CARBONDALE, Ill.   - On Friday, May 4, a bronze likeness of Dorothy M. Morris, the former first lady of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, was added to the gardens which also bear her name on the SIUC campus.

"It's very humbling," said Mrs. Morris, from her home in North Carolina before the ceremony.  "I can't imagine why anyone would want to do this.  My husband was the one who did all the work, you know."

She is the widow of the late Delyte W. Morris, who served as SIUC's president from 1948 to 1970 and is largely credited with making SIUC a modern university.

Family members in attendance included son Peter and wife Sharon; son Michael and wife Rekha; sister and brother-in-law Jane and Charles Hughes; and sister and nephew Alice and Robert Hankey.  Friend Camille Becker traveled from Brussels to see his friend be honored.

Anonymous donors commissioned the piece in 1999 to be done by associate professor of art and design Erin Palmer.

Palmer started working on the piece in the summer of 1999, doing sketches and a scale maquette, or model. 

Last summer, retired art and design professor Thomas Walsh helped oversee the initial casting of the statue at SIUC's foundry.  Palmer is quick to give credit to the entire School of Art and Design faculty as well as the efforts of undergraduate and graduate students such as Emily Dixon, Jarrod Houghton, Toby Flores and Todd Frahm.

The statue, which portrays Mrs. Morris standing, was cast in nine pieces (including the base) then welded together.  The piece was then sandblasted and a patina added.

"I was able to capture certain qualities that remind people who know her of her," Palmer said.  "I believe the statue will be an enjoyable and elegant addition to the campus."