The Emma Hart Willard Memorial, is a public artwork designed by Marion Guild and Pierre Zwick. It was sculpted by T.A. Campbell who worked for the Houlihan Shop in

Rutland, Vermont Rutland, Vermont may refer to: *Rutland (city), Vermont * Rutland (town), Vermont *Rutland County, Vermont *West Rutland, Vermont West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,214 at the 2020 census. The t ...

. Erected in 1941, the memorial is located in a triangular-shaped park at the intersection of route 30 and route 7 in downtown

Middlebury, Vermont Middlebury is the shire town (county seat) of Addison County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 9,152. Middlebury is home to Middlebury College and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History. History On ...

Description

The overall dimensions of this

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

relief are 4 feet (1.2 m) tall, 6 feet (1.8 m) long, and 4 inches (10 cm) wide. It rests on a white marble double base. The upper base measures 8 inches (20 cm) tall, 6 feet (1.8 m) long, and 8 inches (20 cm) wide. The lower base measures 8 inches (20 cm) tall, 7 feet (2.1 m) long, and 8 inches (20 cm) wide. The ''Emma Willard Memorial'' is a two sided slab of marble with straight sides and an arched top. One side is carved to depict educator and American women's rights advocate

Emma Willard Emma Hart Willard (February 23, 1787 – April 15, 1870) was an American woman's education activist who dedicated her life to education. She worked in several schools and founded the first school for women's higher education, the Emma Willard S ...

seated at a desk, and holding a pen as she writes. A globe, ink well, and books are depicted on the desk. The words "In memory of Emma Hart Willard Who Wrote at Middlebury in 1818 the Magna Carta for Higher Education of Women in America" are carved above the relief. On the opposite side of the memorial, the carved inscription reads, "Education Should Seek To Bring Its Subjects to the Perfection of their Moral, Intellectual and Physical Nature, in order that they May be of the Greatest Possible Use to Themselves and Others 1787 - Emma Hart Willard 1870". The relief is unsigned.

Information

Emma Hart Willard (February 23, 1787 – April 15, 1870) came to Middlebury, Vermont in 1807 to run the Middlebury Female Seminary. She left her position at the Seminary in 1809 when she married a local doctor and banker

John Willard John Willard ( 1657 - August 19, 1692) was one of the people executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, during the Salem witch trials. He was hanged on Gallows Hill, Salem on August 19, 1692. At the time of the first allegations of witchc ...

. Due to a financial reversal in 1814, Emma Willard began to teach women at the collegiate level in her home, and, thus, is credited as being the start of women's collegiate education in the United States. The quote on the reverse side of the monument is taken from Willard's ''An Address to the Public, particularly to the Members of the Legislature of New York, proposing a Plan for Improving Female Education'', published in 1819.

Acquisition

The sculpture was designed and sculpted with funding from the Federal Arts Project, and erected with funding from the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

. Since its dedication in 1941, the Emma Willard Memorial has been maintained by the Daughters of the American Revolution and is presently administered by the Daughters of the American Revolution, Ethan Allen Chapter, Middlebury, Vermont.

Artist

American artist/illustrator Marion Guild was employed by Pierre Zwick, a painter and director of arts for the state of Vermont under the Works Progress Administration, to create the memorial's design. Guild is perhaps best known for creating the pop-up illustrations for the 1939 edition of Robert L. May's

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on ...

. Zwick was initially solely credited for the design of the memorial.

Condition

This sculpture was documented as well maintained in 1992 as part of

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Herit ...

, a campaign organized by Heritage Preservation: The National Institute of Conservation partnered with the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, specifically the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Throughout the 1990s, over 7,000 volunteers cataloged and assessed the condition of over 30,000 publicly accessible statues, monuments, and sculptures installed as outdoor public art across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In Vermont, the survey was sponsored by the Vermont Museum and Gallery Alliance from 1992 to 1993 where 110 volunteers surveyed 242 sculptures dating from 1740 to 1993. The archives from the project are maintained by the

Vermont Historical Society The Vermont Historical Society (VHS) was founded in 1838 to preserve and record the cultural history of the US state of Vermont. Headquartered in the old Spaulding School Building in Barre, the Vermont History Center is home to the Vermont His ...

References