Nature Boy | Washington State Magazine | Washington State University

Fall 2013

The original story of Nature Boy

Washington State University’s sculpture “The Reader” made its first appearance on campus in 1949. The Powwow, the college’s alumni magazine, carried the following story in 1949, which showed the mixed response to the large ornament dubbed “Nature Boy” by the students.

What’s New on the Campus?

by Bonnie Wamberg
November 1949, Washington State College Powwow

Campus conversational piece de’ resistance this month concerned the 30-foot limestone figure which now adorns one corner of the new Ernest Holland Library. Student opinion and comment blew hot and cold, for and against the 40-ton ornament. Some say it is beautiful, … » More …

Fall 2013

A small discovery

The giant limestone statue fondly nicknamed “Nature Boy” by Washington State students in the late 1940s was recently reunited with his four-foot-tall scale model.

The plaster maquette was created by sculptor Dudley Pratt as a preliminary step in carving the larger, 25-ton limestone statue that has hung on the west wall of the library since 1949. The model had been at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane almost since the late 1940s when it was given to WSU Board of Regents member Charles McAllister. He was dean to the cathedral at the time and hung it on the wall of the library … » More …