About the Library

 

In the early years of the 20th century, all of New York State's "normal schools," teacher-training schools, received copies of Minerva Giustiniani, a statue of the Roman goddess of wisdom. (The original statue is in the Vatican museums.)

 

In the following century-plus, the history of Minerva at SUNY Geneseo has taken some unexpected paths.

 

Old Main, State Normal School; Geneseo, NY 

Old Main was the original building for the State Normal School, a teacher training college, founded in 1871. For years the entire school was housed in just this one building.

 

Minerva in Old Main

When the statue of Minerva arrived in 1906, it was originally placed at a major intersection of hallways in Old Main. Within 15 years, though, the statue was being blamed for congestion in that intersection, & with concerns about the weight of the statue (350 lbs.) on a weakening floor, it was decided to move Minerva to the ground floor & place the statue in the library's reading room.

 

Infobits Minerva Article

In the early 2000s, people began to wonder what had happened to the Minerva statue, which had not been seen since 1951, prior to the razing of Old Main.

 

Old Minerva Wanted Poster 

Shortly thereafter, Ed Rivenburgh, the director of Milne Library, started a campus-wide “scavenger hunt” in search of the missing Minerva statue.

 

Geneseo Scene Minerva Article 

This news story went out to Geneseo alumni in the hopes that someone had some information on Minerva’s whereabouts.

 

Old Minerva Likely Resting Place

Sadly, no trace of Minerva was found. The generally accepted story is that the statue was razed into this ravine, located behind the site of Old Main, when the building was torn down in the early 1950s. This ravine was filled in & Fraser & South Halls now occupy the space. Wadsworth Auditorium stands on the site of Old Main. Sturges Hall is visible behind the shed in the foreground.

 

Class of 2005 Senior Challenge

After it was accepted that the statue of Minerva was almost certainly lost, the Class of 2005 included funding a replacement statue as part of its Senior Challenge gift.

 

New Minerva & Artist 

While consideration was given to accepting a gift of the Minerva statue that had stood in the LeRoy High School for many years before being moved to a hiding place behind a chimney in the Jell-O Museum, after viewing the LeRoy statue it was decided that it needed so much restoration that it would be less expensive to buy a new Minerva. Consequently, the Giust Gallery in Woburn, MA, a renowned studio providing replicas of classical statuary, was commissioned to create a replacement Minerva.

 

Minerva Delivery 

The statue was delivered to Milne Library in the late spring of 2006.

 

Minerva Dedication Seniors to Alums & plaque on Minerva’s plinth 

The dedication of “New Minerva” was held in June 2006, with representatives of the Class of 2005 joined by alumni.

 

Minerva Documentary

This video, produced in 2007 by Steve Dresbach and narrated by Ed Rivenburgh, documents the history of the Old Milne statue and the effort to create the new Minerva.

 

New Minerva in Milne 

Minerva stood in the lobby of Milne Library for nearly 15 years before being removed when the renovation of the library began.

 

Minerva in Fraser Hall 

Text and image from a Library Instagram post on March 7, 2021:

"Minerva now lives at #FraserHallLibrary! #sunygeneseo ❤️
#FraserFortitude

"Minerva is the Roman goddess of wisdom. She was also the goddess of trade, the arts, and strategy in war. Her domains included medicine, poetry, and handicrafts as well. She was in charge of so many things that Ovid called her the “goddess of a thousand works”!"

 

Minerva in the lobby of the renovated Milne Library

Photo of Minerva Statue back "home" —  the lobby of the newly renovated Milne Library building. Photo taken on November 6, 2024, one day before the highly anticipated Milne Library Soft Opening on November 7, 2024.