View complete article and references at Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina at: https://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/42

Description: This water trough is made of granite with a semi-circular water basin at the base. Above the base rises a bas-relief figure of a classically draped woman pouring water from an urn. She is looking down and to the viewer's left with a smile. Graham's early death on December 22, 1916 prompted her friends to swiftly erect a monument to "keep fresh (her) memory" within days of the death.

Inscription:
Front: TO KEEP FRESH THE MEMORY / OF SUSAN WILLIAMS GRAHAM

Rear: THE WATERS OF TRUTH FLOW FREELY, DRINK WHEN AND WHERE YOU MAY

Dedication date: 1916

Creator: Roger Noble Burnham, Sculptor

Materials & Techniques: Granite

Sponsor: Edward Kidder Graham, president of UNC and husband of Susan Williams Graham, and friends.

Post dedication use: In 1956 the fountain was moved to a corner of Coker Arboretum from its location near the Methodist Church on Franklin Street.

Subject notes: Susan Williams Graham was the wife of UNC President Edward Kidder Graham. She was a socialite and very well-liked. She urged her husband to expand opportunities for women's education. She died in 1916 at the age of 34. Because her particular interest was in helping farmers' wives who came to Chapel Hill's markets, her friends decided to erect a watering trough for their horses. Previously, a hollowed oak tree had been used.

Location: It is located at the northwest corner of Coker Arboretum beside the entrance, surrounded by vegetation.

Former Locations: The monument originally faced Franklin Street, with the relief of the woman street-side.

City: Chapel Hill

County: Orange

Subjects: Educational Institutions,Historic Cultural Figures