When Loch Johnson walked by Yale University’s bronze statue of Nathan Hale, he could only feel inspired.

After returning to Athens, Johnson, a professor in the School of Public and International Affairs, noticed a shortage of similar statuary on the University’s campus.

“We have such a wonderful history around here,” Johnson said.

“We ought to be displaying some of that history.”

Johnson decided to pursue having a statue erected on North Campus to honor Abraham Baldwin, one of the University’s founding fathers.

After a presentation last February and discussions with the Facilities Committee of the University Council, Johnson said he hopes to see a bronze rendition of Baldwin within the next two years.

Johnson selected Kinzey Branham, a member of the art department faculty, as the sculptor for the project.

The life-size sculpture, funded entirely through fundraising efforts, would cost about $60,000, he said.

Johnson said the proposed two-year time frame for the project could be affected by the current economic climate, and the date of the project’s completion would ultimately depend on how quickly the required funds could be solicited.

“Some people say, ‘Gosh, that’s a lot of money,’” Johnson said. “But there are some donors out there who are really interested in certain, specific projects – like people interested in the arts – who will find this project worthwhile and who may not have given to the University otherwise.”

When completed, Baldwin’s statue will stand on a pedestal near Old College, clasping a book and looking toward the Main Library – “not the 89 bars downtown,” Johnson said.

Nash Boney, a retired history professor, said the statue would be a useful reminder of the University’s rich history.

“Without Baldwin, I guess there wouldn’t have been a University of Georgia,” Boney said in a phone interview last week.

Baldwin, a Yale graduate and Connecticut native, moved to Augusta in 1784 and immediately began to persuade the Georgia legislature to issue a land grant of 40,000 acres to establish a “college or seminary of learning.”

Soon after obtaining the land grant, Baldwin penned the original charter of the University. In January 1785, the Georgia legislature approved the document, and the University became the first chartered state university in the nation.

The words of the charter reflect Baldwin’s love for education and his country.

According to the document, the University would help “form the youth, the rising hope of our Land, to render the like glorious and essential Services to our country,” Baldwin wrote.

The charter was the first step toward forming what would become the massive research institution students recognize today.

After being elected the first president of the University, which still had not opened its doors, Baldwin served in the State House of Representatives and the Continental Congress.

Those at the convention noted Baldwin’s remarkable character and devotion.

“Mr. Baldwin is a Gentleman of superior abilities, and joins in a public debate with great art and eloquence,” states one document collected in Max Farrand’s “The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787.”

Baldwin relinquished his position as University president in 1801, but his influence remains today.

“He so embodies the spirit of public service,” Johnson said. “A spirit which animates the lives of students and faculty today, and a spirit we need to honor.”

Johnson calls Baldwin a “superb candidate” for a memorial statue.

“I hope the statue will provoke the same feeling I had when I was at Yale and went by the Nathan Hale statue,” he said. “I find that inspiring, and I hope other students and faculty will find that inspiring as well.”