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Greek goddess
The Douglas County Museum of History & Natural History had Greek goddess Hebe statues made in preparation for a Hebe exhibit that had been set
for March through May. Douglas County commissioners nixed the exhibit, but the statues are still for sale at the museum.
Wanting to avoid the controversy that has ensnared the city of Roseburg over a proposed statue of the Greek goddess Hebe, Douglas County commissioners have nixed an exhibit at the Douglas County Museum.
Late last month, Commissioner Marilyn Kittelman sent a letter to Stacey McLaughlin, the museum's director, telling her to stop preparations for an exhibit on Hebe that had been set for March through May.
"We appreciate all of your hard work," Kittelman wrote in the Jan. 20 letter. "Unfortunately, this issue is very divisive in our county. The Board (of Commissioners) would like to be constantly striving to unify, and not to divide the county."
For the past two years, a group of Roseburg residents has worked to replace a fountain that was once located in downtown Roseburg. The group has collected money for the effort in the hopes of having it erected in Eagle Park at the corner of Southeast Jackson Street and Lane Avenue.
Museum officials said their only purpose in planning a display on Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth, was to educate the public, not sway them to one side or the other. It was planned as a part of Women's History Month in March.
"It seemed like a timely and topical subject," McLaughlin said. "It was going to be a history lesson more than anything."
The Hebe statue was originally located at Main Street and Cass Avenue. The Women's Christian Temperance Union and the '95 Mental Culture Club -- now the Roseburg Woman's Club -- dedicated the fountain in 1908.
The statue was meant to encourage people to drink water rather than succumb to the enticement of alcohol. There were three levels to the fountain, one for dogs, another for horses and the top one for people.
Janet Beebe, a member of the Douglas County Museum Advisory Board, said she was shocked that Kittelman would act to stop the exhibit and that fellow commissioners Doug Robertson and Dan Van Slyke would go along with it.
"I felt this was a form of censorship," Beebe said. "I felt the display was going to be informative. This is where you would come to learn the facts on Hebe. That's the purpose of a museum."
Kittelman said the action wasn't meant as an act of censorship. She said it was simply to avoid embroiling the county in the controversy.
"As divisive as it is, we didn't want to get into the middle of it," Kittelman said. "We want to bring the community together. We don't want to drive a wedge."
Ron Sturtz, chairman of the advisory board, whose members are appointed by the commissioners, said he was surprised to learn of Kittelman's objection to the Hebe exhibit after she joined the Board of Commissioners last month. Plans for the exhibit had been under way since November.
"I didn't think it was an issue," he said.
Sturtz acknowledged that the subject of Hebe had become a "tempest in a teapot" in Roseburg. However, he said many people in the community were asking exactly what the Hebe statue is all about. He felt the museum was well-suited to answer that question.
The Roseburg Hebe statue was based on a rendition of Hebe by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, who lived from 1770 to 1844. The original figure was originally shown at The Louvre museum in Paris and is now housed in the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen. The original 1806 model shows Hebe in a gown in which one of her breasts is exposed, holding a cup in one hand and a jug in the other. The 1816 sculture, which was in Roseburg, had the breast covered up.
It was one of many erected across the country at about the same time. A zinc copy of Thorvaldsen's work once graced Tompkins Square Park in New York City.
The Hebe statue remained in downtown Roseburg until 1912, when a runaway team of horses pulling a wagon reportedly toppled it. The damaged figure was taken away and later lost. Efforts to find the original statue failed, but supporters of the modern efforts looked to find another one.
Critics of the drive to bring Hebe back to Roseburg view the statue as an anti-Christian icon. They associate the statue with paganism and Wicca, a religion with a belief in supernatural power. Adherents of both say Hebe plays no role in their beliefs.
Hebe was erected in Roseburg at about the same time as a statewide vote on whether to give cities and counties the option to outlaw billiard halls, race tracks, bowling alleys, theaters and the sale of liquor, McLaughlin said. The Women's Christian Temperance Union, which fought for Prohibition, was one of the backers of the measure. However, it was defeated both statewide and by a 2-to-1 margin in Douglas County.
Sturtz said he has asked the Board of Commissioners to reconsider the matter. He's not confident, though, that it will do any good.
Even without the exhibit, the museum will still display and sell ceramic versions of Hebe that it commissioned. The figurines, produced by Rosemary Nicklason of Over The Hill Ceramics in Roseburg, will sell for $40 in the museum's gift shop.
* You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@newsreview.info.
Late last month, Commissioner Marilyn Kittelman sent a letter to Stacey McLaughlin, the museum's director, telling her to stop preparations for an exhibit on Hebe that had been set for March through May.
"We appreciate all of your hard work," Kittelman wrote in the Jan. 20 letter. "Unfortunately, this issue is very divisive in our county. The Board (of Commissioners) would like to be constantly striving to unify, and not to divide the county."
For the past two years, a group of Roseburg residents has worked to replace a fountain that was once located in downtown Roseburg. The group has collected money for the effort in the hopes of having it erected in Eagle Park at the corner of Southeast Jackson Street and Lane Avenue.
Museum officials said their only purpose in planning a display on Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth, was to educate the public, not sway them to one side or the other. It was planned as a part of Women's History Month in March.
"It seemed like a timely and topical subject," McLaughlin said. "It was going to be a history lesson more than anything."
The Hebe statue was originally located at Main Street and Cass Avenue. The Women's Christian Temperance Union and the '95 Mental Culture Club -- now the Roseburg Woman's Club -- dedicated the fountain in 1908.
The statue was meant to encourage people to drink water rather than succumb to the enticement of alcohol. There were three levels to the fountain, one for dogs, another for horses and the top one for people.
Janet Beebe, a member of the Douglas County Museum Advisory Board, said she was shocked that Kittelman would act to stop the exhibit and that fellow commissioners Doug Robertson and Dan Van Slyke would go along with it.
"I felt this was a form of censorship," Beebe said. "I felt the display was going to be informative. This is where you would come to learn the facts on Hebe. That's the purpose of a museum."
Kittelman said the action wasn't meant as an act of censorship. She said it was simply to avoid embroiling the county in the controversy.
"As divisive as it is, we didn't want to get into the middle of it," Kittelman said. "We want to bring the community together. We don't want to drive a wedge."
Ron Sturtz, chairman of the advisory board, whose members are appointed by the commissioners, said he was surprised to learn of Kittelman's objection to the Hebe exhibit after she joined the Board of Commissioners last month. Plans for the exhibit had been under way since November.
"I didn't think it was an issue," he said.
Sturtz acknowledged that the subject of Hebe had become a "tempest in a teapot" in Roseburg. However, he said many people in the community were asking exactly what the Hebe statue is all about. He felt the museum was well-suited to answer that question.
The Roseburg Hebe statue was based on a rendition of Hebe by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, who lived from 1770 to 1844. The original figure was originally shown at The Louvre museum in Paris and is now housed in the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen. The original 1806 model shows Hebe in a gown in which one of her breasts is exposed, holding a cup in one hand and a jug in the other. The 1816 sculture, which was in Roseburg, had the breast covered up.
It was one of many erected across the country at about the same time. A zinc copy of Thorvaldsen's work once graced Tompkins Square Park in New York City.
The Hebe statue remained in downtown Roseburg until 1912, when a runaway team of horses pulling a wagon reportedly toppled it. The damaged figure was taken away and later lost. Efforts to find the original statue failed, but supporters of the modern efforts looked to find another one.
Critics of the drive to bring Hebe back to Roseburg view the statue as an anti-Christian icon. They associate the statue with paganism and Wicca, a religion with a belief in supernatural power. Adherents of both say Hebe plays no role in their beliefs.
Hebe was erected in Roseburg at about the same time as a statewide vote on whether to give cities and counties the option to outlaw billiard halls, race tracks, bowling alleys, theaters and the sale of liquor, McLaughlin said. The Women's Christian Temperance Union, which fought for Prohibition, was one of the backers of the measure. However, it was defeated both statewide and by a 2-to-1 margin in Douglas County.
Sturtz said he has asked the Board of Commissioners to reconsider the matter. He's not confident, though, that it will do any good.
Even without the exhibit, the museum will still display and sell ceramic versions of Hebe that it commissioned. The figurines, produced by Rosemary Nicklason of Over The Hill Ceramics in Roseburg, will sell for $40 in the museum's gift shop.
* You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@newsreview.info.
