Elmhurst in DuPage County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Reinhold Niebuhr
1892-1971
| | Elmhurst College, Class of 1910 | |
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, September 13, 2024
1. Reinhold Niebuhr Marker
Theologian and Social Ethicist
A Prophetic Voice for Love and Justice in the Modern World
Erected 1997.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Education • Religion & Religious Structures.
Location. 41° 53.777′ N, 87° 56.738′ W. Marker is in Elmhurst, Illinois, in DuPage County. It is on Prospect Avenue north of Church Street. The text is on the base of a statue of Niebuhr on the campus Elmhurst University, about 40 yards west of the Prospect Avenue gate on the school's eastern edge. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 190 South Prospect Avenue, Elmhurst IL 60126, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Greater Chicago. It is also in the American Midwest and on the Great Lakes. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture and also the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers
this page online
More about this marker. The text appears twice, once on the west-facing base of the statue and another time on the back of the statue. Also printed twice on this statue is the Serenity Prayer, the text that Niebuhr is perhaps most famous for. It is engraved onto the east-facing base of the statue, and also on a stone near the statue's left leg.
Bill and Janet Boyd are named as the donors responsible for the statue. Bill Boyd was a businessman who served for almost 30 years as a trustee at Elmhurst College and was president of the board of trustees from 1992 until 1997. Janet, his wife of almost 60 years, died in 2011,
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, September 13, 2024
2. Reinhold Niebuhr statue
The statue was designed by sculptor Robert Berks.
Sculptor Robert Berks is responsible for dozens of sculptures and public art pieces like this Niebuhr statue. Among Berks's best known are the bust of John F. Kennedy in the Grand Foyer at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; sculptures of Mary McLeod Bethune and Albert Einstein in D.C.; a bust of Abraham Lincoln displayed in the Oval Office during Bill Clinton's presidency; and a sculpture of Mr. Rogers in Pittsburgh.
Regarding Reinhold Niebuhr. Reinhold Niebuhr, the famed theologian and social commentator, graduated from Elmhurst in 1910 and is perhaps the school's best-known alum. Born in 1892 in Missouri the son of a German Evangelical minister, he moved with his family to Lincoln, Illinois, around age 10 and enrolled in 1907 in Elmhurst at what was then known as the Proseminary.
His younger brother Richard, also a well-known theologian, graduated from Elmhurst in 1912 and would later serve as the school's president. Elmhurst awards a Niebuhr Medal in honor of both brothers to recognize extraordinary service to humanity; the first Niebuhr Medal was awarded in 1995 to Holocaust survivor
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, September 13, 2024
3. Serenity Prayer
The Serenity Prayer is printed at the east-facing base of the Reinhold Niebuhr statue at Elmhurst University. It is also printed on the pedestal next to the statue's right leg.
Also see . . .
1. Elmhurst University website: About Reinhold Niebuhr. (Submitted on September 16, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)
2. Robert Berks estate. From Guernsey's, the auctioneer, a biography of Berks and a look at the many works he produced in his 89 years.
Excerpt: "During the tumultuous 1960s, a young sculptor from Brooklyn headed for the eastern-most tip of Long Island where, in the charming hamlet of Orient, New York he purchased a beautifully detailed nineteenth century seven bedroom farmhouse for his young family. Once arrived, he proceeded to acquire, and move to his property, the sizable old school house that served generations of Orient children. There in a tranquil, pastoral setting within minutes of ocean and bay beaches, and with the school house re-designed as his studio, that sculptor rose to prominence. Robert Berks passed away in 2011. For nearly half a century, his Orient studio became the dynamic hub where world leaders, and great and accomplished figures from such diverse fields as science, literature and entertainment converged to have their likenesses(Submitted on September 18, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)forever captured in Berks distinctive Impressionist sculpted busts."Religious News Service Photographs, RNS RG 1, Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pa., circa 19514. Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
Credits. This page was last revised on September 25, 2025. It was originally submitted on September 16, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 486 times since then and 72 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on September 16, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.
