Pioneer Mother, (sculpture).

Pioneer Mother, (sculpture).

Grafly, Charles, 1862-1929, sculptor.

Roman Bronze Works, founder.

Pioneer Mother, (sculpture).

1914. Dedicated June 30, 1915. Relocated and rededicated May 12, 1940. Relocated and rededicated Dec. 8, 1940.

Sculpture: bronze; Base: concrete.

Sculpture: approx. 164 x 58 x 47 in.; Base: approx. 39 x 69 x 58 in.

A female figure dressed in pioneer attire stands with her arms extended around two nude children, a boy and a girl, standing before her. The sculpture rests on a square bronze base that is adorned with a cow skull on each corner and a rectangular relief on the front and back sides. The relief on the front depicts a sailing ship named the "Ella Francis" and the relief on the back depicts a sunset over the Pacific Ocean, in recognition of the pioneers who arrived from across the ocean. The sculpture and decorative bronze base are mounted on a square concrete base.

History -- United States -- Westward Expansion

Figure group -- Family -- Mother & Child

Occupation -- Other -- Pioneer

Dress -- Historic -- Pioneer Dress

Outdoor Sculpture -- California -- San Francisco

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California

In 1913 John Trask, head of the Fine Arts Department of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, agreed to a monument commemorating female pioneers. Funds totaling $22,500 were raised through pubic and private donations, and John Trask selected Charles Grafly as the artist. The sculpture was to be installed in front of the Palace of Fine Arts, prior to the opening of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Grafly's contract required completion of the sculpture by Dec. 31, 1914, but due to delays in casting, the moument was not installed until June of 1915. Following the exposition, the sculpture was to be relocated to the new Civic Center, but this move never took place, and by 1940, the sculpture was found weather-beaten and vandalized beneath the arches of the Palace of Fine Arts.

Although ownership of the sculpture was in question, a strong coalition of civic and historic groups came forward to aid in restoring the sculpture to its former glory. Within three months of its rediscovery, the Pioneer Mother was restored. On May 12, 1940, the monument was rededicated at the Golden Gate International Exposition. And on December 8, 1940, the monument was rededicated at its final installation site, a meadow in Golden Gate Park.

Originally, the sculpture stood on a twenty-six foot base that featured a commemorative plaque with an inscription written by Dr. Benjamin Ide Wheeler, President of the University of California. The plaque read: Over rude paths beset with hunger and risk she pressed onward toward the vision of a better country. To an assemblage of men busied with the perishable rewards of the day she brought the three-fold leaven of enduring society- faith, gentleness, and home with the nurture of children. (The plaque is missing from the base, and presumably lost.)

Inventory staff, 2000.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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