Washburn bust to be dedicated

A bronze bust of a pivotal figure in Wisconsin history will be dedicated at the university Sunday, May 28.

Cadwallader C. Washburn a 19th century lumber baron, milling executive, member of Congress, governor and philanthropist, endowed a La Crosse public library, a Minneapolis orphanage and 55 acres in Madison for a Catholic academy which eventually evolved into Edgewood College.

In 1876, Washburn secured $3,000 from the Wisconsin legislature to fund an astronomy program at the University of Wisconsin. He also donated land overlooking Lake Mendota and $10,000 for an observatory featuring a then state-of-the-art refractor telescope. Washburn Observatory opened in 1876. Since 1959 the building has housed the UW–Madison Institute for Research in the Humanities.

Charles Gelatt of La Crosse commissioned the Washburn bust, cast by alum and sculptor Elmer Peterson. Gelatt and Peterson will join UW–Madison emeritus professor of astronomy Robert Bless, the observatory’s unofficial historian, at the dedication ceremony starting at 2 p.m. at the observatory.

For more information, contact Paul Boyer, Humanities Research Institute director, 262-3855.