Fountain Girl – Frances Willard Memorial

A bronze statue of a young girl standing with bare feet on a stone, offering water to the people passing by. It was originally made in the 19th century as part of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) campaign to offer freshwater as an alternative to liquor. The WCTU recruited 350,000 children who signed abstinence pledges and donated pennies and nickels to create the drinking fountain.

Made by George Wade, the statue was first displayed at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Copies of the statue were installed in other cities in the US and abroad. One is located in Portland, Maine, dedicated to Lillian Stevens, the president of the Maine WCTU and the second national president of WCTU. Another copy, erected in London, honored Lady Henry Somerset, president of the British WCTU.

Throughout the years, the statue moved from one place to another until it was stolen from Lincoln Park in the 1950s. In 2012, the statue was reproduced and installed once again at the park.

Today, the statue is known as Frances Willard Memorial, honoring the suffragist and the national president of the WCTU for 19 years.