, said to the students: “No one achieves their dreams in a vacuum. Everybody finds their dreams with somebody else. I want to thank you for helping me find my dream in building the Woodrow Wilson Legacy Foundation…The mission of the Woodrow Wilson Legacy Foundation is to inspire a new generation of world leaders.”
He followed up by encouraging each student to share their name and their dream for the future. The 8th Grade President and the ASB President each also welcomed Bush and the group and thanked them for their interest in the school.
Bush was invited in 2009 to speak in Glendale on Woodrow Wilson’s concern for Armenia’s self-determination, and discussions about a special tie to Wilson Middle School began soon after, as he visited with many members of Glendale’s diaspora community.
GUSD Board President Greg Krikorian worked on the project idea with Bush. He told the gathering yesterday: “There is a lot of potential here to memorialize the legacy of Woodrow Wilson, the role he played in the United States, for Armenian-Americans, and for the diaspora.”
Wilson Principal Richard Lucas was also on hand, and he thanked the foundation for selecting this school site among the many middle schools and high schools all over the country named after the former president. Woodrow Wilson Middle School will also mark its 100th anniversary next September (it was originally built and named Third Street School in 1911; renamed Woodrow Wilson Jr. High in 1926).