Butt–Millet Memorial Fountain
Fountain honoring two friends lost on the Titanic.
via Wikipedia: Butt–Millet Memorial Fountain · see source
In Washington, D.C.'s President's Park stands the Butt–Millet Memorial Fountain, unveiled in October 1913. It honors Archibald Butt, President Taft's military aide, and Francis Davis Millet, a painter and journalist, who were close friends and housemates. Both perished when the RMS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912. The fountain was designed by Thomas Hastings and Daniel Chester French, who donated their services. It was funded by private donations, with Taft making the first contribution. The memorial was dedicated without ceremony on October 25, 1913.
Quick Facts
- Designer
- Thomas Hastings
- designer; Daniel Chester French
- bas-reliefs
- Complete
- 1913
- Material
- Tennessee marble base, granite column
- Dedicated to
- Archibald Butt; Francis Davis Millet
- Height
- 12 ft / 3.66 m
- Location
- President's Park, Washington, D.C.
Facts from the source article.
Genesis of the memorial fountain
Archibald Butt served in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps, with postings in the Philippines from 1898 to 1904, in Washington, D.C. from 1904 to 1906, and in Cuba from 1906 to 1908. Theodore Roosevelt, impressed by Butt's logistics and animal husbandry work in the Philippines, asked him to serve as military aide in April 1908. Butt's negotiating skills and numerical aptitude made him Taft's de facto chief negotiator on federal budget issues, and he was promoted to major in 1911. Butt lived at 2000 G Street NW, a mansion later sold to Senator Underwood in 1914. Since about 1910, Butt and Francis Davis Millet shared the house; Millet's wife Lily resided in Italy. Newspapers characterized their intense friendship as a "Damon and Pythias" relationship. Historian Richard Davenport-Hines wrote in 2012 that there is some speculation the men were gay lovers.
About the memorial
The fountain stands in the northwestern portion of the Ellipse, near the First Division Monument to the northwest and across from the south lawn of the White House. It is 12 ft high, with an octagonal grey granite base supporting an 8 ft wide bowl of golden brown Tennessee marble. A Neoclassical grey granite column rises from the bowl's center, bearing two low bas-relief figures: a woman with paint brush and palette on the north side representing fine arts, and a man in armor and helmet holding a shield on the south side representing military valor. Four globes in the bowl emit water that cascades over the edge into a shallow receptacle. The bowl was designed as a drinking source for horses used by park police patrols.
More in Artworks in the Collection of the National Park Service
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced