DR. KNOW

in 1941 to “the mother of all garden clubs,” Mrs. Samuel H. Taft, and is surrounded by a “garden” of grass and generic shrubbery.

The memorial does not win the prize for Cincinnati’s Most Inconveniently Placed Plaque. See our January 2017 column about the marker at Lunken Airport commemorating the crest of the 1937 flood—it’s 80 feet up.

Now that the Cleveland Indians are changing their name to the Guardians and the Washington Redskins are changing their name to...something, what is to become of Cincinnati’s famous “Big Indian Sign Where Paddock Meets Vine?” That thing needs a lot more than a name change. —WOKE SIGNALS

DEAR SIGNALS: Thank you for still another opportunity to send readers to our archives. The Doctor researched this Carthage mainstay for our May 2017 issue and found two major themes. First, the sign has survived several efforts to have it removed, thanks to residents who see it as a beloved landmark. Second, a virtually identical Big Indian sign stands in Durango, Colorado, built at about the same time (mid 1940s-50s). Like the controversy in Cincinnati, the sign in Durango has stirred conflicting passions among the city’s residents. It originally towered above a local diner that welcomed Durango’s sizable Native American citizenry during a decidedly non-welcoming era. Today, it stands at the entrance to a Native American art gallery.

In the meantime, let’s remember that the original Cincinnati Red Stockings dissolved in 1870 and were later reborn as the Boston Red Stockings, who then became the Boston Braves. They’ve since moved to Atlanta via Milwaukee, but maybe Cincinnati is historically responsible for the “Braves” mascot name. Does this one belong to the Reds?

OCTOBER 19 - 31