Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline declared July 3 as George M. Cohan Day in the ceremonies at the renamed plaza in Fox Point.

The Providence Journal / Ruben W. Perez

PROVIDENCE — Before there was an Elvis or a Michael Jackson, there was a man regarded by many Americans as one of the greatest entertainers and who captivated a nation with his patriotic songs.

Though most Rhode Islanders perhaps already know that the patriotic composer and performer George M. Cohan — of “Yankee Doodle Dandy” fame — was born in a cold-water flat on Wickenden Street in Fox Point to a family of struggling vaudevillians, it took a couple of transplanted New Yorkers to realize that it was odd that Providence had done little in the way of honoring its late native son.

“We were taking a stroll in the neighborhood and we happened to see a very small plaque that said ‘George M. Cohan was born here,’ ” said Sy Dill. He remembers turning to his wife, Judy, and saying, “Is this all there is?”

The couple, who had long been familiar with the statue of Cohan that stands in the heart New York’s theater district in Father Duffy Square, decided something needed to be done. They organized an ad hoc committee a year ago to make sure that there would be a more eye-catching and lasting tribute.

Friday night, hundreds of celebrants, buoyed by a medley of the patriotic show tunes that Cohan composed over his lifetime, watched the unveiling of a new bronze sculpture of the man responsible for such hits as “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and “Give My Regards to Broadway.”

It was both a patriotic event and a birthday celebration. Though many have been led to believe by Cohan’s own tunes that he was “born on the 4th of July,” he was in fact born on July 3, 1878.

His parents, who quickly brought their infant son into their show and used him initially as a prop, understood it was better for publicity’s sake to have his birthday coincide with America’s.

No doubt, Cohan would have been pleased with the unveiling. The bust, sitting on a granite marker in a newly renamed George M. Cohan Plaza at Wickenden and Governor streets, shows the joyous entertainer holding on to a hat, as if he had just jumped out of a cake.

Renowned sculptor Robert Shure, who also created the Irish Famine Memorial in Providence, said his rendition was a more fitting tribute than the one in Times Square. “That one makes him look like too much of a politician.”

On hand Friday were two women said to be second cousins of the great composer, Dolores Pollock and Maureen Santos, of California. One of the big highlights was the presentation of the first annual George M. Cohan Award for Excellence in Art & Culture — given to Curt Columbus, artistic director of the Trinity Repertory Company, which performs at the site of the old Majestic Theater where Cohan performed many times as part of his family’s vaudeville troupe.

Noting that Cohan was one of the most prolific songwriters of his time, penning more than 500 songs — some still popular 55 years after his death — and awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Franklin Roosevelt for his wartime songs, Columbus said what was really remarkable was that the only education he received was from artists.

He “demonstrates that an education that has the arts at its center can give a child the world,” Columbus said. “He didn’t need any business training, yet he was one of the most successful theater businessmen of his day.

He didn’t need any formal training in literature to become one of the most influential writers of the first half of the 20th century.”

His point, he said, is that Cohan learned about the complexity of the world through his exposure to experience in the arts. “We must make sure that any child within blocks of here, any child is able to take his first music lesson or her first painting class, his first dance instruction or her first part in a play, so that they can take that experience with them to become the next George M. Cohan, here at the beginning of the 21st century.”

The evening was highlighted by a rendition of Cohan songs by 21-year old Ian O’Brien, of Richmond. A student at Rhode Island College, O’Brien bore an amazing resemblance to Cohan.

At least some of the people drawn to Friday’s celebration came for some personal reasons.

Sister Angela Daniels, 71, of the Church of the Assumption on Potters Avenue, said that her grandmother — her mother’s mother — used to live in the house where Cohan was born.

“It had two bedrooms and kitchen with a big black stove,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it when they tore it down.”

The festivities continue Saturday when the Rhode Island Historical Society conducts a walking tour of Fox Point, starting at the statue at 11 a.m.

At 2 p.m., there will be a lecture about Cohan’s life by Rhode Island School of Design professor Michael Fink, at the French-American School at 75 John St.

After the lecture there will be a screening of the movie Yankee Doodle Dandy, starring James Cagney as Cohan.

rdujardi@projo.com