Sculptor H. Daniel Webster - South Dakota Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Harry Daniel Webster (1880-1912) spent much of his childhood on a farm near Rowena, SD. After attending art school in Philadelphia, PA, he worked to become a nationally acclaimed sculptor. In 1910 Webster began one of his most well-known works, a life sized statue of the beloved General William H. H. Beadle. Because he had led the movement to save school lands in South Dakota for the support of education, the public held Beadle in very high esteem. Children across the state collected pennies to help pay for the statue, and Webster contributed his time and artistic talent.

General Beadle posed while standing before a podium in the basement of the 1908 first (north) unit of the original Washington High School. Webster sculpted Beadle’s likeness using clay from the North Main Avenue hill. School children, old friends, and the curious regularly watched the sculptor at work. The final statue was made from Tennessee marble. Both Beadle and Webster were present in the rotunda of the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre for its formal dedication on November 28, 1911. In 1937 a bronze replica became the first statue of a South Dakotan in the national Statuary Hall at the nation’s Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Marker Name: Sculptor H. Daniel Webster Marker Type: City Marker Text: See above

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