Some History Behind the Gumbel Memorial Fountain

If you enter Audubon Park in New Orleans from St. Charles Avenue, you will find a large fountain. There is an inscription at the center that reads "In Memory of Simon and Sophie Gumbel."

And as many times as I've walked by this fountain, enjoyed its presence and allowed my own dog (which is not the dog in the pictures posted before) to run around in the water in the fountain; this is all I knew about it until today.

So who are Simon and Sophie Gumbel? And why do they get a glorious fountain dedicated to them?  Are they in any way related to Bryant Gumbel?

Well, the fountain and bronze sculpture was dedicated to Simon and Sophie in March of 1919 by two of their daughters, Beulah Joseph and Cora Moses (so says wikimapia.org). It was installed at its current location in 1918 and designed by the sculptor, Isidore Konti (flickr.com/photos/wallyg/4583303086/).

Simon Gumbel was born in Kircheimbolanden, Rhein, Bavaria and at 14 years old immigrated to Pointe Coupee Parish, LA in 1846. He began working as a peddler and eventually opened his own merchandise store before he relocated to New Orleans in 1864 and opened a wholesale business. Then in 1873 he formed the firm of S. Gumbel and Co., Ltd., cotton commission merchants. He also established himself as a prominent member of the Jewish community and served as treasurer of the Association for the Relief of Jewish Widows and Orphans. Simon Gumbel became the first man to build and conduct a cottonseed oil mill and also invested in real estate. At the time of his death in August 1909, he was a millionaire and the number one individual taxpayer for the City of New Orleans.

Sophie Lengsfield was born in New Orleans in 1844 to natives of Bavaria. After marrying Simon Gumbel, they had four sons and seven daughters. In 1917, heirs of Sophie Gumbel founded the Sophie L. Gumbel Home which originally provided education and job training for girls and young women with mental disabilities. The City of New Orleans took over the operation of the Home in 1943 and today it provides services for the developmentally disabled. 

Three of their sons Joseph, Lester and Henry went on to manage their father's holdings. Henry Gumbel later became president of the S. Gumbel and Co., Ltd. as well as several other enterprises including Pelican and Amelia Cotton Press Co. of New Orleans, the Lafayette Sugar Refining Co. of Lafayette and the Sea Food Co. of Biloxi, MS to name a few.

-----As a side note, if you were 14 and leaving Germany, wouldn't you choose Pointe Coupee, LA as your number one destination to start the rest of your life? -----

Did not find if there is any relation between them and Bryant Gumbel. However, Bryant Gumbel's parents were Rhea Alice and Richard Dunbar Gumbel, a judge and Bryant Gumbel was born in New Orleans (so says en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryant_Gumbel).

Isidore Konti designed the sculpture to depict the meeting of air and water. Konti was born in Vienna and came to the US in the early 1890s. He spent most of his American life and created the majority of his work while living in New York State eventually settling in Yonkers.

Konti has an extensive portfolio but, notably, he worked on decorative models for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, created fountains for the Atlantic and Pacific for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis and created sculpture for the Palaces and Courts for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.

Isidore Konti's art can now be found across the eastern portion of the US from New Orleans to Cleveland to Yonkers to Swan Point Cemetery, Rhode Island. The Peabody Art Collection of the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis and the Mint Museum's Collection in Charlotte, NC both hold pieces of his work. In 1974, the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, NY gave a retrospective exhibition of his work titled The Sculpture of Isidore Konti, 1862-1938.

I now have a much fuller appreciation for that fountain. Also it's almost 100 years old and speaks to the wealth of the City of New Orleans back during that time.

-----Another side note, this entire post was created while music from a nearby Mardi Gras parade reverberated across Uptown and through my window-----





Simon & Sophie Gumbel information found here:
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/findaid/1490family.pdf
http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/orleans/bios/g-000041

Isidore Konti information found here:
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/isidore-konti-papers-9160
http://www.askart.com/askart/artist.aspx?artist=89934
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isidore_Konti