Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-02-16
THE WILLARD STATUE
A New Departure by the
State of Illinois.
TOMORROW'S CEREMONY
TO HONOR LATE LEADER OF THE
w. G. T. u.
Her Marble Likeness Will Be the Only
One of Woman in Notable Col
lection at the Capitol.
BY WIN. E. CURTIS.

1
| A statue of Frances E. Willard will be
unveiled in Statuary Hall at the Capitol to-
morrow 1t is the gift of the legislature of
| Illinois under the law of Congress, which
| authorizes each state of the Union 10 be
| represented there by two statues. Illinois
| has had many eminent men-Lincoln, Grant,
| Douglas, Logan, Trumbull, Yates, Palmer,
| Davis, Lovejoy Shields and others who
| might be mentioned. But, through the in
| fluence Of the Women's Christian Temper
| ance Union one of the inches assigned to
| that state has been allotted to a woman
| distinguished in the field of Christian en-
| deavor and moral reform.
l suppose Frances e. Willard was better
known throughout the world than any other
| woman in the United States. She was as
well known as Florence Nightingale. More
| people have mentioned her name than that
| of any other woman of her generation. ex-
| cept Queen Victoria. 1t is therefore fitting
| that she should stand among the group of
| eminent men in Statuary Hall. Few of
| those men were widely known she;
| perhaps Washington and Lincoln were the
| only exceptions.
| 1t is new departure to introduce tn fig
| ure Of a woman in such a place. Very few
| statues of women have ever been erected.
| do not remember any other in this coun-
| try. / do not remember to have seen any
| other except the statues of queens and en-
| presses and the old apple woman of Genoa,
| who paid for her own Immortality. out of
her scanty savings. At the Lewis and
Clark exposition will be another, that of
| Sacafawea, the Shoshone Indian girl, who
| guided their expedition over the mountains.
A Women's Undertaking.
| The Willard statue is women's business
| from beginning to end The movement was
initiated by them. They promoted the leg
| islation, secured an appropriation of $4,000
| from the state treasury of Illinois and the
| commission which selected the design, and
| has looked after the arrangements consists
| of Miss Anna A. Gordan and Mrs. Susanna
! NJ D. Frye of Evanston and Mrs. Mary L.
| MetZgar Of Moline, John J. Mitchell Chi
| cago banker, and w. r. Jewell, an editor
| of Danville, acted in an advisory capacity.
! The sculptor is also a. woman-delen Farms
| worth Mears of Oshkosh, Wis. 1t would be
equally appropriate If the addresses at the
unwilling ceremonies could be delivered by
| women, but no member of that sex can be
| found at present In either branch of Con-
gress. hence Shelby NJ. Cullom, Albert ].
| Hopkins, George Edmund Foss and Henry
| Sherman Boutell of Illinois, Jonathan Prem
| tiss Dolliver of Iowa, Albert ]. Beveridge of
| Indiana and Charles Edgar Littlefield of
Maine will do the talking.
| The statue is in place 1t is Carrara
| marble little larger than life size. and
| represents Miss Willard in the act Of de-
| liverng an address. The face is strong and
l
| right arm rests upon a reading desk and
| the left hand grasps few pages of manu-
| script. 1t has been very highly commended
| by competent critics. Mr.. ST. Gaudens.
than whom there Is no better authority
| says: She has succeeded far beyond my
| expectations, and has made a purely dis
| tinctive work; one showing in a way that
| it seems to me only woman could do: the
union of strength with feminine genteness
"a quality most tender and elusive, but
which she has most certainly infused into
her work.
Work of Miss Mears.
| Miss Mears is a genius. She began to
model when she was a child Before she
| was nine years old her work was exhibited
| and admired. She the prize of $500
| offered by the Woman's Club of Milwaukee
| for the best work of art exhibited al the
| worlds Columbian exposition by Wiscon-
sin woman. 1t was symbolical figure of
that state, which has since been put in
| marble. and now stands in the rotunda of
| the capitol at Madison. Up to that time
she was simply following her instincts All
her technical instruction was limited to six
weeks at the Art Institute at Chicago, but
her work attracted so much attention that
| Mr.. ST. Gaudens admitted her to his studio
| in New York, where she remained a year
and a half and then went to Paris. There
she won instant success, and in 1897 her
work was admitted to the salon. She then
went to Rome and Florence, and at the
completion of her third year in Europe
joined Mr.. St Gaudens and assisted him in
his studio for two years Her design for
the Willard statue was the unanimous
choice of the commission.
The inscription upon the pedestal is an
extract from one of Miss Wizards
speeches, follows:
"Ah! 1t is women who have given the
costliest hostages to fortune. Out into the
battle of life they have sent their best be-
loved with fearful odds against them. Oh,
by dangers they have dared; by the hours
Zoe, ianf toll NO w ha1
less children lay; by the incense of 1000
prayers waited from their gentle lips to
heaven. I charge you give them power to
protect along life's treacherous highway
those whom they have so loved
"Mud and Civilization"
1t is an interesting historic coincidence
| that Jonathan Prentiss Dolliver comes from
the same place the Cardiff Giant which
| humbugged the whole hemisphere and en-
| trapped certain learned men into saying
and doing things that were foolish. While
| this fact is entirely without personal sig
nificance it should nevertheless teach the
| members of the United States Senate to be
on their guard. The necessity for such eau
ton was demonstrated during the debate
| upon the admission of the southwestern
| territories into the Union the other day,
| when Mr.. Doliver uttered an epigram. He
said that he had always observed that mud
and civilization went together. This may
be calculated to crafty the pride and con-
| sole the people of the great corn belt of
| Iowa, but 1t is a fallacy.
The beautiful city of Fort Dodge, where
Mr. Dolliver resides is celebrated through
| the entire universe for the depth and ad-
hesiye quality of its soil. and also for the
! intelligence and culture of it's population,
| the hospitality and comfort of its homes
and the salubrity of its climate. Two years
ago, when the circus made it's annual visit
| to that town. the mud was so deep In the
streets that the eight-horse wagons became
mred half way between the railway sta
| ton and the vacant lot where the tents
were erected. The managers were compelled
| to abandon half of their program and wait
until the midsummer sun had dried up the
roads before they could rescue their vehi-
| have been mentioned by Senator Dolliver as
evidence of the truth of his epigram. be-
| cause nowhere has civilization reached
higher stage of development than In the
] residence section OF that city. At the same