Recordpub.com - Head and shoulders above: Hiram College unveils reconnected Garfield statue

By Diane Smith

Record-Courier staff writer

HIRAM — Since May, Hiram College President Tom Chema said the statue of President James A. Garfield has been looking very “undignified” without his head.

But on Tuesday, the statue was reunited with its noggin during a “re-capitation” ceremony on campus.

Chema called the event the “most anticipated” and “certainly most unusual event we’ve ever had in my tenure at Hiram College.”

The sandstone statue, which dates to 1914, was moved to the corner of S.R. 700, S.R. 82 and S.R. 305, outside a Greek-revival style church that was relocated to Hiram College.

The building, which is the new home of Hiram College’s Garfield Institute for Public Leadership, was unveiled in a dedication ceremony on May 13.

The next morning, the statue of Garfield, who headed the college before entering politics and being elected to the presidency, was found beheaded.

In July, a “good Samaritan” returned the head to village police, who then returned it to Hiram College.

The head actually was returned to the statue this weekend by Randy Guyette from Eagle Creek Designs in Hiram, who had worked on the structure before it was first unveiled in Hiram in May.

Chema noted Garfield’s importance to the college as a former student, instructor and principal of the college during its early days. Now, he said, he serves as a role model for students.

“Now we’re able to put James A. back together again,” he said.

Before the ceremony, Chema joked that he hoped the head was still in place under a cloth covering the statue.

“Around here,” he quipped, “you never know how long a head is going to last.”

But the college has learned from the experience, he said. In addition to security cameras watching over the statue, the head also has been fitted with a GPS chip to keep track of its whereabouts, should it ever go missing again.

Hiram Mayor Lou Bertrand hailed the importance of Garfield’s legacy in American history.

“There are few places in the nation that share that kind of heritage,” he said.

He said the statue serves as a reminder of the responsibility to be law-abiding citizens.

“It was an inexcusable act of criminal vandalism that led us here today, but we can all be grateful to the civic-minded individual that returned the head to the police department and ultimately, to Hiram College,” he said.

Meanwhile, enterprising students used the incident as a way to earn some money for the college’s integrated entrepreneurship center.

Before the ceremony, T-shirts were being sold, bearing the image of the presidential noggin and the slogan, “Get A Head at Hiram College.”

Kyle Kiffer, a vice president of student senate at Hiram College and a member of the entrepreneurship program, said the effort will raise money for local art to decorate the walls of the center. He said students value Garfield’s value to them as a role model.

“We just wanted to make something light out of a bad situation,” he said.

The shirts will be sold through the center at a price of $10 for the community, plus shipping. For information, e-mail Kay Molkentin, co-director of the center, at molkentinkf@hiram.edu.

The sandstone statue was recently discovered by Paul Martin, a trustee of the college. It has been in storage until it was moved to its permanent location in a view out of the building’s north windows, facing the college.

Garfield was a student of the college from 1851 to 1853 when it was still known as the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute. Later, he served as principal of the school, teaching Greek, Latin, mathematics and geology. He left the college in 1861 to serve in the Civil War. He was elected president in 1880 but served for only six months after being shot by an assassin.

Hiram Police Department Chief Mark Lombardi said a case against a suspect in the case is pending before a Portage County grand jury. The “good Samaritan” is not a suspect.