Outside the Stout Meeting House in Earlham College campus lies the seated statue of Mary Dyer, a Quaker who fought for religious freedom and was hanged on Boson Commons in 1660 because of that. Mary Dyer insisted on practicing Quakerism in the days when the Massachusetts Colony had forbidden it. She was banished several times from the colony but stood by the right to religious freedom and returned. On the fourth time she returned, she was sentenced to death. Her death stopped the persecution of Quakers and influenced the legalization of religious freedom. In 1959, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts dedicated a statue of Dyer, created by the Quaker sculptress Sylvia Shaw Judson, outside the Massachusetts State House; several years later, Earlham College, a Quaker college, dedicated this statue, a replica of the Boston statue. Another copy of the sculpture stands in Philadelphia. Read more...

When the Downtown Angola Coalition received the Preserving Women’s Legacy Grant to celebrate Indiana women’s suffrage centennial, they chose to dedicate a statue to Sojourner Truth, who had visited Angola in 1861 and delivered a speech on the stairs of the Steuben County Courthouse on June 2nd, 1861. The Colorado artist (originally from Indiana) Jim Haire created the life-size bronze statue, depicting her as she was when she came to Angola to speak in 1861, wearing traditional Quaker clothes, holding her cane on the right and a paper with an invitation to her free lecture in her left. A nearby bronze plaque describes Truth’s connection to Angola and the story behind the statue and its dedication. The statue was dedicated in a special ceremony on June 6th, 2021, attended by hundreds of people, including Truth’s descendants, local and state officials, and Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch. It is a historical landmark and serves as a memory of Steuben County’s role in the abolitionist movement. Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) lived for almost 30 years as an enslaved woman by Isabella Baumfree in New York. She had several owners, got married, and had five children. In 1826, she escaped with her infant daughter and got help to buy her freedom. She settled in New York City and worked as a domestic. In her forties, she answered the Spirit of God’s call to spread the truth. She changed her name to Sojourner Truth and became a preacher and public speaker, dedicating her life to promoting equal society for African-American women. She traveled the country and lectured about abolitionism and women’s rights in hundreds of communities. In 1861 Truth arrived to speak in Angola, Indiana, and stayed there for a few weeks. On the stairs of the Steuben County courthouse, wearing a red, white, and blue dress, she spoke about the abolition of slavery and women’s rights. Read more...

For the anniversary of the establishment of the entomology program at Purdue University College of Agriculture, the College of Agriculture commissioned and dedicated a group statue honoring three leading scientists of the field on April 8th, 2017. The statue presents the marine biologist, writer, and conservationist Rachel Carson (1907-1964), the Purdue Department of Entomology from 1920-1956 Jokebook, J.J. Davis (1885-1965), and the head of the Department of Entomology from 1956-1972, John V. Osmun (1918-2012). The three revolutionized pest control and environmental protection while creating programs to educate youth about ecosystems. Carson’s groundbreaking research on the distractive impact of synthetic pesticides on the environment sparked the environmental movement, led to reforms in synthetic pesticide use, and the establishment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970. The Savannah, Ga.-based artist Susie Chisholm designed and built the statue for 11 months, seven days a week, depicting the scientists in a fictional meeting in 1924 when entomology began to catch public attention. The group gathered together, observing a colorful tiger swallowtail butterfly held by Carson. The subjects wear period clothing, and the sculpture includes many details, such as a butterfly net, a Japanese beetle, and a caterpillar. Visitors are encouraged to explore it for hidden surprises and touch it. Read more...