R. Tait McKenzie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Tait Mackenzie (1867- April 28, 1938) Ramsay Township, Lanark County, Ontario– April 28, 1938, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a Canadian-born American sculptor, Scouter, scholar-athlete, surgeon, soldier, and physical educator. He resided in Philadelphia and worked with Lord Robert Baden-Powell, founder of Scouting.
A medical graduate of McGill University and University champion gymnast he later became medical director of physical training at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a high school friend of Dr. James Naismith.
During World War I, he was a lieutenant and major in the Royal Army Medical Corps.
His career as a sculptor stemmed from his role as physical director and much later in life.
Near the end of his life McKenzie expressed a wish that following his death his heart be buried in front of the Scottish-American War Memorial that he had created in Edinburgh, Scotland. This request was denied by the "corporation of that city", but his heart was subsequently buried at the nearby St. Cuthbert churchyard.
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[edit] Examples of his work
One of his most famous sculptures is the "Ideal Scout", also known as "The Boy Scout". This sculpture has been reproduced and sits in front of many U.S. Boy Scout offices across the nation, as well as at the headquarters of the Boy Scouts of America and Gilwell Park, England.
 The Ideal Scout |
 The Ideal Scout at Gilwell Park, England |
 Philadelphia Resident Dr. J. William White |
 Philadelphia Resident Dr. J. William White |
[edit] Public Monuments
- Youthful Franklin (1914), University of Pennsylvania, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,Philadelphia Free Library, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Brookgreen Gardens, SC,
- George Whitefield, (1919), University of Pennsylvania
- The Homecoming" (1922), war memorial, Cambridge, England,
- The Victor, (1925), war memorial, Woodbury, New Jersey
- Scottish-American Memorial (1927), Princes' Street Gardens, Edinburgh, Scotland
- General James Wolfe (1927), Greenwich Park, London, England
- General John Grubb Parke (1930), Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi
- World Wars Monument (1932), Girard College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Monument to Jane A. Delano and the Nurses Who Died in Service in World War I (1933), Red Cross Building, Washington D.C.,
- Highlander Monument (1936), Darien, Georgia
[edit] Boy Scouts
- Philadelphia Museum of Art (1915) 1/4 sized statuette - accession number 42-7-1
- St. Louis, Missouri,
- Ligonier, Pennsylvania (1937)
- Boy Scouts of America HQ, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1937)
- Kansas City, Kansas (1937)
- University of Pennsylvania (1937)
- Pittsburg, Pennsylvania (1937)
- Jackson, Mississippi (1937)
- Baltimore, Maryland,(1937)
- Sharpsburg , Pennsylvania (1937)
- Fort Worth, Texas (1956)
- Cleveland, Ohio (1962)
- Detroit, Michigan (1965)
- St. Paul, Minnesota (1965)
- Portland, Oregon (1972)
- East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania (1972)
- Allentown, Pennsylvania (1975)
- Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (1978)
- Irving, Texas (1979)
- Ann Arbor, Michigan (1980)
- Greenburg, Pennsylvania (1982)
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1985)
- Indianapolis, Indiana (1990)
- Farmington, Pennsylvania (1991)
- Reedesville, Pennsylvania (1992)
- Lancaster, Pennsylvania (1995)
[edit] References
- Biography
- Goode, James M. The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington D.C., Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington D.C. 1974
- Hussey, Christopher, Tait McKenzie: A Sculptor of Youth, J.B.Lippencott Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1930
- Kozar, Andrew J., R. Tait Mckenzie: The Sculptor of Athletes, University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee, 1975
- Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, Annotated Inventory of Outdoor Sculpture in Washtenaw County, 1989
- Opitz, Glenn B , Editor, Mantle Fielding’s Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers, Apollo Book, Poughkeepsie NY, 1986
- Proske, Beatrice Gilman, Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture, Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina, 1968
- Rogers, Peter, Gilwell Park, The Scout Association, London, England, 1998.
