Other works by John Peter Klassen in this series include bronze sculptures. Here are two marble busts. These were created in the late 1920s. The following descriptions are posted near the two pieces, where they are located in the entrance to the Musselman Library on the Bluffton University campus.
Noah Hirschy Hirschy was the first president of Bluffton University (then Central Mennonoite College), serving from 1900-1908. His life-long passion for botany is reflected in the detail of the bust, a violet in his lapel.
"A fitting tribute to a man who, although a scholar through and through, recognized God's beauty of nature."
Menno Simons Menno Simons (1496-1561) was an early Anabaptist leader in the Low Countries. While his followers became known as Mennonites, he was not the founder.
"His significance lies in the fact that he assumed the responsiblities of leadership at the crucial moment of the movement when it was in danger of losing its original identity. He maintained original peaceful biblical Anabaptist concepts.
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