'Father of U' gets a face-lift

Art conservator Donna Haberman repairs the Pillsbury statue.

Photo by Tom Foley

From M, fall 2003

A bronze statue honoring the University of Minnesota's first major donor, a man credited with saving the U in its early years, received its first face-lift in more than a century this summer. It is the oldest piece of public art at the University.

The statue of John Sargent Pillsbury is the work of renowned American sculptor Daniel Chester French, who, some years later, created the magnificent seated Abraham Lincoln inside the Lincoln Memorial.

Since 1900, the Pillsbury statue has stood on Pillsbury Drive in the heart of the University's Twin Cities campus. The University of Minnesota Foundation refurbished the memorial in honor of the Presidents Club, which recognizes the U's most generous benefactors.

Pillsbury, who began his business life as a hardware merchant, was appointed to the U's Board of Regents in 1863. He is recognized by many as "the Father of the University of Minnesota" largely for his efforts to rescue the institution from debt and ensure its status as a land-grant university. In 1889 he gave $130,000 of his own money to build a science hall. Thus began a tradition of giving that in 1963 led to the creation of the John Sargent Pillsbury Fellowship honoring donors of $10,000 or more. The fellowship was renamed the President's Club in 1977.