IN THE LAST IVEY FAMILY POST, WILLIAM LEFT THE 1937 BOY SCOUT JAMBOREE AND WENT TO NEW YORK CITY! WE ASKED, “WHY WAS HE IN NEW YORK CITY? WHAT WAS HE DOING THERE?”
And if he’s not in Washington, D.C. at the Boy Scout Jamboree, then why does this post have “1937 Boy Scout Jamboree” in the title?
In the photos on this page, William starts at New York City, says goodbye to the Statue of Liberty from a ship, crosses the Atlantic Ocean, spends some time in Paris, France, and enjoys Switzerland!
I’d like to encourage you to load all photos and documents that you’re interested in keeping to your own flash drive. If anything happens to me, this website and everything on it will eventually disappear.
Click on any thumbnail to open the large image file.
Ivey Genealogy Information and Photos Scanned and Uploaded February 18, 2022 – 1937 Boy Scout Jamboree
The photos on page 4 are numbered from 97-128, and were taken after William Dixon Ivey’s trip to the American 1937 Boy Scout Jamboree.
97 through 105. Ships in New York, and crossing the Atlantic Ocean
I tried to find out what ship the Boy Scouts sailed on from New York, but couldn’t find anything. The ship with three smokestacks is not the one that William was on – he was on the one with four stacks. Notice the flag in the foreground of the first three photos. I believe he was on an upper deck of the ship with four stacks, taking photos of the ship with three stacks.
Here is a Wikipedia article about the four-stacks that were sailing at that time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-funnel_liner
The ship he was on appears to be a British Cunard Lines ship, the same line that sailed the Titanic. His four-stack ship would have been either the RMS Aquitania or the SS Windsor Castle. After studying photos of both ships, I believe that the one William was on was the Aquitania.
More on the Aquitania: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Aquitania
106. Greeted in France by a small local sailing boat.
107 through 120. Welcome to Paris!
107. Eiffel Tower
Designed by engineer Gustave Eiffel for the World’s Fair held in France in 1889. It was intended to be a temporary structure.
108. Worker and Kolkhoznitza Woman
This is a Soviet sculpture of two figures with a sickle and a hammer raised over their heads. It is 78 feet high, made from stainless steel by Vera Mukhina for the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris. Subsequently it was moved to Moscow. The sculpture is an example of socialist realism in an Art Deco aesthetic. The worker holds aloft a hammer and the Kolkhoz woman a sickle to form the hammer and sickle symbol.
109. The Louvre
The Louvre museum in Paris is the largest museum in the world and houses more than 35,000 works of art such as paintings, sculpture, drawing and archeological objects. The palace, which was built as a fortress in the 12th century, first opened its doors as a museum in 1793.
110. Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe is one the biggest arches in the world. It was built in 1806 to celebrate Napoleon Bonaparte’s victory in Austerlitz and was inspired by the Roman triumphal arch. Beneath the vault is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Under a continual watch, an Eternal Flame is turned on each night at 6:30 p.m.
111. Le Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Garden)
The Tuileries Garden (Jardin des Tuileries) is situated between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde in the First Arrondissement of Paris. They take their name from the tile factories which previously stood on the site where Queen Catherine de Medici built the Palais des Tuileries in 1564. André Le Nôtre, the famous gardener of King Louis XIV, re-landscaped the gardens in 1664 to give them their current French formal garden style.
This garden was a favorite subject for Impressionist painter Claude Monet.
112. William Dixon Ivey and friend with pigeons in Paris.
113. Sacré-Cœur Basilica
The Sacré-Cœur Basilica, also known as the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, is one of the most stunning monuments in Paris. A key feature of the city’s picturesque skyline, the spectacular church perches above the charming cobbled streets of Montmartre, at the highest point in Paris. The building was consecrated in 1919, and its Byzantine-inspired features and bleached white facade help it to stand out majestically among the city’s landmarks.
Built to help counteract “a century of moral decline” in France, Sacré-Cœur is known as a symbol of civic pride as much as its religious significance.
114. Street scene in Paris, 1937.
115.Colonne de Juillet (The July Column)
The July Column is a monumental column in Paris commemorating the Revolution of 1830. It stands in the center of the Place de la Bastille and celebrates the ‘three glorious’ days of July 27 – 29, 1830 that saw the fall of Charles X, King of France, and the commencement of the “July Monarchy” of Louis-Philippe, King of the French. It was built between 1835 and 1840.
116. The Dome church of Les Invalides and Napoleon’s tomb
Under the authority of King Louis XIV, the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart had the Invalides’ royal chapel built starting in 1677. The Dome was Paris’ tallest building until the Eiffel Tower was erected. The many gilded decorations remind us of the Sun King (Louis XIV) who issued an edict ordering the Hôtel des Invalides to be built for his army’s veterans.
117. Hôtel de Ville
The Hôtel de Ville de Paris has been the seat of the Paris City Council since 1357. The current building, with a neo-renaissance style, was built by architects Théodore Ballu and Edouard Deperthes on the site of the former Hôtel de Ville which burnt down during the Paris Commune in 1871.
118 and 119. Unknown.
I wish that I could tell what these items are that William captured on film. If anybody can figure it out, let me know, please!
120. Palace of Versailles (Château de Versailles) near Paris
The château (castle) on the outskirts of Paris was built as a hunting lodge for Louis XIII in 1624 but later transformed into a massive palace, and was the seat of power for the French kings. After the French Revolution from 1789-1799 when the royal family was forced to move out of the castle, the palace fell into disrepair. The palace has been largely restored.
It is a jewel of French Baroque architecture, and contains 2,300 rooms. Among all these rooms is the Hall of Mirrors with its painted ceiling and huge chandeliers, where visiting heads of foreign states are welcomed.
The Palace is surrounded by beautiful gardens designed by the famous landscape designer André Le Notre.
121 through 128. Lake Lucerne and the city of Lucerne, Switzerland.
121. Lake Lucerne
122. William Dixon Ivey standing on the edge of Lake Lucerne, Switzerland.
123 and 124. Lucerne, Switzerland
125. The Lion of Lucerne
The Lion Monument (German: Löwendenkmal), or the Lion of Lucerne, is a rock relief in Lucerne, Switzerland, designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and hewn in 1820–21 by Lukas Ahorn. It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris.
126 and 127. Lake Lucerne and Lucerne, Switzerland
Why was William in Europe, dressed in his American Boy Scout uniform? Where will his adventure take him next?
Answers coming soon in the next Ivey Family post – Watch for it!
Remember that you can see all the Ivey Family posts by finding “Ivey Family” in the Categories to the right on this page. You can also use the drop-down menu under “Blog”. Or, you can click here to go directly to the Ivey Family Category page: https://www.genealogy.gailbrinsonivey.com/category/ivey-family/
1937 Boy Scout Jamboree, Washington D.C.
This was the first-ever Boy Scout Jamboree. It was originally planned for 1935, but was postponed for two years due to a polio epidemic. I can imagine that it was really exciting for all the boys involved, about 25,000 nationwide, to get to go to this event.
Read more about the Jamboree here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Scout_jamboree_(Boy_Scouts_of_America)
That’s all for today. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thank you for reading!
Next Ivey Family post – more pictures of the 1937 Boy Scout Jamboree!
