Many current UW-Madison students have never seen the Hagenah Fountain turned on, however, after a six-year dry spell, the fountain on Library Mall started to flow again Monday.
The fountain—named after UW-Madison law school graduate John Hagenah, who donated $16,500 for its construction—has stood on Library Mall since 1958. The inside walls of the fountain are inscribed with the donor’s name, along with a message which reads: “Teachers and books are the springs from which flow the waters of knowledge.”
This iconic fountain has seen its fair share of history. From Vietnam War protesters in the 1960s using the flowing water to wash the tear gas out of their eyes to children tossing wishful pennies into its basin, the Hagenah Fountain has become a staple of the UW-Madison campus.
With Library Mall having been under construction since August 2008 and the Hagenah Fountain shut down since 2011, the spouting water is a welcome sight.
