The bronze sculpture measures approximately 9 ft. 6 in. by 3 ft. by 3 ft., and rests on a granite base which measures approximately 6 ft. x 5 ft. x 5 ft.
History
The statue was created in 1925 as a gift of the Norwegian Society of America, which raised funds for its cost. The sculptor was Norwegian-American Paul Fjelde who, in describing his work said, "The figure that I have created shows a much younger Colonel Heg than his photographs. After all he was a young man, only thirty-three when he died. I tried to regain the spirit of youth which must have been his before the cares of war had aged him beyond his years. I think I have succeeded." The statue, one of three casts by the sculptor, was shipped in 1925 from Norway on the Norwegian-American Line, arrived in New York on August 21 of that year, and completed the rest of its journey to Madison on September 3. After its arrival, the 2,000lb crate containing the statue was stored in the northeast pavilion of the Capitol Building. The delay between arrival and dedication lasted for more than a year, and was due to the need to raise some $2,000 to purchase and erect a base for the statue's final home. Two thousand spectators attended the unveiling of the statue on October 17, 1926 at the Wisconsin State Capitol. It was dedicated "in memory of a distinguished citizen and volunteer soldier of the Civil war period."
Vandalism
The memorial statue was beheaded and thrown in Lake Monona by rioters, incensed by the arrest of a member of Black Lives Matter as demonstrations in Madison turned violent in June 2020, despite it being of a Union soldier and abolitionist. Associated Press reported that "it seems likely that few Wisconsinites know Heg's biography". On the morning of24 June, someone painted "Fire Matt Kenny" on the base of the Heg statue. Another statue toppled on the same night, was of a female figure representing Wisconsin's "Forward" motto. "Protester Micah Le said the two statues paint a picture of Wisconsin as a racially progressive state even though slavery has continued in the form of a corrections system built around incarcerating Blacks." Two protestors interviewed by the Wisconsin State Journal said that toppling the statues was to draw attention to their view of Wisconsin as being racially unjust. Black student activists had called for the removal of the statue of Abraham Lincoln at University of Wisconsin–Madison in early June 2020, and repeated those calls after Heg's statue was toppled. The Wisconsin Capitol and Executive Residence Board voted unanimously to repair the Colonel Heg and Forward statues during a meeting on July 20, 2020. As of that date, the Wisconsin Department of Administration was still compiling a cost estimate, and the Wisconsin Historical Society planned to start a fundraising drive to raise $50,000 to offset the insurance deductible. The board signed off on that effort unanimously as well. At the time of the vote, the head of the statue was still missing, and the Wisconsin State Department of Administration planned to build a new head by recasting the head of a similar Heg statue in the town of Norway.
