File:"Why Don't You Speak for Yourself, John" (6cad2bf4-b480-4e79-b788-1fe8c0ca3dad).png

a sculpture of a man and woman conversing while the woman is working at a spinning wheel and the man is standing behind a chair

Medium: Painted Plaster Artist: John Rogers Patented: 1885 Location: Zeb Rudolph's Bedroom, James A. Garfield NHS John Rogers (1829-1904) was an American sculptor who produced very popular and relatively inexpensive figures in cast plaster. His works were often inspired by theatrical and literary subjects, as well as the scenes he saw around him. This sculpture illustrates a line from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "The Courtship of Miles Standish." In the poem, Captain Miles Standish asks his friend John Alden to propose to Priscilla on his behalf. John visits the young woman and does as requested, even though he is in love with her himself. Priscilla guesses John's true feelings and asks, "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?"