Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Henry John (“H. J.”) Heinz (1844-1919) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is best known for his 57 varieties of pickles, ketchup and relish. But Heinz was also a friend of Winona’s founder, Sol Dickey, and he became the fourth president of the Winona Assembly and Summer School.
Heinz served on the board of directors for several years, and also was on the board of trustees for the Winona Agricultural Institute and the Winona Technical Institute at Indianapolis. Along with other contributors, H. J. Heinz gave money for the Goshen Division of the Winona Interurban Railway Company, which connected Winona Lake to Goshen and on to Chicago.
Heinz is described as a “genius and far-seeing builder” whose main skill was advertising, which he exercised to great effect for Winona. One of his advertisements appeared in the 1904 Winona Year Book, showing not only Heinz's marketing success but also his emphasis on hygienic food production.
Heinz contributed many of the statues and artworks in the park. In 1902 he donated a stone lion statue to Winona that formerly stood in the famous Walled City of Peking, China. A large bell from the Boxer Rebellion once was positioned east of the old 2,000-seat auditorium. A friend of Billy Sunday, his autographed picture hangs in the office of the Sunday Home today.
Heinz worshipped as a member of Methodist and Presbyterian churches, and worked closely with Baptists as well. When Heinz visited England, his "tourist stops" included the graves of religious leaders John Bunyan, Isaac Watts, and John Wesley. He visited a chapel that Wesley founded, later writing that, "I felt I was upon holy ground." At the beginning of his will Heinz wrote: "I desire to set forth, at the very beginning of this Will, as the most important item in it, a confession of my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior."
Heinz donated some 14 pieces of public art to Winona. Several pedestals remain, but all of the sculptures have been returned to the family or his foundation except for one. That statue, “The Student,” was brought from Paris by Heinz in 1894 and has stood sentinel to the town most of the years since then. The statue shows up in many of the historic postcards portraying the town, and is often the centerpiece for ads and promotion of Winona Lake.
“The Student” was created by French sculptor Jean Turan (1846-1895), an associate and colleague of the great Auguste Rodin, widely considered the father of modern sculpture.
The Smithsonian Art Commission describes the statue this way: “Early adolescent boy steps forward, wearing mid-19th century dress. His proper left hand fingers medals on the proper left side of his chest and his proper right hand is raised, holding a rolled-up diploma. Behind him are a stack of books and a laurel wreath.”
The statue lay discarded and undiscovered in the basement of the Winona Hotel for many years, but was brought back to the public in the early 1990s with the rebuilding of the Village at Winona. Today “The Student” is prominently on display on an island in the pond at the foot of the Ninth Street hill in Winona Lake. Surrounded by a decorated protective railing and accompanied by a convenient sitting bench, the statue is a favorite venue for tourist and wedding photographs.
