| Robert Dale Owen Memorial | |
|---|---|
| File:RDo whole.jpg | |
| Artist | Frances Goodwin |
| Year | 1911 |
| Type | Bronze |
| Location | Indiana Statehouse grounds, Indianapolis, IN |
| 39°46.076′N 86°09.764′W / 39.767933°N 86.162733°W | |
| Owner | State of Indiana |
Robert Dale Owen Memorial is a public artwork located at the south entrance of the Indiana Statehouse along Washington Street [1] in Indianapolis, Indiana. The memorial was dedicated to the state of Indiana in 1911 [2] in honor of the politician Robert Dale Owen, (1807-1877). The bronze [3] portrait bust by American artist Frances Goodwin [2] has been missing on this memorial since 1970. [1] The remaining memorial pedistal is made from three stone blocks. The top pedistal includes a commemorative plaque.
Description
editThe 200 pound bronze bust is in the likeness of a bearded Robert Dale Owen. [4] The portrait bust sat on the top of the pedistal, in the center, facing the south entrance of the Statehouse. Presently, the bust is missing. The remaining memorial pedistal is composed of three stone blocks and stands 70 inches high. The lowest block is 45.5 inches wide, 42.5 inches deep, and 10 inches tall. The middle block measures 32" x 28.5" x 10". The top block is 24" x 21.5" x 50" . A memorial plaque is centered on the face in the middle of the top block and measures 20" x 24". It reads:
- 1801-1877 / An Appreciation / Erected in the honor of Robert Dale Owen by the Women of Indiana in recognition of his efforts to obtain for them educational privleges and legal rights. / author, statesman, politician, philanthropist / "Write me as one who loved his fellow man." [1]
Location
editIn 1905, the Robert Dale Owen Memorial Association was granted permission from the state to place the future memorial in the rotunda of the Statehouse. [5] Today the memorial sits outside of the Statehouse walls, facing the southern entrance to the building. [1]
Historical information
editWhen fundraising efforts began in 1905 for the Robert Dale Owen Memorial, it was called "a woman's movement" [5] and was meant to draw attention to the ongoing struggle for women's sufferage. [6] The Memorial Association intended to raise $2,000-$2,500 [7] for the commission of a bust and memorial. Artist Frances Goodwin was chosen for the creation of the bust. [8] After Goodwin's clay model was approved by the Memorial Association and by Owen's son, Ernest Dale Owen, the final bronze bust was cast in Paris. [3] The completed work was presented to the state on March 8, 1911, [3] "as a lasting memorial to a man who for many years persistently labored to secure just laws concerning the educational and property rights of women." [7] The original memorial incudes a portrait bust of the politician on a pedistal with commemorative plaque. On September 19, 1970, the portrait bust was stolen. [4]
The Robert Dale Owen Memorial Association
editThe Robert Dale Owen Memorial Association was formed on June 30, 1905 [5] by the Federated Women's Club of Indiana [2] to urge the women of Indiana to help raise funds for the Robert Dale Owen Memorial. [7] The Memorial Association published at least two pamphlets that were distributed around the state to educate women about their efforts. Robert Dale Owen and What He Did for Women of Indiana offered a brief biography of the politician. [9] Another pamphlet appealed to the women of the state to help in fundraising efforts, detailed why women should care about a memorial for Owen, and presented many avenues for donation. [5] To women's clubs dedicated to raising funds, they offered to send Association members to meetings to speak about the life and legacy of Robert Dale Owen. [5] George B. Lockwood sold autographed copies of his book New Harmony Communities and donated the proceeds to the cause. Julia Conklin did the same with her The Young People's History of Indiana. [5] The Women's Club of New Harmony was the largest contributing group, raising $50 for the fund. [5].
Artist
editFrances Murphy Goodwin (1855-1929) [10] was born in Newcastle, Indiana. [8] Both she and her sister, Helen Goodwin, were well known in Indiana artist circles. [8] Goodwin breifly attended the Indiana Art School before moving to the Art Institute of Chicago to study painting. [3] She soon discovered her love for sculpting and eventually worked as a student under the sculptor Lorado Taft while at Chicago. [11] She also studied sculpture at the Art Student's League in New York City with the famous sculptor Daniel Chester French. [10] Her first commission was for Education, a sculpture displayed in the Indiana building at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 [8] for which she earned an honorable mention. [3] Soon after, she traveled and studied art around Europe for four and a half years [3] and set up a studio in Paris with her sister. [11] She returned to the U.S. to compete for the commission of the Robert Dale Owen Memorial bust [8] and opened a temporary studio in Indianapolis to create the clay mold of the future artwork. [3] She returned to Paris to cast the final bronze bust. [3] Goodwin's other works include a marble statue of Schuyler Colfax in the senate gallery at the U.S. Capitol, a bronze memorial of Captain Everet Benjamin in New York, and a bust of poet Benjamin S. Parker in her hometown of Newcastle. [8] She died in Newcastle at the age of seventy-four. [8]
See also
editMore outdoor Statehouse memorial artworks
Engraving of Frances Elizabeth Willard by Laredo Taft
External Links
editMore photos of Indiana Statehouse artwork
Portrait of Robert Dale Owenlater in life.
Photograph of Robert Dale Owen c.1847
Information on Frances Goodwin's bust of Schuyler Colfax at the U.S. Capitol. Includes picture of artist.
References
edit- ^ a b c d "The Indiana Statehouse: A Self-Guided Tour" (PDF). Retrieved October 27, 2010.
- ^ a b c Burford, William (1920). Yearbook of the State of Indiana for the Year 1919. Indiana: Legislative Bureau Division of Accounting and Statistics and The State Board of Accounts.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Burnett, Mary Q. (192i). Art and Artists of Indiana. New York: New Century Company.
- ^ a b "Paging Pygmalion - You Have Competition". Indianapolis Star. September 19, 1970.
- ^ a b c d e f g Conklin, J. (1905). Report of the Robert Dale Owen Memorial Association. Indianapolis: Robert Dale Owen Memorial Association. p. 4.
- ^ "The First One Hundred Years". Retrieved October 27, 2010.
- ^ a b c "The Robert Dale Owen Memorial". The Indiana Quarterly Magazine of History. 1 (2): 105–107. 1905. JSTOR 27785486. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Miss Goodwin, 74, Sculptor, is Dead". Indianapolis News. November 9, 1929.
- ^ Robert Dale Owen Memorial Association (1905). Robert Dale Owen and What He Did for Women of Indiana. Indianapolis: Robert Dale Owen Memorial Association. p. 24.
- ^ a b "Schuyler Colfax from the Catalogue of Fine Arts" (PDF). Retrieved November 17, 2010.
- ^ a b "Famed State Artist Dies". Indianapolis Star. November 9, 1929.