Continued from an excellent Pantagraph article dated 2/10/2008 at:
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"Bloomington's fountain is named for the Trotter family, Irish refugees of the Great Potato Famine. John Trotter served as mayor for three terms. He and his brother, James, and sister, Georgina, ran a successful lumber and coal trade on West Market Street. James Trotter, who passed away in 1907, left instructions in his will for the erection of a fountain next to Withers Library that would serve as a memorial to his parents and siblings.
Sarah E. Raymond Fitzwilliam, a close friend of the family, served as executrix of the will. Georgina Trotter and Fitzwilliam were trailblazers in the area of women's rights. Trotter was the first woman on the Bloomington Board of Education, and Raymond (who wasn't married until she left the area) was the first female superintendent of city schools. It was Sarah Raymond Fitzwilliam who sought out Taft and carried the $7,000 project through to its completion.
Carved from Georgia marble, the fountain's east and west sides feature American Indian maidens with urns resting on their right shoulders. When the fountain is in operation, water pours from the urns to basins jutting out from the base. An Indian child rests at the right and left of each maiden, while the north side of the shaft features a dog and the south a bear cub standing on its hind legs.
Dedication ceremonies took place May 30, 1911, though the fountain remained a work-in-progress for several months. At the time, the green sward surrounding the fountain served as a playground, and the oft-chance that American Indian children might have once played at the site appealed to Taft's earthy romanticism. In his dedication address, he spoke of the "sculptor's privilege" to "unite the ages, to reach a grateful hand to the past and a loving greeting to the future."
"Art," Taft declared in a visit to Normal years later, "is not only a beautification of life and an interest in life, but it explains life."
Taft, it must be noted, did not actually sculpt the fountain's figures. Instead, he served as the designer, while assistants from his Chicago studio did the actual sculpting with hammer and chisel.
After the dedication ceremonies, Swiss-born Walter Zimmerman spent about two months in Bloomington completing the fountain. "He does not speak the English language very fluently," The Pantagraph reported, "but is a very intelligent and entertaining man to talk to."
Unfortunately, Taft failed to account for the city's hard water. Yellow stains soon appeared on the stonework, forcing officials to shut down the fountain. It remained silent for years afterward.
According to the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department, the fountain's plumbing works received long-overdue attention in the mid-1990s, and today the water is turned on during the warmer months."
From the Smithsonian database:
Dimensions: Figures: approx. 6 x 6 x 2 1/2 ft.; Base: approx. 12 1/2 ft. x 6 x 9 1/2 ft.
Inscription: (On base, above bear cub:) THIS FOUNTAIN/PRESENTED TO THE CITY OF BLOOMINGTON/UNDER THE WILL OF JAMES TROTTER/HIS MOTHER ANN TROTTER HIS BROTHER JOHN W./AND HIS SISTERS MARIA.ANN.AND GEORGINA/1911 unsigned
Description: Eight figures in high relief surrounding a base. The figures represent three phases of life: childhood, animal life, and pioneer life. At each end is an Indian maiden, with an urn upon her shoulder from which the stream of water runs into the basin below. At her feet is a playful Indian child, and between the children are figures of a dog and a bear cub.
The style of the sculpture is very indicative of Taft and can be seen in other waymarked sculptures such as:
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and
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In spite of being a really hot August day in Bloomington when I found the fountain, water flowed not!