Sculpture honoring Claude Herbert, heroic department store Santa.

Santa's Sacrifice Monument

Terre Haute, Indiana

In 1898, Claude Herbert -- who was only 18 -- was working as a Santa in a department store when it caught fire. He ran from floor to floor, rescuing women and children, before the building collapsed and killed him.

His buddies from the Spanish-American War paid to have a ten-foot-high granite memorial erected to Herbert, with a bronze plaque that did not mention that his heroic act was accomplished in Santa garb.

Shortly afterward, a horse-and-buggy ran into the memorial, so it was moved to the plaza outside Terre Haute City Hall and turned into a fountain. It eventually fell into neglect and was moved into a storage lot. In December 2022 it was restored as a waterless memorial and moved back to its original spot downtown, at the street corner of the former department store.

A new bronze sculpture, "Ascending Soul," was added to the top of the memorial, but it still doesn't mention that Herbert was Santa.

We believe this aspect deserves acknowledgment -- the day when Claude Herbert, in full holiday garb, selflessly gave the greatest of gifts to all he saved, and their families. We call it "Santa's Sacrifice Monument."