In 1931, the Order of the Sons of Italy’s Cincinnatus Lodge received the gift of a lifetime: an exact replica of the Capitoline Wolf Statue in Rome. Two years earlier, when preparing for the 1931 Bicentennial Ohio State Convention, they had heard of a copy being made for Rome, Georgia. Boasting the name of a prominent Roman general, they thought Cincinnati should have one too.

Starting out small, they upgraded to a bigger, more exact replica in 1932, and installed what we know as the statue that stood there for ninety years, bringing joy and knowledge to all those who passed through Eden Park, where it was located.