Remembering history: the Class of 1919 Victory Fountain

While Nathan Osterberger, facilities director, and his team were cleaning out the garages behind the old alumni house, they discovered a number of large mysterious pieces of marble hidden beneath a tarp. The team relocated the pieces to the Marvin Field House to take a better look and then reached out to Fred Burwell ’86, archivist emeritus, who identified the find as the Victory Fountain, a gift from the Class of 1919.

On the surface, the repaired Victory Fountain appeared as a solution to an unexpected landscaping challenge. Its placement in front of Col. Robert H. Morse Library was not a part of the original concept, but leakage through the library’s foundation meant that Osterberger could not fill the space in front of the library with soil and plant a garden as planned. Instead, they installed a concrete cap. “The fountain and ornamental rocks were a way to soften the feeling of the library brickwork and concrete patio,” said Osterberger. “After I learned about the Victory Fountain’s history from Fred, I realized the project was special, an art installation with a message from our past.”

The 1920 “war” yearbook describes a “thin” commencement in 1917 and returning attendance in the fall of 1917 as a “shadow.” Students published a newspaper, Rations and Billets, that was printed and distributed to all Beloit servicemen they had addresses for, at home and in France, and the Beloit College Red Cross Branch knit sweaters, socks, and scarves and raised funds to send overseas. At the start of the American involvement in the war, families hung banners with blue stars representing family members in the services. If the service member was killed in combat, the blue star was changed to gold. A story in The Round Table from that era reports that the seniors of the Class of 1919 won an annual singing contest and used the $50 prize to help pay for a drinking fountain to honor their classmates in the war. The Victory Fountain was one of many efforts students on campus made to pay tribute to their classmates who fought in the war. The fountain was placed in front of Middle College, where it was a fixture for decades.

Osterberger considered the decision made by the Class of 1919 to honor classmates with the fountain as “an act of love.” The reassembling of those broken pieces into a new water installation was an act of love as well. Before coming to Beloit, Osterberger worked in northern Illinois, where he developed networks with the gardening community. After he shared the unique project with Tim Gruner of Anderson Gardens in Rockford, Gruner connected him with Ed Beaulieu of Aquascape, a celebrity and premiere expert in water installations. Beaulieu added the Victory Fountain to his portfolio that included NBA stars’ front yards, an elephant swimming pool in London, and drinking water projects in Africa.

Their goal, “We can do justice service by serving justice to the Victory Fountain.” In partnership, Osterberger and Beaulieu approached the fountain’s new installation with care. They worked to honor Beloit College students and their values over a century later, choosing thoughtful action when faced with brokenness.

Like the war in 1919, the refurbished fountain was only a murmur at first. Natural installations, according to Osterberger, water or gardens, can create the illusion of being in a particular time and place. “The intent of reinstalling this feature, the Victory Fountain, was to inspire critical thinking and discussion with our student body,” said Osterberger. “Someday our students might find themselves in a leadership position and be responsible for making decisions with very real consequences.”

How the Class of 1919 chose a water fountain as a monument and determined its placement, where and by whom it was constructed are pages lost to history, but their lessons are not. A year after the Victory Fountain was discovered, its resurrected stones, orchestrated plant growth, and the calming effects of flowing water embody Osterberger’s message to campus. “These lessons from the past seem even more relevant now … Developing young adults who can think through complex political situations and navigate hard conversations is exactly why Beloit College will always remain relevant and necessary,” said Osterberger, who is grateful for the Aquascape partnership, and also for the Class of 1919’s gift that over a hundred years later is restored.