Dr. Edwin Stephens was just 27 years old in 1900, when he took the reins of a newly created post-secondary school that would serve south Louisiana.
The former chemistry and physics teacher from New Orleans was charged with transforming 25 acres of empty sugarcane fields into Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute of Liberal and Technical Learning.
On New Year’s Day, 1901, he helped define the look of campus by planting oak seedlings. Ten of those Century Oaks, near the intersection of Johnston Street and University Avenue, are still standing. They shade walkways near Girard Hall.
Stephens led the school for almost four decades. He directed construction of its first buildings and the expansion of its curriculum. Under his leadership, the school began granting its first bachelor’s degrees. He retired in 1938 and died a few months later.
The University asked artist Patrick Miller to create the first president’s likeness. The statue will be installed near UL Lafayette’s signature oaks, possibly this fall.
Last year, Miller visited campus to see the site and to collect vintage photographs of Stephens to use as a guide.
“A younger version of Dr. Stephens seemed appropriate because that’s most likely how he looked when he planted the Century Oaks,” Miller said. He soon began working on the statue in his Ponchatoula, La., studio.
To create a bronze sculpture, Miller first makes a version in clay. When that form is complete, it’s covered in urethane rubber and plaster to make a mold, which is used to create a wax figure.
A second mold is formed around the wax. It’s made of a ceramic-like material that can withstand high temperatures. When molten metal is poured inside that second mold, it melts and displaces the wax. The metal cools to form the final piece of art.
The Stephens statue will be cast at the Shidoni Foundry in Tesuque, N.M., one of the top fine art foundries in the United States.
The project has involved more than producing a strong resemblance of Stephens, Miller told La Louisiane in a recent interview. He has also conducted research to make certain he’s nailed down some historical details.
“Much of my work is of contemporary figures, so being able to do a little detective work has made this project a lot of fun,” he said.
Miller learned that Stephens had his own sense of style, for example. “He wore his beard for a longer period of time than other men of his era. Beards began to go out of style after the turn of the century but it took him a while to decide to go clean-shaven.”
The sculptor has relied mostly on a photo of a young Stephens, with a neatly groomed beard and moustache, who is looking confidently into a photographer’s camera lens. Stephens’ neckline is obscured by his beard. Because Miller was shaping a 3-D image, he sought insight from experts in period clothing to make a best guess as to how to give Stephen’s ascot, a turn-of-the-century version of a man’s necktie, the proper treatment.
Miller created the statue in stages, beginning with Stephens’ head, which is the most complex component. Using the photograph as a reference, he measured the distance between Stephens’ eyes and the distance between his forehead and chin. Then he applied layers of clay to build the facial structure before adding details, such as Stephens’ beard and moustache.
The key features of the statue are those that reflect aspects of Stephens’ legacy: an acorn in his right hand and fleurs-de-lis on his ascot.
Stephens loved live oaks and was an advocate for the stately trees. In addition to planting oaks on campus, he established the Live Oak Society, a registry of mature live oaks that now includes more than 7,000 trees in 14 states.
Fleurs-de-lis were embroidered on the fabric of Stephens’ ascot.
In 1926, Stephens used fleurs-de-lis to represent the school when he helped design its first seal. Then, as now, the seal features three fleurs-de-lis on a blue field, symbolizing Louisiana’s historical connection to France.
The University’s official fleur-de-lis was registered with the U.S. Patent Office in 1998. The fact that fleurs-de-lis were used in the seal helped convince federal officials that the University could rightfully lay claim to the design as part of its visual identity.
Stephens’ oaks have come to represent the University’s stability and forethought, while the fleur-de-lis has blossomed into one of its most treasured symbols.