The Big Picture: Alma Mater

Alma Mater in winter with Altgeld Hall. (Image courtesy of UI Archives)

Flanked by the snowstruck figures of Learning and Labor, Alma Mater wears a becoming cape of white in this wintry scene outside Altgeld Hall. “Mother” has stood here since 1962, when she was moved from her 1929 dedication site near Foellinger Auditorium. (And of course, the sculpture group did vanish from 2012-14—a hiatus spent in restoration.) Fun fact: UI alumnus Lorado Taft, who created the work, lived for years at 601 E. John St., less than two blocks from this spot.