Statue of Woodrow Wilson (Austin, Texas) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Statue of Woodrow Wilson |
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Artist | Pompeo Coppini |
Year | 1933 |
Medium | Bronze sculpture |
Subject | Woodrow Wilson |
Location | Austin, Texas, United States |
Owner | University of Texas at Austin |
The Woodrow Wilson statue is a sculpture of Woodrow Wilson, who was an American president. It was created by an artist named Pompeo Coppini. This statue was ordered in 1919 by George W. Littlefield to be part of the Littlefield Fountain at the University of Texas at Austin. The statue was placed on the university's South Mall in Austin, Texas in 1933. It stayed there until it was moved in 2015.
History of the Statue
In 1919, George W. Littlefield, who was a special helper (called a regent) for the University of Texas, gave money for a "Memorial Gateway." This gateway was meant to honor soldiers who had died in the American Civil War.
Littlefield hired Pompeo Coppini, a sculptor from Italy who lived in San Antonio. Coppini was asked to design the monument. It was planned to include statues of important people from Texas and the southern United States.
The Littlefield Fountain Project
The memorial project changed over time. It became the Littlefield Fountain. This fountain was built to honor students and former students of the university who died in the Great War. Today, we call this war World War I.
As part of this project, Coppini made bronze statues in the 1920s. These included the statue of Woodrow Wilson and five other important figures. Littlefield had chosen these people. Coppini planned to place these statues around the fountain.
Where the Statues Were Placed
However, as the fountain was being built in the early 1930s, the university's architect, Paul Cret, made a different decision. He decided to put the six statues along the university's South Mall instead.
The statues were placed there in 1933. This was when the building of the Littlefield Fountain area was finished.