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from the issue of February 7, 2008
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Bust search dead ends in Bessey photo
BY TROY FEDDERSON, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
A good senator is hard to find - just ask Ed Harvey.
| | LAST SITING - Charles Bessey sits in his office in this image from around 1900. The Morrill bust is on the right, in the case behind Bessey. Nebraska State Historical Society/Courtesy Photo.
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The associate director of the School of Natural Resources has hunted across City and East campuses for a bust of Justin Morrill. A senator from Vermont, Morrill was the primary author of the Morrill Land Grant of 1862, which gave rise to state land grant universities like NU.
"The university purchased the bust for $45 in 1898," said Harvey. "I've checked with the University Archives and all the museums, but no one knows where it is.
"The only bit of evidence that we have is a picture of it in Charles Bessey's office in the early 1900s."
Harvey wants to use the bust to help promote UNL's Justin Smith Morrill Scholars Program, which he directs.
"I want to make sure the bust is placed in a public place, to showcase that we are a land grant university," Harvey said. "I'm always surprised by the number of people on campus who don't know who Justin Morrill was and what it means to be a land grant university."
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| | | MORRILL BUST - The Justin Morrill bust was modelled after this original made of marble. Courtesy photo.
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While he hopes the original bust is waiting in a dusty campus corner, Harvey is also making backup plans. While the discussions are only preliminary, Harvey said he may have a replica commissioned or work on getting students to create art based on Morrill's legacy.
"Those are just some ideas," Harvey said. "I'm not giving up on finding the original bust. It may be stuck in a closet somewhere. Some one just might know where it is."
If you have seen the Morrill bust, contact Harvey at feharvey1@unl.edu or 472-8237.
GO TO: ISSUE OF FEBRUARY 7
NEWS HEADLINES FOR FEBRUARY 7
$2M grant bolsters bridge research
Accident kills associate vice chancellor
Bust search dead ends in Bessey photo
Capturing rural Nebraska
'Winning the Oil Endgame' lecture Feb. 12
Admissions opens online community
Dinosaurs & Disasters
Event aids students' major search
UNL engineer outlines potential of nano-Velcro
733079S37822X
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