Dean J. Lee Thompson sits with the plaster bear he rescued from the rafters and had repainted by the art department.

Dean Finds Plaster Bear

Joe Gagioch
Bear Tracks May 20, 1966

Last edition covered the Bumstead story up to the molding of the metal bear. To summarize: There were five "bears" on campus. The first was a live, black bear cub. The next was a white, plaster statue frequently "borrowed" from a local ice cream parlor. The third most permanent bear was one of concrete types used by Standard Oil Company for advertising purposes. It was obtained by a student in 1931, named Bumstead by a student in 1935; moved to the quadrangle in 1939; and destroyed by vandals in 1947. A plaster replacement was found at Desert Wells, Arizona, by a student and an instructor. A steel and aluminum replica was molded in 1948.

Bumstead stood in ruins as late as 1949. He was mutilated beyond salvation. Yet, every now and then, rumors would spring up of a smaller bear or bears hidden on campus. Sometimes "Bring Back the Bear" campaigns were organized by student committees.

There were also individual searches. Mrs. Barbara Robinson of the Journalism Department remembers "crawling around in the attic above the Administration Building" with Mrs. Mildred Noble, Dean Robert Hannelly's secretary. "When we came out of there, we were filthy. We had cobwebs in our hair. We didn't find the bear." That was two springs ago. Both bears were found this semester.

Dean J. Lee Thompson tells how he found the plaster bear: "I was up in the attic above the Administration Building, checking to see what walls could be taken out for more room below; and then I saw him. He was just sitting on the rafters," he said. "After he was taken down and cleaned up, I could see that he was all white, expect for his claws--they were black--and his red mouth. The plaster was cracked between his shoulder blades."

The Dean took the statue to the Art Department for repair. "I think they did a really fine job. Look at the engraving they did on him. There are little, hair-like cuts in the plaster. He's painted dark brown with gold highlights."

"He belongs to the students," said Thompson. "When the Student Union is finished they might want to give him some room." In the meantime, the Dean is keeping the bear in his office.

A.L. Darnell deserves credit for finding the metal replica. Darnell worked in the cooling area of the Maintenance Department. I was waiting to discuss Bumstead with Mr. Ned Hester, the head of the Department when I struck up a conversation with Darnell. He said he knew where a statue of a bear was, so we hot-footed it over to the storage room on Unit 6. "I know there's a statue of a bear in here. It's been quite a while, but I'm sure there's one in here." There was.

Continued....

Part of the Phoenix College website. Rendered on 8/12/98.