Not part of the original design of Pershing Park, a bronze statue known as the Bex Eagle was installed along the ramp at the northwest corner of the park and dedicated on May 3, 1982. The sculpture was one of two eagle statues designed by Portland, Oregon-based artist Lorenzo E. Ghiglieri, who had been commissioned by Brian Bex, president of the American Communications Network. In 1981, Bex had successfully lobbied Congress to pass Senate Joint Resolution 121, which recognized 1982 as the two-hundredth anniversary of the selection of the American bald eagle as the country’s national symbol. Bex kept one of Ghiglieri’s eagles for himself and donated the other to the National Wildlife Federation. The NWF donated it, in turn, to the National Park Service, and it was installed in the park under the authority of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation.
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