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 The Pioneer - University of Kansas Historic District - Lawrence, Kansas Posted by:  iconions
N 38° 57.395 W 095° 14.603
15S E 305612 N 4314351
This sculpture is tucked away south of Fraser Hall and amid some historic green space on top of the main campus of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.
Waymark Code: WMHZZH
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 09/02/2013
Views: 2
31. Pioneer Statue Contributing Object
Artist: Hibbard, Frederick
C. 1904
A bronze statue of a man digging with a shovel stands on a stone and concrete base. The stone slab of the base is inscribed "The Pioneer." The statue stands on the south lawn of Fraser Hall (#14). The object retains integrity and exemplifies the tradition of landscape features as gifts and memorials, rendering it contributing to the character of the District.
- National Register Application
SCULPTOR:
Hibbard, Frederick Cleveland 1881-1950
FOUNDER:
American Bronze Company
MEDIUM:
Figure: cast bronze; Base: concrete
TYPE:
Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture
Sculptures
OWNER/LOCATION:
Administered by University of Kansas Office of Capital Programs
351 Strong Hall Lawrence Kansas 66045
Located University of Kansas South of Fraser Hall Lawrence Kansas 66045
DATE:
Cast 1856. Relocated 1916, 1920, 1921
TOPIC:
Figure male--Full length
Occupation--Other--Pioneer
Dress--Accessory--Hat
Object--Tool--Shovel
Object--Vegetable--Corn
CONTROL NUMBER:
IAS KS000192
NOTES:
Save Outdoor Sculpture, Kansas survey, 1994
National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, KS2005, 1989
Monumental News, Feb. 1905, pg. 124
SUMMARY:
A pioneer farmer stands, holding the handle of a shovel with his proper right hand and corn seeds in his proper left hand. He wears a hat, shirt, pants, and boots. Two ears of corn lay on the ground by him. He stands atop an inscribed plaque.
- Smithsonian Outdoor Sculpture Inventory Website
The first sculpture on campus, The Pioneer was a 1905 gift of Simeon B. Bell of Wyandotte County, Kan., a physician and real-estate speculator. In memory of his late wife, Bell donated land and funding for the Eleanor Taylor Bell Memorial Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., which became the University of Kansas School of Medicine and the University of Kansas Hospital.
Bell purchased the bronze, originally titled The Corn Planter, at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. It is by Frederick C. Hibbard of Chicago and was cast by the American Bronze Foundry Co. of Chicago. Bell presented it to the university in hopes it might help succeeding generations “understand the difficulties and handicaps early Kansans encountered.”
In storage until 1916, the statue was first sited in front of Spooner Library. In 1920 it was moved to the west end of campus and mounted on a base donated by the Class of 1920 on the site of the present-day Chi Omega Fountain. In 1926 it was moved to the east side of old Fraser Hall; it was reinstalled in 1969 at its current site south of new Fraser, near a plaque marking the location of Civil War trenches and barracks.
The bronze, of a farmer sowing corn in a trench he is digging with a spade, is 5 feet 11¼ inches tall. Its base is 1 foot 4 inches by 2 feet 6 inches. The inscription “1856” on the base may commemorate the year Bell and his family moved to Kansas from Ohio.
The piece is an early work by Hibbard (1881-1950), a prolific sculptor who had a studio in Chicago from 1904 to 1948. His works include sculptures of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Mark Twain, and Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
- University of Kansas Website
Name of Historic District (as listed on the NRHP): University of Kansas Historic District
Link to nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com page with the Historic District: [Web Link]
Address:
Roughly bounded by West Campus Road, the south edge of the buildings on the south side of Jayhawk Boulevard, Sunnyside Avenue, Lilac Lane, Oread Avenue, and the topographic line west of West 13th Street
Lawrence, Kansas 66045
How did you determine the building to be a contributing structure?: Narrative found on the internet (Link provided below)
Optional link to narrative or database: [Web Link]
NRHP Historic District Waymark (Optional): Not listed
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