Statue at the Founders Memorial Garden

Sculpture in Founders Memorial Garden

Leslie Thomas Posey (1900-1985+-)

Dedicated to Founders Memorial Garden 1954

The sculpture in the Founders Memorial Garden was created by Leslie Thomas Posey, a Sarasota FL native and US veteran. The statue features a young maiden draped in a loose, flowy garment as she holds a rose to her heart. She overlooks the French serpentine garden. It was dedicated to the Founders Memorial Garden at the University of Georgia in 1954 by the National Council of State Garden Clubs to commemorate the organization’s 25th anniversary. The American garden club movement was established here in Athens in 1891 as the Ladies’ Garden Club and the garden is dedicated to the twelve founding members. This statue’s original inscription reads “For every good thing has a beginning and the beginning was here”. An additional plaque was later added that bears the inscription “The Ice Follies Daffodils, Cloud Ballet Irises and Sunstruck Roses in this bed were painted by artist Annie Laurie Dodd for the Southern Garden Series watercolor print collection honoring the 75th anniversary of the Founders Memorial Garden (1939-2014) and the 125th anniversary (1891-2016) of the Ladies’ Garden Club, America’s first garden club”.