Laura Smith Haviland, (sculpture).

Laura Smith Haviland, (sculpture).

Barnicoat, H., designer.

Maple City Granite Company, fabricator.

Laura Smith Haviland, (sculpture).

Modeled 1909. Dedicated June 24, 1909.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: Westerly Rhode Island granite; Base: gray granite.

Sculpture: approx. 54 x 28 x 28 in.; Base: approx. 58 x 68 x 68 in.

(On book cover on figure's lap:) A/WOMAN'S/LIFE/WORK (On plinth, incised lettering:) (Proper right:) 1808 (Front:) LAURA SMITH HAVILAND (Proper left:) 1898 (Plaque on front of base, raised lettering:) ERECTED BY THE ADRIAN WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION AND THE HAVILAND MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION -- "I WAS THIRSTY AND YE GAVE ME DRINK" MATTHEW XXV 35 (Plaque on one side of base, raised lettering:) A TRIBUTE TO A LIFE CONSECRATED TO THE BETTERMENT OF HUMANITY. IN 1839 SHE ESTABLISHED THE RASIN INSTITUTE OF LEARNING. FEARLESSLY SHE COMBATED SLAVERY WITH A FIRM RELIANCE ON DIVINE PROTECTION, DEVOTING TIME AND MEANS TO ASSIST THOSE ESCAPING FROM BONDAGE (Other side of base:) DURING THE CIVIL WAR SHE NURSED THE SICK AND WOUNDED IN SOUTHERN HOSPITALS AND ON BATTLEFIELDS. HER MEMORY IS REVERED BY OUR COUNTRY'S DEFENDERS. SHE FOUNDED THE STATE PUBLIC SCHOOL FOR DEPENDENT GIRLS AT COLDWATER. THE INDUSTRIAL HOME FOR GIRLS AT ADRIAN OWES MUCH TO HER EFFORTS. unsigned

A seated portrait of Laura Smith Haviland (1808-1898), depicted as elderly, wearing period clothing, including a bonnet, ruffled collar and long dress. She holds a book upright in her lap with her proper right hand, her proper left hand resting on the chair arm. The sculpture is mounted upon a multitiered base, with an urn-shaped fountain basin on the front.

Portrait female -- Haviland, Laura Smith -- Elderly

Portrait female -- Haviland, Laura Smith -- Full length

Occupation -- Writer -- Author

Occupation -- Education

Object -- Written Matter -- Book

Religion -- New Testament -- Matthew

Occupation -- Medicine -- Nurse

Occupation -- Other -- Reformer

Occupation -- Religion

Outdoor Sculpture -- Michigan -- Adrian

Administered by City of Adrian, Parks and Recreation Department, 101 East Church Street, City Hall, Adrian, Michigan 49221

Located City Hall, Southeast corner of Main Street & East Church Street, Adrian, Michigan

Sculpture commemorates Laura Smith Haviland, an abollitist and evangelist, who founded the Rasin Institute of Learning in 1839, and the State Public School of Dependent Children at Coldwater. She also nursed the wounded during the Civil War and authored "A Woman's Life Work." The sculpture was erected by the Adrian Christian Temperance Union and the Haviland Memorial Association. A marker in front of the sculpture is titled "HISTORIC WOMEN IN MICHIGAN," accompanied by text.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Michigan survey, 1993.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, MI0046, 1989.

Monumental News, Jan. 1910, pg. 23.

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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