The exterior sculpture was created by John David Brcin
(far left) a young Chicago sculptor of Serbian birth. Hartley Burr Alexander
(near left), an eminent authority on Indian anthropology, wrote the inscriptions for the building.
The architects firmly placed the building in the Great Plains by utilizing Indian themes, most notably the abstracted thunderbird, or eagle, symbol found on the capitals of the east entrance columns and throughout the interior. The exterior carvings on the east half of the building refer to the White settlement of the area and on the west to the Native American civilization. This east facade was specifically dedicated to George Joslyn and carries the memorial identification, the dedicatory inscription, and the sculptural panels most closely tied with his journalistic career.
The figures on the bronze entrance doors symbolically represent his virtues: the south pair illustrate
Labor and
Charity, the center pair
Faith and
Valor, and the north pair
Vision and
Hope.
The rosettes, or medallions, above the south, west, and north entrance doors, are grouped to create pairs of figures who settled the Great Plains:
Red Man of the Plains and
Red Woman of the Plains, The Prospector and
Tiller of the Soil, and the
Spanish Conquistador and the
Christian Scout.
The
sculptural panels on the corners of the building are
Pioneer Press, Distribution of the News, and
Civic Builders, all referring to George Joslyn's career and his part in bringing newspapers to the West;
The Homesteaders, portraying the meeting of established farmers and the recently arrived settlers; and
Indian Sign Language, Indian Signal Fire, Indian Picture Writing, and
Indian Prayer for Life, all dealing with the Indian heritage of this region.