Following a long absence, a bronze bust of Senator George McGovern is back home to stay.
Dakota Wesleyan University Professor Joel Allen is Director of the McGovern Center. He says sculptor Dale Lamphere originally loaned it to DWU in 2006 when the McGovern Library opened. “But then he took it back because he wanted to show it at a number of different locations, so it’s been gone for at least 15 years,” said Allen. “I came here 15 years ago and it was not there when I came.”
Allen said he and Lamphere had several conversations about the bust. “Now it’s back, and we’re very excited to have it up where people can enjoy it,” Allen said.
It’s located at the entrance to the McGovern Legacy Museum which celebrates McGovern’s life and accomplishments including his crusade to end world hunger. “He did found the World Food Program,” Allen continued. “He was the primary director in getting that started and the World Food Program won the Nobel Prize in year 2000.”
The McGovern Legacy Museum is located next to the main entrance of the McGovern Library on the DWU Campus. It’s open to the public.