R. D. Whitehead Monument

R. D. Whitehead Monument

Artist	Sigvald Asbjornsen
Year	1910 (1910)
Type	bronze and granite
Dimensions	(35 1/2 in × 35 1/2 in × 3 1/2 in)
Location	Milwaukee
Coordinates	43°00′55.49″N 87°55′59.15″W / 43.0154139°N 87.9330972°W / 43.0154139; -87.9330972
Owner	Administered by the City of Milwaukee

The R. D. Whitehead Monument is a public artwork by Norwegian born American artist Sigvald Asbjornsen located on the south side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The artwork consists of a bronze-relief plaque depicting a dog and horse, set on a granite pillar, which is in turn part of a fountain.^[1]

Short video of R. D. Whitehead Monument.

Description

The R. D. Whitehead Monument, also known as the Horse and Dog Fountain and the Whitehead Memorial Fountain, was originally a watering trough,^[2] located in Milwaukee's South Side, that was converted into a fountain in 1966. There is a granite pillar rising from the fountain on which there is a bronze bas-relief. The bronze depicts a horse and a dog, both in profile. There are several inscriptions on the sculpture:

The bottom of the relief reads: DANDY GEORGE

The front of the pillar's base reads:

ERECTED BY

R. D. WHITEHEAD

The rear of the pillar's base reads:

ERECTED BY R. D. WHITEHEAD SUPT.

THE BADGER STATE HUMANE SOCIETY

IN REMEMBRANCE OF MY FAITHFUL FRIENDS

HORSE, GEORGE

DOGS, JIM, FLORA, DANDY, PET

PUNCH, JUDY & SHORTY

CATS, FRANK & HENRY

BIRDS, BROWNEY & DICK

A plaque affixed to the rear of the base reads:

R. D. WHITEHEAD MONUMENT

ORIGINALLY A HORSE WATERING TROUGH

ERECTED IN 1910

RESTORED AS A FOUNTAIN IN 1966

BY THE MAYOR'S BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE

DESIGNATED A MILWAUKEE LANDMARK IN 1974

IN RECOGNITION OF ITS HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE TO THE COMMUNITY^[1]

Historical information

Richard D. Whitehead was appointed by the Humane Society as superintendent of the Wisconsin Humane Society in 1879, a position he filled for more than 25 years.^[3] The position called for Whitehead to investigate the cases of animal and child abuse referred to the organization. He grew up on a farm in Ohio and worked in a livery stable in Chicago, both experiences which made him aware of the mistreatment suffered by animals. Whitehead investigated more than 700 cases over the course of his career. These sometimes required that he exercise "his police powers in an effort to prevent further abuse".^[2] Whitehead left the Wisconsin Humane Society in 1906 and formed the short-lived Badger State Humane Society. Upon his retirement, he erected the R. D. Whitehead Memorial watering trough at as a memorial to all his faithful animals.

At the time that the R. D. Whitehead Memorial was completed, watering troughs were found at many intersections around Milwaukee. "This trough was particularly welcomed by horses that pulled wagonloads of produce to the Farmer's Market nearby on South 16th Street."^[2] It is the last watering trough left in the city of Milwaukee and became a City of Milwaukee Landmark in 1964. The trough was eventually turned into a water fountain in 1966. The animals depicted in the bas-relief, George the horse and Dandy the dog, were both animal friends of R. D. Whitehead. The animals listed on the plaque on the back of the monument are all animals the donor loved.

Artist

Main article: Sigvald Asbjornsen

Condition

In a survey conducted in April 1993, the sculpture was found to need treatment.^[1]

References

1 2 3 , SIRIS.
1 2 3 Buck, Diane M. and Virginia A. Palmer (1995). Outdoor Sculpture in Milwaukee: A Cultural and Historical Guidebook, p. 90. The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison
↑ , Wisconsin Humane Society.

Milwaukee public art

Downtown	The Victorious Charge Family The Calling Wisconsin Workers Memorial Wind Leaves Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil The Great Double Woodland Indian and Whistling Swans Solomon Juneau Leif, the Discoverer Letter Carriers' Monument Argo Bronze Fonz Walkways Through the Wall Abraham Lincoln George Washington Referee Immigrant Mother King Gambrinus RiverSculpture! Gertie the Duck General Douglas MacArthur The Spirit of Polonia World War I Memorial Flagpole Pedestrian Drama Midsummer Carnival Shaft Acqua Grylli Laureate Diana Trigon Pere Jacques Marquette Spanish-American War Soldier Ruins X Ex Stasis City Yard Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Peter John A Beam of Sun to Shake the Sky Rainbow Machine Topiary Lucere Dancing Through Life Gertie Gets Her Ducks in a Row Mother Teresa Monument Jacques Marquette You Rise Above the World The Last Alarm

North Side	Celebrating the Arts Christian Wahl Elk On Watch Pattern Lapham Memorial Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. here, mothers are... Music Fishing Spirit of the Firefighter Dauntless Guardian Buildings 1992 Gear 23 All in the Air at Once First Flight Sea of the Ear Kindred Ties

East Side	Cleopatra's Wedge Float Polyphony Boy with Goose Eight Stone Lions Three Bronze Discs Holocaust Memorial Happy-Go-Luckies of Nature and Technology Blue Dress Park Sentinels Hermes Milwaukee Eclipse 'X' Intertwining Compass Erastus B. Wolcott Sharing the Load Robert Burns Near Here Compass Walk Like a River Spillover II Tip Jantar-Mantar Cass Street Park Brady Street Beasts Connect Fairies Candles

South Side	Menomonee Count Casimir Pulaski Spirit of Commerce Bay View Series A Place to Sit Stratiformis The Hill Climber Deflected Jets Angel in a Cage R.D. Whitehead Monument Memorial for Belle Austin Jacobs T.A. Chapman Memorial Nature Belle Oops, Missed Space Game Engine Company No. 10 William A. Starke Memorial Steel Reborn Red Flower Rising General Thaddeus Kosciuszko Patrick Cudahy Memorial SOARING Two Opposites Reaching Up Toward the Peak of Progress Edge Elements Ribbons VI Bridge Stone Bracelet Untitled Quartet Tending the Fire Bird and Fish The Sower The Reaper Giving Gifts

West Side	Henry Bergh Goethe–Schiller Monument Chrysalis The Ideal Scout Uptown Triangles Tree of Life Magic Grove Steuben Monument Kneeling Camels Teamwork Aaron Monument Yount Monument Selig Monument Uecker Monument Fire and Water Vliet Street Commons Miller Valley Veterans Monument Children of the West End

Lynden Sculpture Garden	Sinai Wandering Rocks Sea Form (Atlantic) Sky Fence Floating Sculpture No. 3 Mo, Ni, Que Trio Two-Piece Reclining Figure No. 9 Way Four Compound Junior Salem No. 7 Bremen Town Musicians Ancestor Queen of Sheba Rhythm in Space Peristyle, Three Lines Orizzontale Embrace Ursa Major Three Graces Large Torso, Arch Double Up Upstart The Lovers Poland Axeltree Orbits Ritual II Hara Olympus The Lovers Tensione No. 2 The Source Rainbow Unfolding Vegetative Sculpture I Round About Lodgepole Twist for Max Bench-Stone Windfall Knife Tree Conversations with Magic Stones, Figure Three Conversations with Magic Stones (Magic Stone Three) Kumo Untitled Arch Epicenter Epicenter II III Columns Flight Pin Oak I

Mobile projects	Overpass Light Brigade

Overview	List of public art in Milwaukee

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