The Margaret Haughery statue, one of the nation’s first outdoor sculptures honoring a woman, was designed by Alexander Doyle, who had just completed his statue of General Lee (see
OR126
). After Irish immigrant Margaret Gaffney married Charles Haughery, they moved from Baltimore to New Orleans in the 1830s. Following the death of her daughter and husband en route to New Orleans, Margaret, penniless and illiterate, worked her way up from laundress to ownership of a dairy and bakery. She established and helped fund several asylums for orphans and the poor, and at her death in 1882 willed her fortune to eleven charitable institutions. In July 1884, thousands attended the unveiling of this white marble statue of Margaret seated on a chair with a small child at her knee, funded with small donations from those who had benefited from her philanthropy.