McColl Memorial Fountain, Bronson Park, 1936
The McColl Memorial Fountain was Bronson Park's second fountain. It was constructed between 1925 and 1926 at the cost of $4,000, donated by a Mr.Coll of Kalamazoo. It stood until 1939 when it was replaced by the Fountain of the Pioneers, pictured below.
Kalamazoo Public Library Photograph, P-26
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Fountain of the Pioneers, Bronson Park, November 2011
Designed by noted Chicago architect Alfonso Ianelli, the Fountain of the Pioneers depicts the history of Westward Expansion as it was understood in the early half of the twentieth century. The fountain's inclusion of a Native American submitting to settler of European descent has for many decades made the fountain a target of controversy. As a result, the fountain has become the centerpiece in an ongoing public dialogue on the history and public memory of Native Americans in Kalamazoo County.
Jaky Nay, Western Michigan University, School of Art, 2011
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