The Pioneer Mother, Bronze sculpture at University of Oregon, Eugene, United States

The Pioneer Mother is a six-foot-tall bronze sculpture by Alexander Phimister Proctor, unveiled in 1932 on the University of Oregon campus. It shows a woman seated at rest on a straight-backed chair, a Bible on her lap, atop a six-foot base of pink granite with bronze bas-relief panels on its west and east sides.

Burt Barker, a University of Oregon vice-president, commissioned Alexander Phimister Proctor in 1927 to depict pioneer mothers at rest rather than in struggle. Barker's mother, Elvira Brown Barker, who crossed the Great Plains to Oregon in 1847, served as the model. The bronze was unveiled on May 7, 1932, during Junior Week and Mother's Day festivities; activists toppled it in June 2020.

The figure was modeled on Elvira Brown Barker, Burt Barker's mother, who crossed the Great Plains to Oregon in 1847. Barker said he wanted to perpetuate the peace that followed the pioneer mother's struggles, not the journey itself. The bronze bas-relief panels on the base's east and west sides depict that journey.

The sculpture sits on the University of Oregon campus and is free to visit during regular campus hours. Plan your visit during daylight to appreciate the fine details of the bronze work and the figure's expression.

The sculpture's site was chosen by testing a cardboard facsimile at various spots on campus; it was finally set in the centre of the women's quadrangle, close to several paths. It faces north toward The Pioneer, about one hundred yards away with Johnson Hall between them, though the sources give no indication the two were meant to face each other.