Jane Renwick Smedburg Wilkes, Charlotte
The bronze statue to Jane Wilkes weighs 800 pounds and stands 7.5 feet-tall. The statue shows Wilkes wearing a stylish dress of the period circa 1880 and wearing a brimless hat with flowers. Her head is tilted slightly to her proper right. To her proper left side is an umbrella, point to the ground. The left hand is holding the umbrella and her right hand crossed in front of her body also resting on the umbrella.
May 13, 2014
35.206200 , -80.837140
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Jane Renwick Smedberg Wilkes,” Trail of History, charlottetrailofhistory.org, (accessed June 21, 2023) Link
Leland, Elizabeth. “North Carolina’s Pioneers of Nursing,” Our State, ourstate.com, (Greensboro, NC), April 27, 2021 Link
Murphy, Eva Burbank, 1996. “Wilkes, Jane Renwick Smedberg,” NCpedia.org, (accessed June 21, 2023) Link
“Garden & Statue Dedication Honors Legacies of Robert Haywood and Jane Wilkes,” Atrium Health Foundation, (accessed June 21, 2023) Link
“Good Samaritan Hospital Historical Marker,” The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed June 21, 2023) Link
“Jane Wilkes Statue,” The Charlotte Mecklenburg Story, cmstory.org, (accessed June 21, 2023) Link
Yes
Bronze
Trail of History Inc. and Carolinas Health Care System
The Wilkes statue was dedicated at the same time as the Robert Haywood Morrison Gardens also on Little Sugar Creek Greenway. The gardens honored a $250,000 gift from the Robert Haywood Morrison Foundation in memory of Robert Morrison, a prominent Charlotte businessman, environmentalist and philanthropist.
Natives of New York, Jane Wilkes and her husband Jack moved to the Charlotte area in 1854. Jack was first involved in milling and mining operations before purchasing the Mecklenburg Iron Works in 1856. When the Civil War broke out the iron works were sold or leased to the Confederate Navy and used as the Confederate Naval Yard. After the war the Wilkes became active participants in the Charlotte community and contributed to social and cultural improvements. Beginning in the mid-1870s Jane oversaw efforts to build two hospitals in the city. St. Peter’s Hospital for whites was the first civilian hospital in the state and Good Samaritan Hospital, one of the first hospitals in the country dedicated to the care of African-Americans. Jane dedicated much of her life to raising funds for the two hospitals and healthcare causes. She was also active in Episcopal Church organizations and a member of the Stonewall Jackson Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). On June 3, 1910 she helped dedicate the tablet marking the Confederate Navy Yard.
The statue is located on the Trail of History at East Morehead Street in Charlotte This statue is one of 21 existing or planned statues along the trail, the first of which was The Spirit of Mecklenburg.
The Trail of History near uptown Charlotte follows the Little Sugar Creek greenway. The greenway runs four miles along the small stream lined with trees, shrubbery, flowering plants and places for seating.
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