RANDALL PARK

RANDALL PARK

Eau Claire

Eau Claire

1913

1990

1981

statue/sculpture

NA (unknown or not a building)

Helen Farnsworth Mears

No

A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. The statue of Adin Randall, commissioned by Eau Claire lumberman, O.H. Ingram, and designed by Wisconsin's distinguished sculptress, Helen Farnsworth Mears (1871-1916), is a pivotal site within the Randall Park Historic District. Mounted on a granite pedestal, which was replicated in 1990, the bronze statue features Randall sitting on an architectural chair. The figure is in a "relaxed position, his body and slightly lowered head directed to the front. His coat is draped across his lap, and in his hands he holds his hat and gloves. The figure is dignified but unpretentious. This relaxed position makes him appear to be contemplating the scene before him." (B) The base is inscribed with "Adin Randall who gave this park to the city of Eau Claire, 1857". Dedicated in a formal ceremony on May 12, 1915, the statue was originally accented by a small reflecting pool. Helen Farnsworth Mears was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 1871. At the age of nine she exhibited her first work, a bust of Apollo. Seven years later her figure, "Repentance", received special recognition from August Saint-Gardens, one of America's foremost sculptors. Following the 1893 Columbian Exposition, where her "Genius of Wisconsin" (this figure now stands in the State Capitol) was displayed, Mears moved to New York to study with Saint-Gardens, who became a major force in her artistic pursuits. After additional work and study in Europe, Mears returned to the United States where her major works included, "The Fountain of Life" exhibited at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904, a statue of Frances E. Willard, the dynamic organizer of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, which was placed in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol in 1905, busts of George Rogers Clark and William T.G. Morton, bas-reliefs of August Saint-Gardens, Edward McDowell, and her mother, Mary Mears, and the Adin Randall statue (C). The Adin Randall statue was commissioned by O.H. Ingram in 1911. Ingram had become familiar with Mears' work through his own work on the capitol commission. Mears had submitted sketches for the "heroic" figure which would surmount the dome of Wisconsin's new capitol building. Through a series of misunderstandings, Mears' proposal was not selected - the commission going instead to Daniel Chester French. Mears worked on the full-sized figure of Randall from early 1912 until the summer of 1913. It was dedicated in 1915, and less than a year late Mears died in New York. In 1923, when Helen Mears' work was formally donated to the Milwaukee Art Institute, Dudley Watson, director of the Institute, described Mears as "one of the most distinguished daughters of the State of Wisconsin and in the estimation of leading critics, one of the foremost women sculptors in history." (B,D) Adin Randall, a vital figure in Eau Claire's early history, included this park in his 1856 plat of Eau Claire city. Randall's residence is located at 526 Menomonie Street, 7L/5. 2016- "New York native Adin Randall, at age 26, was already a successful Madison contractor and builder. He and his family arrived in Eau Claire in 1855, where he was engaged to build a large hotel. His Eau Claire house was situated approximately at the junction of Farwell and Eau Claire Streets, with its stables at the northeast corner of Eau Claire and Barstow. Randall recognized the value of the vast timber resources and was quickly caught up in the excitement of this thriving little lumber town. At one time he owned much of the present West Side. One of Eau Claire's most colorful early settlers, Randall was a man of unusual, perhaps reckless, energy and daring enterprise. It is said that he started or suggested more business ventures than any other man Eau Claire has known. One of his most lasting contributions was his success in persuading such important lumbermen as O.H. Ingram to settle in Eau Claire and win their fortunes from the "limitless" pine forests of Wisconsin. As a token of his faith in the future of the city, Randall donated parcels of land for Randall Park, a portion of Lake View Cemetery, a Methodist Seminary and the First Congregational Church. He planned to build his home where the Eau Claire County Courthouse now stands, but that dream would not be fulfilled. After a series of business setbacks during the difficult years of 1857 through 1860, Randall lost his West Side property. He died at Reed's Landing in 1868 at thirty-nine years of age. This bronze statue in the center of Randall Park was designed by Wisconsin's most celebrated sculptress, Helen Farnsworth Mears. It was commissioned and dedicated by O.H. Ingram in memory of a remarkable man. The City of Eau Claire constructed a new pedestal for the statue in 1990. The new pedestal replicates the materials, size and design of the original." -"Eau Claire Landmarks: Designated Historic Properties in Eau Claire, Wisconsin", Eau Claire Landmarks Commission, P.O. Box 5148, 2016.

(A) Plaque on the Statue. (B) Green, S.P. 1972. Helen Farnsworth Mears, p. 83-86, 138. (C) Dictionary of Wisconsin Biography, 1960, p. 250-251. (D) Eau Claire Leader, 9/25/1913 p. 3. (E) EAU CLAIRE LEADER-TELEGRAM 9/18/1994. Eau Claire Landmarks booklet published by the Eau Claire Landmarks Commission in 2002.

Randall Park Historic District

May 20, 1983

Jan 01, 1989

Yes