The Artist's Model of Noah Webster Statue is on Display at the Main Library
The West Hartford Public Library is now showcasing a fascinating piece of local history, a statute of our town’s most famous citizen, Noah Webster. But it is not just any statute. This statute is the original model for the 13-1/2 foot statute of Noah Webster which rests on the corner of Memorial Road and South Main Street. The statue, and the man who carved it, Korczak Ziolkowski, are an intriguing part of West Hartford lore.
The library’s statue, affectionately known as "Little Noah", is 2-1/2 feet tall and stands across from the reference desk on the main floor. Ziolkowski originally donated the statue to the library in May 1943, but because it could not be properly protected, it has been kept in storage until its formal unveiling on May 15. Former Mayor Nan Glass calls the statue, “a little treasure for the town, a valuable and unique item.”
Noah Webster’s sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, was a man of great spirit, strong convictions, and certain persistence. About 65 years ago, Ziolkowski came from the Boston area to West Hartford as a young man and bought a house on Sedgwick Road. He made the basement of his house into a gallery, and his garage into a studio workshop.
Soon after he arrived in town, Ziolkowski began reading the history of Noah Webster, who was born in our town in 1758, and who wrote “An American Dictionary of the English Language,” published in 1828. Ziolkowski said, “I was standing before the fireplace in my West Hartford home, when it dawned on my that the Town where Webster was born had no memorial to him. As I studied his history, I became fascinated with what he had accomplished and I determined to do a statue memorializing a great American.”
With the approval of the Town Council, Ziolkowski began seeking funds to pay for the materials to carve a large statue, a statue which would require 30 tons of marble. He said he would not take any money for the project, except the money needed to pay for materials. Ziolkowski estimated at this cost at $16,500, which included moving the marble, and paying workmen to assist in cutting the giant slab.
Many school children helped to raise money for Ziolkowski’s statue by going door to door. Photographs and little marble models of the statue were also sold. But even though more than 7,000 residents contributed, the campaign to fund the statue fell well short of its goal.
Some residents flat out opposed a statute, saying that honoring Webster in this way was “unwarranted.” Wasn’t it enough that the West Hartford Library was already known as the Noah Webster Library, they asked, “Do we need another memorial?” There were also objections to the proposed location of the statue, at South Main Street and Memorial Road. Some believed that motorists viewing the statue would cause traffic problems. Despite these protest, and his financial shortfall, Ziolkowski was undeterred.
In the summer of 1941, Ziolkowski moved the giant block of marble into place. The sidewalks often filled with spectators, as many as 1,000 a day, who would watch as 32-year old Ziolkowski carved and carved. When the sun was hot, Ziolkowski would throw an old boat sail across the top of the scaffold for an awning. He often worked with his hammer and chisel, stripped to the waist, wearing a sun helmet. The long summer days were filled with the ring of hammers and the chatter of drills, including a noisy automatic drill.
However, some people complained about Ziolkowski and his assistants working on Sunday, which was observed as day of rest and contemplation. Ziolkowski conceded to their requests to stop working on Sundays, but thought they were missing the point. He said, “ They look on the project as a task, looking at it without seeing it. We have in this project a harmonious brotherhood, working out in God’s fresh air to the glory of God.”
The statue was completed and unveiled on October 17, 1941, on the 183rd anniversary of Noah Webster’s birth. Ziolkowski carved this inscription on the book carved at Webster’s side: “For you I labored, not for my own day, that by the Word men should know brotherhood. My fellow men! You have not understood, since each of you would go his separate way.” Many thought the inscription was an attack on town residents who had not supported Ziolkowski project. But later, Ziolkowski reportedly said that these words were misunderstood. He had taken them from a letter sent from Noah Webster to John Jay, and he did not intend to criticize the town.
Ziolkowski left West Hartford at age 34 to serve in World War II. At the end of the war, he accepted an invitation to begin carving a 563-foot high statue of the Sioux warrior Chief Crazy Horse into the side of Mount Thunderhead, in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He dedicated the next 36 years of his life to this monumental project, which is three times the size of Mount Rushmore.
In 1982, Ziolkowski died at the age of 74, with only a rough outline of Crazy Horse completed. His sons and daughters now carry on the work of this interesting and determined man, who used stone to bring the spirit of Noah Webster to life in West Hartford.
Note: The statue of Noah Webster is now on display at the West Hartford Public Library at 20 S. Main Street, along with original volumes of Webster’s dictionaries and other works.
Korczak Ziolkowski's model of the Noah Webster Statue