Symbolic Lincoln Hall sculpture taken into protective custody.
Anyone alarmed by the disappearance of one of Lincoln Hall’s most endearing features need not worry. Abraham Lincoln may belong to the ages, but his bust still belongs to the University of Illinois.
Workers and staff clearing the last items out of a soon-to-be restored Lincoln Hall were struck by the sight of a gaping hole inside the building’s marbled east entrance where the 125-pound bronze bust has sat for more than 80 years. Some people were troubled enough to inquire, but it turns out that the art piece now rests safely in a walk-in vault operated by U of I’s Facilities & Services unit.
James Spese, F&S project manager for Lincoln Hall, says that he had the bust moved to protect it from damage during the roughly $65 million restoration project. It will be returned to its proper spot when the work is complete.
“The main east entrance will be renovated,” Spese says. “There are several details in the entrance that have been abandoned for years, (an) example being lighting, that will all be reestablished as it was originally. It will look great.”
The bust, he adds, with its nose yellow from years of being rubbed for luck, will not be refurbished. It will be returned to its niche in the foyer once the restoration is complete in 2012, according to schedule.
Lincoln’s bust at the base of a double staircase has overlooked the east foyer since the University purchased the item in 1928. Until now it has left its niche only once, when thieves stole it one night in October 1979. The pranksters sent a note to the Daily Illini reading, in part, “Gone out for a breath of fresh air. I’ll be back by the end of the week.” But the bust was recovered shortly when someone spotted it on a tree stump at the former University golf course on Florida Avenue.
The bronze bust is one of eight created in 1915 by sculptor Hermon Atkins MacNeil. According to John Hoffman, curator of the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections at the University, MacNeil modeled them off a statue he created for a contest in Springfield, Ill. The University purchased the bust for $450.
Details on the whereabouts of the other busts are scarce. According to the Smithsonian Art Inventories Catalog, three others are located at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Beloit College Wright Museum of Art, and Amherst College Mead Art Museum. Otherwise, the locations of the others are unknown—although they have not necessarily vanished. The Smithsonian, for example, does not list Lincoln Hall as the location for one of the busts.