All Categories - Eleanor Platt

In 1973 the Girl Scouts of America commissioned Eleanor to sculpt a bust of Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts, to be presented to the Georgia State Hall of Fame in the State Capital Building rotunda. Mrs. Low was the second Georgia-born woman to be so honored. A marble bust of Margaret Mitchell , author of "Gone With the Wind", was also sculpted by Eleanor and added to the statues of famous Georgians in the Hall of Fame in 1971. The Juliette Low bust was paid for by the individual donation of nickels, quarters and dollars from more than 50,000 Georgia Girl Scouts and others. The bust was commissioned to be done in bronze with a mahogony base. The Girl Scouts also produced, with the agreement and oversight of Eleanor, a 9.5" replica of the Low bust, cast in durastone, to be sold for $15.00 each as a national fundraiser. Eleanor received a 2% commission on these sales. The reduction of the original bust was done by Karl H Gruppa and the reproductions were produced by Austin Productions, under the direction of Eleanor. One of the replicas is shown in the portrait bust gallery above. As part of her contract, Eleanor agreed to have the national Girl Scout magazine, Girl Scout Leader, send a reporter to do an article about her and the sculpting of the Low bust. Their goal was to present Eleanor as a positive, creative, and independant role model to their thousands of young readers. Below is a copy of the three-part series published in Girl Scout Leader magazine. It is an informative and fascinating look into Eleanor, her work, and the technical art of lost-wax casting. Eight pages and photographs. Courtesy Girl Scouts of America archives.

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