Wheeler Williams (November 30, 1897 – August 12, 1972) was an American sculptor, born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Life and career

Williams studied sculpture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He attended Yale, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1919. He received a Master of Architecture degree from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher l ...

in 1922. Williams studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was one of a dozen sculptors invited to compete in the

Pioneer Woman The ''Pioneer Woman'' monument is a bronze sculpture in Ponca City, Oklahoma, designed by Bryant Baker and dedicated on April 22, 1930. The statue is of a wikt:sunbonnet, sunbonneted woman leading a child by the hand. It was donated to the State ...

statue competition in 1927, which he failed to win. His model for that competition was later enlarged, cast and placed in front of the public library in

Liberty, Kansas Liberty is a city in Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 99. History Liberty was laid out in 1869 about six miles southeast of Independence, Kansas. It is named for the popular Amer ...

. Williams was a recipient of a Gould Medal at the Paris Exposition in 1937. He was a member of the National Academy, past president of the Fine Arts Federation of New York, and longtime president of the National Sculpture Society. Wheeler was also the founder and president of the American Artist Professional League.

Political involvement

Williams was a supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committee's search for communist "reds" in the arts. He also protested the Congressional censure of

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

. Williams also served on the jury for the

Alger Hiss Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Statutes of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in co ...

treason trial. Very active in Republican circles, many of Williams' commissions reflect his conservative positions (for example the

Robert A. Taft Memorial The Robert A. Taft Memorial and Carillon is a carillon dedicated as a memorial to U.S. Senator Robert Alphonso Taft, son of President William Howard Taft. The memorial is located north of the Capitol, on Constitution Avenue between New Jersey ...

in Washington, DC).

Public monuments

* 1930 "Tablets to Pioneers", Michigan Avenue Bridge,

Chicago, IL (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

* 1935 "Communications" West Pediment of the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale ...

Building (formerly Interstate Commerce Commission),

Federal Triangle The Federal Triangle is a triangular area in Washington, D.C. formed by 15th Street NW, Constitution Avenue NW, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and E Street NW. Federal Triangle is occupied by 10 large city and federal office buildings, all of which a ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morg ...

* 1938 "Indian Bowman,"

United States Post Office-Canal Street Station The United States Post Office Canal Street Station, originally known as "Station B", is a historic post office building located at 350 Canal Street at the corner of Church Street in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was bu ...

New York, NY New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

* 1942 "Settlers of the Seaboard",

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, wit ...

Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

* 1949 "The Venus of Manhattan", Madison Avenue Facade, Parke Bernet Gallery, New York, NY * 1951 four servicemen sculpture on the Wall of the Missing,

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial is a World War II American military war grave cemetery, located between the villages of Coton and Madingley, north-west of Cambridge, England. The cemetery, dedicated in 1956, contains 3,811 American ...

Cambridge, England Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge became ...

* 1952 "Fountain of the Water Babies", Children's Hospital,

Seattle, WA Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of ...

* 1952 "Wave of Life", Houston Main Building (HMB) of The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; was the Prudential S.W. regional office until 1974.

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* 1955 "Robert A. Taft" plaque, Indian Hill Church Cemetery,

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* 1956 "Colonel Robert R. McCormick" bronze sculpture, Colonel's Place,

Baie-Comeau Baie-Comeau (; 2021 city population 20,687; CA population 26,643) is a city located approximately north-east of Quebec City in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River ne ...

, QC,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

* 1956 Commodore John Barry Memorial,

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

* 1959 "Robert A. Taft Memorial," Capitol Grounds,

* 1960 "Muse of the Missouri" Fountain,

Kansas City, MO Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

* 1961 "Spring, Summer, Fall,"

Memphis, TN Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-most ...

References

*"Questioning 'Modern'", August 23, 1942, New York Times *"Petition Drive Set To Back McCarthy", November 15, 1954, New York Times *"Hiss Offers Not Guilty Plea", December 17, 1948, New York Times *Goode, James M. ''The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington D.C.'', Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 1974 *Gurney, George,'' Sculpture and the Federal Triangle'', Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 1985 {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Wheeler 1897 births 1972 deaths American architectural sculptors American male sculptors Artists from Chicago School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Yale University alumni Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni 20th-century American sculptors National Sculpture Society members Sculptors from Illinois 20th-century American male artists Section of Painting and Sculpture artists