Mike and Maureen are probably the best known alumni of the University of Montana, having graduated in 1933 and 1934, respectively. Mike went on to enter politics, becoming the longest serving majority leader in the U.S. Senate upon his retirement in 1976. On campus, the Mansfield Library and the U.S.-Asian Relations Study Center were both dedicated to the couple.
This statue was unveiled in May of 2000. One of the first of the Mansfield statues to be publicly displayed, the sculpture, the work of Terry Murphy, is now one of at least three in the state (that we know of). A similar statue of the couple, by Gareth Curtiss, was unveiled in 2001 and stands on the second floor of the capitol building.
To mark the occasion the Helena Independent Record ran a short article, which can be read below.
Mansfield statue unveiled
May 15, 2000
Mike and Maureen are probably the best known alumni of the University of Montana, having graduated in 1933 and 1934, respectively. Mike went on to enter politics, becoming the longest serving majority leader in the U.S. Senate upon his retirement in 1976. On campus, the Mansfield Library and the U.S.-Asian Relations Study Center were both dedicated to the couple.
A life-size statue of former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield with his wife, Maureen, has been unveiled at the University of Montana.
It stands in an area between the campus’s Mansfield Library and the University Center. It was unveiled Friday, and the area was renamed the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Mall.
Mike Mansfield, a Montana Democrat, ended his 34-year Senate career in 1976 and then served as U.S. ambassador to Japan from 1977-88 under Presidents Carter and Reagan. He was the Senate majority leader from 1961-76, the longest anyone has held the position.
Mansfield is now 97, and resides in the Washington, D.C., area with his wife.
University of Montana alumni Magnus and Velma Aasheim commissioned the statue, sculpted by Terry Murphy. Mansfield graduated from the university and was a member of the faculty.
There are plans to place a Mansfield statue at the state Capitol in Helena, as well. Gov. Marc Racicot heads the fund-raising.
From the Montana Standard