A sign sits at the entrance of Thompson Library explaining the removal of the bust of William Oxley Thompson. Credit: Sophie Yates | For The Lantern.
Dolen Helwagen said while preparing for finals as a graduating senior, she missed one of her most important study aides — the bust of William Oxley Thompson.
The bust was removed from Thompson Library’s entrance this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since it was first placed in the library in 1955, the bust’s head has been rubbed by generations of Ohio State students for good luck on their exams and studies.
“Every time I would pass it, it was this reminder of all the students who have come before me and all the ones who are going to come after me,” Helwagen, a fourth-year in math and history, said.
Thompson was the fifth president of Ohio State from 1899-1925. The bust of Thompson was sculpted and completed in 1922 by Bruce Wilder of the Saville of the Department of Fine Arts at Ohio State, according to university archives.
During his time as university president, Thompson supported pro-segregation policies as a member of the Columbus Board of Education. According to “Getting Around Brown: Desegregation, Development, and the Columbus Public Schools” by Gregory Jacobs, Thompson was a major proponent of the establishment of Champion Avenue School, a majority-Black school that has been called an example of de facto segregation.
“It is in the best interests of both [races] that they be educated in separate schools,” Thompson said at a 1907 Board meeting.
On Nov. 5, 1955 — the 100th anniversary of Thompson’s birth — plans were finally made to move the bust to the main floor of the library where it could be seen from the attic of Pomerene Hall, according to Pollard’s book, “William Oxley Thompson: Evangel of Education.”
Now, the bust has returned to storage to comply with university safety protocols, Nancy Colvin, the director of strategic marketing and communications at university libraries, said in an email.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, the bust was placed in storage to help keep our students, faculty and staff healthy. We don’t have a definitive date for when it might return. That decision will be informed by the university’s safe and healthy recommendations and protocols,” Colvin said.
Due to the absence of the bust, Helwagen said she is realizing just how much it meant to her in her time as a Buckeye.
“It was something I took for granted,” Helwagen said. “It’s just sad because I’ll have to walk into the library and pass that spot and just be like, ‘What could have been?’”
Helwagen said the university’s recognition of the bust’s significance to students displays their desire to unite the community.
“It’s something that connects the university community as a whole,” Helwagen said. “The fact that the university embraces that shows that they want to keep everyone together.”
