Miniature replicas of the bronze 6-foot-7-inch statue of former Florida A&M University President Frederick S. Humphries on campus will be sold to up to 100 buyers in a few days as part of a fundraising campaign − and each piece of the limited edition is valued at over a grand.
During FAMU’s annual 1887 Strikes Day of Giving – a university fundraiser that begins April 16 and ends April 17 – a limited commemorative campaign called “A Legacy Cast in Bronze” will be launched to offer 100 of the handcrafted mini bronze statues, with each priced at $1,500.
Proceeds from sales will go toward the university’s Life Gets Better Scholarship Fund – a full scholarship program that was created by Humphries in 1986 to recruit top-performing African American students and is being relaunched by the university. FAMU President Marva Johnson announced the relaunch during the unveiling of the Humphries statue on campus in October as part of homecoming events.
“Each handcrafted statue reflects the care, intention and excellence that defined Dr. Humphries’ leadership, and the proceeds ensure that his lifelong commitment to access, opportunity and student success continues to transform lives for generations,” FAMU’s Vice President of University Advancement and Executive Director of the FAMU Foundation Brandi Tatum-Fedrick said in an April 8 university release.
The statues − produced by the Kimball, Minnesota-based company Brodin Bronze, which also sculpted the full-scale statue − portray Humphries in regalia and represents his appearance in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Each of the statue replicas cost $500 to produce and ship.
Humphries, FAMU’s eighth leader who served as president during a transformative 16-year tenure from 1985 to 2001, died in 2021 in Orlando at the age of 85 and left a lasting impact after leading the institution to national prominence.
In addition to the 100 statues that will be sold during the annual day of giving, donors can also choose to contribute $1,000 to the fundraising campaign without purchasing a statue, which will earn them permanent recognition on a commemorative plaque with their name on it. The plaques will be installed near the full-scale bronze statue of Humphries, which is located on the quadrangle between Lee Hall and the Eternal Flame on campus.
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Tarah Jean is the higher education reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat, a member of the USA TODAY Network – Florida. She can be reached at tjean@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU to sell $1,500 mini Humphries statues in fundraising campaign
Reporting by Tarah Jean, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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