The Schiller Bust is a plaster bust of a German poet. This bust was being held in Scoville Library reading room until 1957 when classes began in that building. That year, Bruce Herrick found the statue abandoned in a storage room and took it with him to use as a room decoration. The statue was then stolen by one of Bruce’s friends and placed in their building. This began a tradition of stealing the Schiller Bust and having public reveals of it. The Schiller Bust once hung from a helicopter over a Snt. Olaf and Carleton football game and even once went to Mexico! It has been replaced several times and while the tradition is technically still practiced at Carleton, the last time the bust has been seen is 2010.
Sources:
Image: Unknown Creator. “President Larry Gould with Schiller in the 1950s.” c. 1950. Carleton College Websites. https://apps.carleton.edu/150/stories/?story_id=1419566. Accessed March 2nd, 2021.
Information:
“Friedrich Schiller | Sesquicentennial | Carleton College.” May 18th, 2016. Carleton College Website. Accessed March 3, 2021. https://apps.carleton.edu/150/stories/?story_id=1419566.
Landacre, Katie. “Chasing Schiller: Katie talks about the interactions she has had with the bust of Schiller.” Carleton Admissions Blog. August 14, 2020. https://www.carleton.edu/admissions/blog/chasing-schiller/ Accessed March 13, 2021.
