Bust of Amos Adams Lawrence, Henry Dexter

Exhibition Label: "Windmills to Workshops: Lawrence and the Visual Arts," Jul-2004, Kate Meyer Henry Dexter, one of the foremost American sculptors of the mid-nineteenth century, was particularly famous for his portrait busts of important contemporary men. This work portrays our cities’ namesake, Amos Adams Lawrence, treasurer of the New England Emigrant Aid Company. The NEEAC, an abolitionist society, sent 1300 settlers west to Lawrence, hoping to assure Kansas’ destiny as a Free State. While the philanthropic interests of the NEEAC have long since been debated, their advocacy of abolitionism remains indelibly tied to the history of our region. The Bust of Amos Adams Lawrence was donated in 1878, making it the first work of art ever given to KU. Lawrence visited the city that bears his name for the first and only time in 1884 at nearly 70 years of age.