Ernie Pyle's legacy to be honored with statue

A statue will be built in Ernie Pyle’s honor, Provost Lauren Robel announced Thursday at the Board of Trustees meeting.

Ernie Pyle’s statue will be the third “iconic statue” on campus, Robel said.

It will join former IU president Herman B Wells and jazz composer and songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. 

Wells’ statue was dedicated in 2000, months after he passed away. Likewise, the statue of Carmichael found its home on IU’s campus in 2008. 

The statue of Ernie Pyle will be built in bronze and will be modeled after a photo of Pyle taken during World War II, Robel said.

The photo shows Pyle sitting on a crate, working with his typewriter.

Robel said the crate may be expanded to include room for students to sit next to Pyle.

Harold “Tuck” Langland will sculpt the statue, the same artist who was commissioned to make the Wells statue, the Herald-Times reported.

The statue will be placed outside Franklin Hall, the location of the new Media School.

Pyle’s statue is part of an effort on behalf of a legacy committee to preserve the School of Journalism’s history heading into the merger, the Herald-Times reported.

— Kathrine Schulze