Weathervane Wednesday ~ Above a University Library

I post another in a series of weather vane photographs every Wednesday.  This started with images of weathervanes from the Londonderry, New Hampshire area, but now I've found interesting weather vanes all across New England and across the globe.  Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are interesting.  Often my readers tip me off to some very unique or unusual weathervanes, too!  If you know a great weather vane near you, let me know if you'd like to have it featured on this blog.

Today's weather vane was photographed in New Hampshire.

Do you know the location of weathervane post #352?  Scroll down to find the answer.

This interesting weathervane can be seen on the tower above the Baker Library at Dartmouth University in Hanover, New Hampshire.  According to the 1927 Boston Herald article below, this gilded weathervane is 8 feet 9 inches long, and 6 feet 8 inches high, and was built by A.N. Merryman.  It depicts a man trading with a Native American under a pine tree for the tract of land to be known as "New Hampshire".

According to the Dartmouth University website, there was a contest for the design of the weathervane. The architect Stanley Orcutt's design "Wheelock and an Indian under the Pine" won, and Merryman of Concord built the weathervane. It weighs 600 pounds and is 200 feet above the Dartmouth campus.  Eleazar Wheelock (1711 - 1779) was a missionary from Connecticut who founded Dartmouth College to educate the Native Americans, but it mainly educated the sons of New England settlers, including his own son in the first graduating class of four students. The barrel of rum on the weathervane behind Wheelock refers to an old Dartmouth drinking song.

"Eleazar Wheelock was a very pious man
He went into the wilderness to teach the Indian
with a Gradus ad Parnassum, a Bible and a drum
And five hundred gallons of New England rum"

from the Dartmouth Digital Library Collections,
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Boston Herald, September 4, 1927

Dartmouth University website:
www.dartmouth.edu

Click here to see the entire collection of Weathervane Wednesday posts!

UPDATE!  
This weathervane was removed in June 2020. The following are accounts of why it was removed:

Valley News, Hanover, New Hampshire, "Native American Students say Dartmouth Library Weathervane 'Flaunts Racist Depiction'", 12 June 2020:
https://www.vnews.com/Petition-calls-for-removal-of-Baker-Library-weathervane-34719730 

Dartmouth website, 20 June 2020,  "Dartmouth Removes Baker Tower Weather Vane":
https://news.dartmouth.edu/news/2020/06/dartmouth-removes-baker-tower-weather-vane 


The Union Leader, Manchester, New Hampshire" Dartmouth to Remove Weather Vane", 16 June 2020:  https://www.unionleader.com/news/education/dartmouth-to-remove-weather-vane-depicting-native-american/article_7693ca28-197e-54b5-bb16-3b048f1b1468.html 

WCAX, "Contoversial Weather Vane Coming Down at Dartmouth College", 25 June 2020 (with video):
https://www.wcax.com/content/news/Controversial-weather-vane-coming-down-at-Dartmouth-College-571481131.html 

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To Cite/Link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ Above a University Library", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 28, 2018 (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/weathervane-wednesday-above-university.html: accessed [access date]).