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Ruth Anne Dodge Memorial
She doesn't look like she's trying to kill you. Yet, the Black Angel has inspired so very many malevolent tales in her time at the edge of Fairview Cemetery. She extends her right hand, as though welcoming a visitor. Or rather could it be luring the visitor in?
Maybe it’s the eyes. Sometimes they follow you as you move… and tales are told of those who looked into her eyes at midnight and suffered an early demise.
Ruth Anne Dodge was prepared for her passing though a series of dreams. She found herself on the rocks of a lonely shore she had never seen before. It was a peaceful place, with a peculiar brooding stillness. She recalled it seemed nature held her breath while she sat there… as though something of great importance was to happen any moment. Suddenly out of the mist a boat appeared, moving evenly, steadily, and coming nearer… but it was an unusual boat… it no sail or visible means of locomotion, yet moved gracefully over the water, and was covered with roses.
Standing at the bow of the boat was a beautiful young woman. She seemed to look at Mrs. Dodge but yet look through her. She was carrying a vessel, like a Grecian urn, the other arm extended in an inviting gesture to partake of what she carried. Mrs. Dodge declined, and the vision went away. Three nights the spirit appeared; twice she refused, but on the third night she drank the water. Suddenly she felt younger. She felt uplifted, and music started and angels sang and she was freed from every burden… in describing the tale to her daughter she said she drank of the water of life, and it gave her immortality. Mrs. Dodge departed her earthly existence a few days later.
So if the Black Angel is intended to be an angel, why is she taken as being so morbid and mystifying? Maybe it’s because she stands a the edge of a cemetery… or perhaps it's her uninviting dark color… or that fact that she was inspired by a ghost. Or that the human model the sculptor used when he made her was implicated in a sensational murder in New York, fled the country, and spent the last 64 years of her life in an insane asylum. Maybe the angel is ashamed. The Dodge family spent a fortune to have her made by the most expensive sculptor in the country, but were so embarrassed by the scandal over her model they didn't even hold a public dedication for her. She just appeared one gloomy day without fanfare... and has been standing there at the edge of the cemetery inspiring curious tales ever since.
The Black Angel's Secret
The Black Angel's Secret
Daniel Chester French took time out from his work on the iconic seated Abraham Lincoln in Washington to come to Council Bluffs to create a memorial to Ruth Anne Dodge. Why such a priceless work was never formally dedicated has been a mystery... until now. In the podcast "The Black Angel's Secret" Dodge historian Robert Svacina explores the planning for the sculpture, its creation, how techniques pioneered in Council Bluffs for this project were used to created the seated Lincoln in Washington, DC, and the circumstances that led to the dramatic change of plans about what was to have been an A-list dedication.
Other works by "Black Angel" sculptor Daniel Chester French:
Other works by "Black Angel" sculptor Daniel Chester French:
General Grenville M. Dodge is the likely the most well known Council Bluffs citizen of all time. His name is so commonplace there's a tendency to take him for granted. But his impact almost can't be overstated.
If it wasn't for Grenville Dodge, the Omaha/Council Bluffs would be different. A whole lot different. Some have speculated our combined population might be around 15,000 rather than approaching a million.
It was all about the railroads, and it was because of Dodge they came here to the extent they did. Some was intentional, some fortuitous, but it doesn't really matter: the railroads came. He also donated land to Fairmount Park, got us our Carnegie library, and even procured that horse watering trough that's now in the Haymarket area (though was on Broadway originally).
Dodge was important to Council Bluffs, but his influence extends far beyond that: if nothing else, Dodge was why the Union won the Battle of Pea Ridge in the Civil War.
By the late 1860′s Grenville M. Dodge was not only a nationally known and respected military general, railroad builder, and politician, he was one of the wealthiest citizens of Iowa. Council Bluffs was home, and he set forth to create a house that he could be comfortable in and enjoy the rest of his his life.
Dodge commissioned Chicago architect William Boyington to design his mansion, which was to be perched on a hill where he could view his growing and prospering city. Boyington had just completed Terrace Hill in Des Moines for Iowa’s first millionaire, Benjamin Franklin Allen.
The house at 605 Bond Street (now 3rd Street) combined elements of grace and vigor, with space for Mrs. Dodge to enjoy her interests of roses, poetry, and classical music and as well as space to entertain political and military dignitaries. The house incorporated many lovely woods including butternut and walnut as well as the rare amenities of central heating and hot and cold running water. The final cost was $30,000, a very impressive amount in 1869.
Following Dodge’s death in 1916 the home remained occupied by a member of the family until 1943. The house was offered to various groups in 1949 but there were no takers, so the contents were auctioned off and the house sold to Frances Taylor for $15,000. During that time the large archway between parlors was filled in and one of the bedrooms cut in half by a wall for its new life as a boarding house for teachers.
In 1963 a move was spearheaded by the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County to acquire the home. It was purchased for $30,000 in 1964. Though restoration was not complete, tours were offered beginning in 1965. The adjacent Beresheim House was added to the museum complex in 1975.
The only National Historic Landmark in Council Bluffs, the museum is open for tours Tuesday through Sunday. It is closed in January and major holidays.
Historical Society member and Dodge researcher Robert Svacina put together a video that is a short biography of this great American with insights as to his role in the Civil War.
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