Oliver LaGrone (December 9, 1906 – October 15, 1995) was an African-American sculptor, poet, educator, and humanitarian. His life was the intersection of art, advocacy, and education and the LaGrone Scholarship honors his commitment to it by investing time and money in the potential of young people in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. For over 30 years, the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg has grown the scholarship that directly impacts the lives and futures of students in the Harrisburg City School District.
More about Oliver LaGrone
LaGrone Sculptures at the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
What, When, and Where
LaGrone Sculptures
Oliver LaGrone 1906-1995
*Photos of sculptures noted by check are available at the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
| Sculpture | Year | Medium & Size | Current Location | Comment | * |
| Created in New Mexico | |||||
| Black | 1934 | Pinyon pine | Washington state, held by Mark Robinson Levy, purchased at CA flea market | Purchased years after creation, by Dr. Ralston A. Mitchel for Detroit NAACP | √ |
| Pinyon Tree | Wood | Purchased by Albuquerque National Bank | |||
| Bust of Calvin Coolidge | 1934 | 1872-1933; 30th U.S. President, 1923-1929; sculpture referenced in Ernie Pyle’s nationally syndicated column | |||
| Mercy | 1937 | Original for Hot Springs NM children’s hospital in plaster, bronze patina. Cast bronze, 1991 for UNM hospitals;Cast bronze, 1995 for art museum ;48” h x 27’ d | University of New Mexico Hospitals, children’s wing, inpatient lobby, Albuquerque; second casting in outdoor sculpture garden of Albuquerque Museum of Art and History | Created under grant from federal Works Progress Administration, for Carrie Tingley Crippled Children’s Hospitals in Hot Springs, NM; moved to Albuquerque when hospital closed | √ |
| Small Madonna | Abt 1938 | ||||
| Created in Michigan | |||||
| Bust of R.J. Thomas | Abt 1946 | Commissioned by United Auto Workers union, which paid for bronze casting, but not for LaGrone’s creative work; Thomas lost the union presidency to challenger Walter Reuther | |||
| Bust of George Washington Carver | 1950 | Plaster, bronze patina | Gifted to Unitarian Church of Harrisburg, 1973 | Created for G.W. Carver Public School in Oakdale Gardens, Detroit | √ |
| Bust of Fredrick Douglass | Abt 1952 | Cast bronze by 1973 | Great-grandson Brandon Smith, Michigan | Plaster maquette 6” h; inspired for National Negro Labor Council, 1950-55 | |
| Sculpture | Year | Medium & Size | Current Location | Comment | |
| Created in Michigan | |||||
| Three Youngsters | Abt 1952 | Plaster, bas relief | |||
| Oedipus Reckless | 1955 | Mahogany; 30” h | √ | ||
| The Dancer | 1958 | Cast bronze, 22” h | Rick Robinson, Highland Park, MI; LaGrone Cultural Arts Center, PSU Harrisburg; PSU Scranton; City Hall, City of Harrisburg; Dr. and Mrs. John Chavis, MI; gifted by LaGrone to Rev. Dr. Lee Barker, Chicago; perhaps Howard University | Inspired by Dr. Pearl Primus, 1915-1964, noted African-American dancer and anthropologist; Penn State Hbg copy stolen, recasting done with help of LaGrone’s daughter Lotus Joy Johnson; on display in LaGrone Cultural Arts Center in Olmsted Building there | √ |
| Bust of Charles Adams Hill, Sr. | 1961 | Cast bronze, 16” h | Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, Detroit | 1893-1970; Baptist minister; civil rights and labor issues activist, Detroit | √ |
| Head of Hobart LaGrone | Oliver’s older brother | ||||
| Head of Langston Hughes | 1964 | Plaster, bronze patina | Schomburg Center, NYC Library in Haarlem | 1902-1967; By appointment with Arts and Artifacts Division; from poet Langston Hughes’ estate | √ |
| Father and Son | 1967 | Alabaster, 18” h | |||
| Bust of Judge George Crockett, Jr. |
About 1969 | Cast bronze | Sold to Littlejohn, Michigan; Wayne State University Law School | 1909-1977; Civil rights warrior: lawyer, judge, U.S. Congressman from Detroit | √ |
| Sculpture | Year | Medium & Size | Current Location | Comment | |
| Likely created in Michigan | |||||
| When Aretha Sings! | About 1972 | Duo piece: white marble and cast bronze | 1942-2018; ‘Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul’: singer, songwriter, civil rights activist | √ | |
| Bust of Judge Wade McCree, Jr. | Before 1974 | 1920-1987; First African-American appointed U.S. Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals of the 6th Circuit; later discredited himself through inappropriate behavior | |||
| “Ain’t I a Woman?”: Sojourner Defies the Hecklers | Before 1974 | originally Dr. and Mrs. John Chavis, Michigan; today Benjamin Grant of Diversified Metals, Monson MA | 1797-1883; LaGrone wrote a poem about Sojourner Truth (abolitionist and women’s rights activist) “Preaching Through the Land”, found in his poetry volume Footfalls | √ | |
| Bust of Sojourner Truth | Before 1974 | Roy Lee Robinson, Sparta MI | |||
| Look at My ???[text blurred] | Before 1974 | Dr. and Mrs. John Chavis, Michigan | |||
| Hands—Stages of Life | Before 1974 | Plaster, bronze patina | Perkins, Michigan | ||
| Woman Wringing Shirts | Before 1974 | Honduras mahogany, 12” h | Dr. and Mrs. John Chavis, Michigan | ||
| Black Resolve | Before 1974 | African mahogany, 48” h | Dr. and Mrs. John Chavis, Michigan | ||
| Woman Combing Hair |
Before 1974 | African mahogany; 44” h | Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Keats, Michigan | ||
| Sculpture | Year | Medium & Size | Current Location | Comment | |
| Created in Pennsylvania | |||||
| Heritage | 1972 | Honduras mahogany | |||
| Bust of Rev. Dr. Thomas A. Dorsey | About 1973 | Cast bronze | National Gospel Choirs of America, Chicago | 1879-1933; Father of modern black gospel music | √ |
| Philosopher | 1974 | Honduras mahogany; 12” h | Dr. and Mrs. John Chavis, Michigan | ||
| University as Family | 1975 | Cast bronze; smaller version – 28” h, 12” w, 8” d – cast 1993 | Large: PSU Worthington-Scranton, library lawn; Small: PSU Harrisburg, Rowland sculpture garden behind Olmstead Building | Scranton installation, 1975; Harrisburg installation 1993, Rowland Sculpture aGarden behind Olmsted Building | √ |
| Ballet to Disco | 1979 | Cast bronze; two moveable, complementary figures | Unitarian Church of Harrisburg | Gifted by Lowery and Marilyn McHenry, 1999 | √ |
| Mask | 1980 | Plaster, bronze patina; 17” h | Unitarian Church of Harrisburg | Gifted by Dr. Paul and Lydia Fritz, 2016 | √ |
| Head Study for Bust of Paul Robeson | About 1985 | Plaster, bronze patina | Don and Joyce Hoskins (daughter Julie Hoskins) | Shiremanstown, Pennsylvania | |
| Bust of Paul Robeson | About 1985 | Cast bronze | Paul Robeson Cultural Center, Student Union, PSU University Park | 1898-1976; Commissioned by PSU Alumni Association; LaGrone’s “Lines to the Black Oak” dedicated to Robeson, in New Black Faces | √ |
| Sculpture | Year | Medium & Size | Current Location | Comment | |
| Created in Pennsylvania | |||||
| Bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. | Before 1986 | Cast bronze | Bronze: State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Reserve #86.45 | 1929-1968; minister and civil rights activist, assassinated; Gifted by Harrisburg MLK Committee | √ |
| Untitled (Joseph’s Many-Colored Coat of Dreams) | 1987 | Honduras mahogany | |||
| Bust of Dr. Carter G. Woodson | 1987 | Plaster, bronze patina | LaGrone Cultural Arts Center, PSU Harrisburg | 1875-1950; Gifted by Joy LaGrone Johnson on dedication of the Center, 1998 | √ |
| Bust of Harriet Tubman | 1987 | Cast bronze | LaGrone Cultural Arts Center, PSU Harrisburg; Unitarian Church of Harrisburg | 1822-1913; born enslaved in Maryland; escaped, then, over thirteen trips, secretly led to freedom approximately seventy family members and friends | √ |
| Arms Around the Children | 1990 | Maquettes only, of central and surrounding figures | Commissioned by Save Our Sons and Daughters, intended for Hope, Unity & Giving Memorial for then-planned sculpture garden, Belle Isle Park, Detroit, Michigan, now a state park | √ | |
| Created in Michigan | |||||
| Bust of Rosa Park | About 1994 | Clay | possibly in-process at LaGrone’s death in 1995; Parks and LaGrone were friends | 1913-2005; Montgomery, Alabama civil rights activist who had moved to Detroit in 1957 | |
| Sculpture | Year | Medium & Size | Current Location | Comment | |
| Creation site documentation not available | |||||
| American Lung Association plaque | Cast stone, relief | May have been initiated by Dr. Ethelene Jones, daughter of judge and congressman, George Crockett, Jr. | |||
| Bust of Albert Schweitzer | Plaster, 16” h; cast bronze by 1973 | 1875-1965; theologian, organist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, physician; founded and sustained hospital in Gabon, Africa | |||
| Bust of Charles Waddell Chesnutt | Black & white | 1858-1932; lawyer, political activist; First African-American novelist to receive professional recognition | |||
| Bust of Lionel Hampton | 1908-2002; jazz percussionist and band leader; LaGrone also wrote “To Lionel” | ||||
| Bust of Nelson Mandela | Clay | 1918-2013; lawyer, jailed for Black advocacyt; first Black president of South Africa | |||
| Fire, Water, Earth & Air | Cast stone, relief | ||||
| Heritage Road Medallion | Cast stone, relief | Hamilton Mint anticipated as producer | |||
| Men Shaping Elements | Cast bronze, 14’ h | ||||
| Phoenix | Brandon Smith, Michigan; great-grandson | √ | |||
| Portrait of Young Artist | Cast stone? 14” h | ||||
Cordell Affeldt, November 1999; March, 2013; December, 2019; February 2022; March 2023
