J.B. Duke Gets a Bath
Mr. Duke's statue, normally in front of the Chapel, is being cleaned in Cincinnati
James B. Duke is getting a bath. The statue of the university benefactor that usually stands in front of the chapel has been shipped off to Karkadoulias Bronze Art Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio, for cleaning.
Duke's likeness is due back by Sept. 20, said Faye Howerton, a coordinator of projects and building maintenance in Facilities Management.
"He'll be coming back a different color," Howerton said, more like the brighter bronze color of his father Washington Duke on East Campus. The senior Duke has been bathed within the last several years, Howerton said, but the son has not been specially washed during the 27 years Howerton has worked at Duke.
"I guess it's about time," she said.
Less conspicuously, the Sower statue on East Campus of a peasant spreading seed was sent off earlier this semester to Karkadoulias. It is due back on the same day as the Duke statue.
For more about statues on campus, visit University Archives' Campus Statuary.