This is the 5th and final Friday Footnote in The Art of Agriculture series written by Dr. Jim Connors of South Dakota State University. So far in this Art of Agriculture series we’ve looked at Pre-20th and 20th century agriculture-themed paintings, FFA artwork, and agriculture or FFA themed murals. In this footnote we will look at agriculture-themed sculptures or statues around the country. Some of these depict legendary figures or even real-life individuals who worked in agriculture. Take it away Jim.
Back in 2020, I wrote a Friday Footnote titled Agricultural Saints, Gods, and Goddesses (Connors, 2020). Included in that footnote was information about the goddess Demeter from Greek mythology and her counterpart Ceres from Roman mythology.
Ceres
Figure 1. Left: Ceres – Vermont State Capitol – Montpelier Right: Missouri State Capitol Building – Jefferson City
A statue of Ceres can be found overlooking the state capitol buildings in both Vermont and Missouri. This is the third statue of Ceres to stand atop the Vermont Capitol. The first Ceres stood from 1858 to 1938. The second statue lasted from 1938 to 2018. The current statue of Ceres was sculpted and placed atop the capitol in November 2018.
The statue of Ceres on the Missouri State Capitol building in Jefferson City was first raised over 100 years ago on October 29, 1924. It stands 10’4” tall and weighs over 1,400 lbs. It was removed in the fall of 2019 for restoration and cleaning and returned to its pedestal a few months later.
The Sower
Another agriculture figure graces the top of the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, NE. The Sower comes from The Parable of the Sower in which Jesus described a person spreading seeds on the wayside, stony places, among thorn bushes, and finally on good fertile ground (Matthew 13 – New King James Version).
Nebraska’s Sower stands atop the 400’ Nebraska State Capitol tower building. It is 19’6” tall. It depicts a barefoot man in shirt sleeves with pant legs rolled up and wearing a sun hood for protection. The Sower isn’t dressed like the farmers you’ve seen– he’s idealized, that is he is portrayed as a perfect, “ideal” human being. He’s shown planting seeds to remind you of how humans get life from the soil. The following is a description of the statue:
The statue of the Sower, modeled after the traditional method of hand sowing grain for planting, is a symbol of the importance of Agriculture to the development of civilization. Agriculture is the foundation upon which Nebraskans have built a noble life.
Figure 2. The Sower – Nebraska State Capitol – Lincoln
While this Footnote covers sculptures and statues, I would be remiss if I didn’t add that there is a very famous painting of The Sower by Vincent van Gogh which hangs in the Kröller-Mūller Museum in the Netherlands.
Figure 3. The Sower (Vincent van Gogh, 1888, Kröller-Mūller Museum)
Chicago Board of Trade Statues
For many years, FFA chapters traveling to the National FFA Convention in Kansas City, MO would swing by Chicago and visit the Museum of Science & Industry and/or the Chicago Board of Trade. If you ever visit downtown Chicago, you may see two huge statues that originally stood at the main entrance of the first Chicago Board of Trade building.
The statues representing Agriculture and Industry have a unique history. They stood over the main entrance to the Board of Trade building which was built in 1885. They stayed there for 45 years until the building was demolished in 1929. Then they disappeared for 76 years until they were discovered in a forest preserve in Downers Grove, IL. The land once belonged to a prominent trader at the Board of Trade. How the statues got from downtown Chicago to Downers Grove is a mystery that will never be solved. Once discovered in 2005, the statues were returned to downtown Chicago where they can be seen to this day.
Figure 4. Chicago Board of Trade Statues: Agriculture (L) & Industry (R)
Norman Borlaug
Readers of the Friday Footnotes should already know about Norman Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution. Dr. Moore introduced Borlaug to readers in his Friday Footnote titled “Former Vo-Ag Student Wins Nobel Peace Prize” back in 2021. As a native son of Iowa, a statue of Borlaug is located in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C. The statue is in the collection of state statues located in and around Statuary Hall in the capitol.
Ironically, it was the Father of Land-Grant Universities, Justin Morrill who helped to create Statuary Hall back in 1864. The law establishing Statuary Hall states:
…the President is hereby authorized to invite each and all the States to provide and furnish statues, in marble or bronze, not exceeding two in number for each State, of deceased persons who have been citizens thereof, and illustrious for their historic renown or for distinguished civic or military services such as each State may deem to be worthy of this national commemoration; and when so furnished the same shall be placed in the Old Hall of the House of Representatives, in the Capitol of the United States, which is set apart, or so much thereof as may be necessary, as a national statuary hall for the purpose herein indicated.
Figure 6: Norman Borlaug – Statuary Hall, U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC
George Washington Carver
Anyone interested in agricultural history probably knows about George Washington Carver. Carver was a world-renowned agricultural scientist who graduated from Iowa State University and spent his career conducting agricultural research at Tuskegee University. There are several sculptures of Carver in different locations around the country. Carver statues can be found at the Carver National Monument in Joplin, MO, the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, and at Tuskegee University.
Figure 5. (L) George Washington Carver (Christine Peterson, 2008), Iowa State University, Carver Hall (R) George Washington Carver (Tina Allen, 2005) – Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
The following is part of a description of the George Washington Carver sculpture at ISU:
He sculpted Carver as an older man, contemplating a single peanut, which he is holding in his large hands. The sculptor’s intentions were to emphasize Carver’s vision for the future of agriculture and his passion for science, farmers and students.
Liberty Hyde Bailey
Another noted agricultural scientist that is immortalized with a statue is Liberty Hyde Bailey. Bailey was born on a farm in Michigan and attended Michigan Agriculture College (MAC). He then moved to Cornell University and rose to the position of Dean. He is considered the father of American horticulture. During the late 1800s and early 1900s he wrote numerous books about horticulture and was a strong supporter of agricultural education. As a freshman majoring in Agronomy at Michigan State University in 1980, I was assigned to live in Bailey Hall. I had no clue who Liberty Hyde Bailey was back in 1980. When Michigan State University built a new Plant Science Building and Horticulture Gardens, they erected a statue honoring Bailey.
Figure 6. Liberty Hyde Bailey – Michigan State University Horticulture Gardens
Conclusion
If you look hard enough, you can probably find a sculpture or statue related to agriculture in every state. Statues adorn state capitol buildings, places of commerce, university campuses, and parks. They honor ancient agrarians such as Ceres, Demeter, and The Sower. Modern, 20th century agricultural scientists like Norman Borlaug, George Washington Carver, and Liberty Hyde Bailey are forever memorialized in stone.
Just as we saw in the previous footnotes in this series, agriculture is celebrated in paintings, murals, and sculpture. Artists from hundreds of years ago up to present day recognize the sentimentality, culture, economic importance, and need for a strong agriculture in the United States and around the world.
The two worlds of artistic expression and agriculture can come together to show all citizens that we cannot live without land, farms, farmers, and food production. As was stated so expertly by Daniel Webster:
When tillage begins, other arts follow.
The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilization.
References
A garden for George Washington Carver (2005, September 15). The St. Louis American. https://www.stlamerican.com/news/local-news/a-garden-for-george-washington-carver/
Connors, J. (2020, October 30). Agricultural Saints, Gods, and Goddesses. Friday Footnote: Focusing on the History of Agricultural Education & Rural America. Available at: Agricultural Saints, Gods, and Goddesses (10/30/2020) – The Friday Footnote (ncsu.edu)
Hirschfeld, P. (2018, November 30). Ceres statue once again adorns the Vermont state house’s golden dome. Vermont Public. https://www.vermontpublic.org/vpr-news/2018-11-30/ceres-statue-once-again-adorns-the-vermont-statehouses-golden-dome
Hunter, K. (2018). The third incarnation of Ceres: Our historic moment. Vermont Women. https://www.vermontwoman.com/articles/2018/1118/02-ceres-statue/ceres-statue.html
Missouri State Capitol Commission (n.d.) Ceres. https://capitol.mo.gov/ceres/
Moore, G. (2021, January 8). Former vo-ag student wins Nobel Peace Prize. The Friday Footnote: Focusing on the History of Agricultural Education and Rural America. https://footnote.wordpress.ncsu.edu/2021/01/06/former-vo-ag-student-wins-nobel-peace-prize-1-8-2021/
The Historical Marker Database (2023). The Chicago Board of Trade’s Statues: Symbolizing agriculture and industry. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=47760
U.S. Capitol Visitor Center (n.d.) Iowa: Norman E. Borlaug. https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/apps/nshc/statue/borlaug/