Library Mall Fountain Returns!
After a long hiatus, the Hagenah Fountain on Library Mall is working again, so it seemed like a good time for a little history.
The area that we now know as Library Mall has been used in many ways over the years, but did not become the space we know today until Memorial Library was built in the early 1950s.
Lower campus, c. 1920, before the construction of the Memorial Union and Memorial Library (Wisconsin Historical Society building in the middle). Image #S12800.
Lower campus, c. 1954, after the construction of Memorial Library, but before the fountain was put in. Image #S12928.
William John Hagenah (B.L. 1903, LL.B. 1905, Honorary Doctor of Laws 1956, Executive Director of the UW Foundation) had long been a benefactor of the University, and he was very interested in beautifying the lower campus.
As part of a plan to develop that area of campus and make it more of a welcoming entryway to the University, Hagenah gave $16,500 to construct a fountain on what was then an empty mall. The fountain was designed by Roger Kirchhoff, state architect, who also designed Memorial Library. The fountain was constructed of red granite, and bears the inscription around the inside “Teachers and books are the springs from which flow the waters of knowledge,” wording from Hagenah himself. The fountain was formally dedicated on June 14, 1958, although it had been on for several days.
Original Hagenah Fountain, June 1958. Image #S16805.
The fountain was met with less than universal acclaim, Evidently most people were expecting something much grander, and according to the Daily Cardinal “..the large crowds gazed at it with mixed emotions. Some were indignant, some puzzled, some amused.” The fountain would soon be fitted with a ring to give it a different water pattern.
Hagenah Fountain with revised water ring, July 1994. Image #S16115.
Although the University complained about things being thrown into the fountain--detergent and goldfish were two of the first--and the University police originally tried to keep people from playing in it, the fountain rapidly became an iconic part of campus and generations of students and children have waded in its waters.
Welcome back!
--David Null, for the University Archives
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For more information about UW campus history, contact [email protected] or visit library.wisc.edu/archives. On, Wisconsin!
