Afamous, learned statesman stands atop the Liberty Bell, observing the traffic passing by on University Avenue. At the same time, an ancient poet sits just yards away from the heart of the music department.
As integral pieces of the modern-day Academical Village, the statues of Thomas Jefferson in front of the Rotunda and Homer nearby Old Cabell Hall can be readily identified by many members of the University community.
However, these well-known literary and historical figures are not the only people who have been memorialized around Grounds.
The University hosts a number of plaques, statues and monuments, many of which were added to the landscape early in the 20th century.
"It was an architectural trend of the time to encourage these civic embellishments and statuary," University Landscape Architect Mary Hughes said.
Numerous students pass by -- even sit on -- some of these University monuments on a daily basis, often without knowing whom they are supposed to honor.
"When you start looking, there are a number of statues ... that we do tend to take for granted," Hughes said.
One structure whose origins students may be unfamiliar with is the Frank Hume Memorial and Fountain, located in the plaza between Brown College and Monroe Hall.
The fountain "has become the focus of one of the University's main public spaces," Hughes said.
In fact, first-year College student Natalie Wilson said she remembers having the fountain specifically pointed out to her during Orientation. Last Sunday afternoon, she showed the fixture to two of her visiting friends.
Wilson said one reason the memorial stands out is because of its shady, tree-lined location between the dining hall and classrooms.
"I see people studying here all the time," Wilson said.
Students can relax or study on the monument's marble bench, but why is it there? Who is Frank Hume?
While the inscription on the marble wall reads "A memorial to the Honorable Frank Hume ... a devoted Virginian who served his native state in Civil War and Legislative Hall," Wilson said the information does not really clear things up.
"Why would they fill the whole wall?" she asked.
Wilson said she thought a plaque with some more details might help.
Dedicated in 1938, the Hume Memorial was designed by Edmund Campbell, who at the time was dean of the Architecture School, Hughes said.
Hume's descendents provided the funding to honor the Virginia legislator and Civil War veteran.
According to the National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Hume joined other relatives in the Confederate Army in 1861 and suffered a wound in the Battle of Gettysburg.
Hume took his deceased brother's place at one point and, consequently, spent some time reporting directly to General Robert E. Lee.
Hume went on to become a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1889.
According to the biography, "Hume was a public-spirited man and was credited with originating the idea of the Memorial Bridge between Washington and Virginia."
The fountain honoring Hume's varied service has its own history as well.
Monroe Hall, currently home to the Commerce School, used to have an open courtyard facing Alderman Library, Hughes said.
The fountain was part of that space until a fourth side was added to the building in the 1980s. The memorial was deconstructed and put back together in its current location.
Another monument that has been shuffled around over time due to construction is The Aviator.
Today, the winged sculpture is flanked by Clemons, Alderman and Special Collections Libraries.
"The idea originally was that this winged aviator, modeled after Icarus of Greek mythology, was poised to take off from [a] wooded slope," Hughes said.
While it may not look like that today, the plan was in fact followed. Before Clemons Library was built, the area really was a wooded slope, Hughes said.
The backdrop has changed, but the statue still stands.
"The University changes so much that it would be somewhat of a miracle if the settings remained the same over time," Hughes said.
A Seven Society plaque in front of The Aviator indicates that the statue honors James Rogers McConnell.
McConnell, who attended the University, entered World War I as a pilot for France's Lafayette Escadrille.
McConnell died when his plane was shot down in 1917.
The "whole University is stricken with grief at the thought of his end," former University President Edwin A. Alderman wrote in a letter to McConnell's brother-in-law. "With what solemn pride must [his parents] reflect upon his valor, his devotion, and his self-sacrifice."
Hughes said McConnell volunteered for the French air force before America even entered the war.
McConnell "has written his name high upon the rolls of the fame of this University," Alderman wrote. "No son of the Institution, in a hundred years, has shown greater reserves of stark courage, faith, and unselfish purpose."
Within months of McConnell's death, the University began to plan a memorial.
Gutzon Borglum, whose signature can be seen on the back left of the Aviator's round pedestal, was chosen as the sculptor.
"He was interested in aviation himself and was a friend of the Wright Brothers, [so] he was kind of the perfect person to do this sculpture," Hughes said.
Alderman noted in a letter to McConnell's mother that some of Borglum's work was "regarded as among the best things in American art."
Later, Borglum would go on to sculpt arguably his most famous work, Mount Rushmore.
"I think it's impressive that we have a work by the same guy who did a national monument," first-year College student Robert Dwyer said.
Dwyer appreciates statues over other methods of landscaping because "a shrub is something you just plant," he said. "A statue is manmade, it's art, it's a pinnacle of culture."
Even before he learned about The Aviator's famous heritage, Dwyer said the piece was an excellent addition to the University landscape.
"I don't know if it's anything about the work itself," Dwyer said.
Dwyer said he simply enjoys the general use of statuary around Grounds as well as the surrounding city.
These numerous creations are a record of the University's past generations, Hughes said.
We can learn "what they were interested in, what was of concern to them [and] the people that were important to them," Hughes said.
Although many current students may not be familiar with Frank Hume and James Rogers McConnell, these were just two figures that once stood out in University memories.
Today, their monuments provide a glimpse at the ideas and values of the past, Hughes said. Our predecessors believed those people should "leave a permanent mark on the University Grounds."
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