Alma Mater (1916) is a three-figure sculpture by Cyrus E. Dallin in the Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School in Ladue, Missouri that was known as one of his more prominent works at the time[1] and is considered to be among his finest achievements by Kent Ahrens.[2] The sculpture is made of cast bronze and sits on a pediment of pink Tennessee marble with a stone backing that has two ionic pilasters supporting an arching molding. The backing panel also has a bas relief profile portrait of the honoree, Professor Edmund Sears, that is partially obstructed by the bronze figures.
The bronze sculpture contains three figures. A woman in Greek costume is seated with an open book on her lap. She is described as a mother who is an embodiment of knowledge.[3] A kneeling female child on her left and a standing female child on her right look at her with attention.[4] These younger figures represent students at the lower and upper schools, respectively.[3] Ahrens indicates that this sculpture may reflect the influence of Daniel Chester French and the Gallaudet Memorial,[2] although an examination of both sculptures does not reveal a dramatic similarity. The $15,000 commission contract with Dallin was negotiated by William K. Bixby, a prominent St. Louis philanthropist, and signed on November 5, 1915. Bixby was the negotiator as the honoree, Principal Edmund Sears, was uncomfortable negotiating the commission for his own honor.[2][4] A bequest in the estate of Eliza Northrup MacMillian funded the project. At that time the Mary Institute and affiliated with Washington University and Bixby served on the University Board.
Dallin spent time at the school making sketches[5] and later sculpted the piece in his Arlington, Massachusetts studio. It was first displayed at an exhibition by the Guild of Boston Artists at the Evans Wing of Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.[6] There it was described by the Boston Journal reviewer as "one of the most striking pieces of sculpture in the exhibition". It was unveiled on November 11, 1916, with Sears, its honoree, in attendance.[7]
In 1923 Dallin would later produce a similar image in low relief for the Scanlan Memorial at Arlington's Crosby School at 34 Winter Street. The sculpture honors a deceased teacher/principal, Mary F. Scanlan who had served the community for 48 years.[9] The building is currently known as the Lesley Ellis School.
