Angie Debo statue nears completion

A sculpture of historian Angie Debo is in the final stages of creation, after three years of planning. The sculpture, created by local artist Phyllis Mantik, is set to arrive at the Stillwater Public Library by the end of September.

The Friends of the Stillwater Public Library received a $10,000 bequeath in 2007 from Della Bennett, former librarian. The Friends of the Library decided it wanted to use the money to build a sculpture of Debo and a community committee was formed to search for an artist. The Stillwater Public Library Trust Board received more than $61,000 in donations for the sculpture project for a total project budget of $65,000.

Lynda Reynolds, library director, said the search for an artist has been a long process.

"We started the process about three years ago," Reynolds said. "We held a nationwide search and looked for artists in the Oklahoma area and specifically around Stillwater."

The committee chose Mantik and her idea to honor Debo, unique in its youthful depiction of the historian. Mantik began the sculpture in October 2009.

"It was the artist's idea to create a young Angie Debo," Reynolds said. "She is sitting on a rock, thinking about her future and where her life is going."

An Oklahoma historian and former Oklahoma State University librarian, Debo specialized in writing about the Native American tribes in Oklahoma. There is no other known sculpture of Debo, but her picture hangs at the State Capitol.

The unfinished sculpture is at the Bronze Horse in Pawhuska, Mantik said. The base of the statue will feature the seals of Oklahoma's 38 federally-recognized tribes and the state seal will sit at Debo's feet. Mantik said the base still needs to be poured and the seals need to be cast.

To coincide with the sculpture of Debo, the Stillwater Public Library and the OSU Library will be hosting the reading event One Book, One Community, Stillwater Reads Angie Debo's Prairie City starting Oct. 4, Reynolds said. The book, "Prairie City" by Debo, will be a way for Stillwater residents to celebrate the historian. To encourage students to participate, both libraries will be giving away free copies of the book. Reynolds said the event will run through mid-November.

"We wanted to create a new image of Angie Debo," said committee Chairman Bob Darcy of the statue, in a press release on the OSU Library's website. "A more dynamic, full of dreams and potential Angie Debo. An image in which young Oklahomans could better see themselves."