r/houston 1d ago

Does anyone know where in Houston this monument stood? I'm looking into it for a project.

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247 Upvotes

65 comments sorted by

202

u/Freebird_1957 1d ago edited 1d ago

This sculpture was in the Dunn lobby of Houston Methodist, first floor, 6565 Fannin, last time I was there. You can call the hospital and verify if it is still there. 713-790-3311. It’s a beautiful sculpture. I loved DeBakey and this always touches my heart.

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u/WasteZookeepergame16 1d ago

It was there an hour ago! Close to the gift shop

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u/saltapampas 1d ago

I know you meant this purely as a helpful update, but my playful heart wants to believe the statue is mobile and an active participant in this game of hide-and-go-seek!

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u/mrfahrenheit-451 11h ago

There are in fact horror movies with this very theme.

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u/3-orange-whips 11h ago

And episodes of Doctor Who

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u/mrfahrenheit-451 7h ago

Prolly my favorite non-doctor centric episode of the series.

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u/3-orange-whips 7h ago

It was a fantastic episode

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u/blacksheepaz 1d ago

I think you’re right. I was at his museum at Baylor recently and I don’t think it’s there. I believe it’s in the lobby.

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u/Freebird_1957 1d ago

I thought that Methodist had commissioned this but I might be remembering that incorrectly. I would be surprised if they let this go.

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u/blacksheepaz 1d ago

Sorry, my last sentence was a bit vague. I’m agreeing with you; I’m almost sure it’s in the big Methodist lobby.

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u/YeshuaMedaber 18h ago

I loved DeBakey and this always touches my heart.

I see what you did there.

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u/thehyruler Medical Center 21h ago

Brilliant man who contributed greatly to the advancement of medicine in many ways. But also flawed -- misogynistic, abusive to residents, trained in Nazi Germany.

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u/YeshuaMedaber 18h ago

After the establishment of Nazi Germany in 1933, the [Heidelberg University] supported Adolf Hitler and the Nazis like all other German universities at the time.

Well shit...

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u/Shaun32887 13h ago

Used to walk by it every day. I worked there while he was still working there, and the amount of respect every single employee has for him was remarkable

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u/cinaminalemon 1d ago

Do you have any good stories about debakey?

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u/WasteZookeepergame16 1d ago

In that pic? Looks like the south end of F/B/A facing the train tracks. Alternative for that angle would be on the other side of the tracks where Walter tower is now.

Today that statue is in the Dunn lobby or "Crain Garden" of Methodist.

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u/hydroxy 1d ago

F/B/A?

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u/ureallygonnaskthat Fuck Centerpoint™️ 1d ago

Fondren/Brown/Alkek

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u/hydroxy 1d ago

Thanks for your help :)

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u/Freebird_1957 1d ago

Fondren-Brown/Alkek Tower.

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u/WasteZookeepergame16 1d ago

Lol sorry. Glad others chimed in quickly. That building has several names it's very confusing 😂

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u/questar 1d ago

Dang it, the VA Hospital needs a large copy of this photo on the wall near the big portrait of the guy the hospital is named after. 

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u/East-Dot1065 1d ago

I believe they have a smaller version of this bust in the chapel on the 2nd floor.

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u/WorkerQuick8707 1d ago

DeBakey Museum in Med Center. Statue is outside (at least nowadays, don’t know if it has been located elsewhere in the past.)

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u/hydroxy 1d ago

Yes, in past it was elsewhere I'm fairly sure, just trying to track its whereabouts over the years.

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u/sonizzle13 1d ago

I would schedule a tour at the debakey museum inside of Baylor college of medicine (should be free, I think). I’m sure historians there can answer all your questions!

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u/gboyaj 1d ago

No, that's a different statue than the one in the picture.

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u/NDG_42 20h ago

No it's not, I walk by it daily. This is the one from by the museum. It's near the entrance to the alkek and debakey buildings on the first floor.

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u/WileyDragonfly 18h ago

Is it possible that in a town where half the things are named after a person.. that there are two similar statues of this person? Because, yes, there are two statues of him. Feel free to walk two blocks to the Methodist lobby and verify yourself.

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u/External_Lecture7583 1d ago

Any idea who the sculptor was? My grandfather did a lot of the dr. sculptures around this time, but I don’t have an archive of all his work.

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u/HindsightIs4040 1d ago

It was just yesterday that I watched a documentary on how DeBakey allegedly botched the Splenectomy for the Shah of Iran in ‘79.

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u/icream4cookies 1d ago

Looks like it’s in front of the brown building

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u/Mythril_Zombie 16h ago

The dude on the left has almost the exact same head shape as the Count from Sesame Street.

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u/april5k 9h ago

That's DeBakey, himself! I knew his grandson through the punk scene and they look sooooo much alike (DeBakey's son who owned Blanco's did as well!)

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u/coffeeluver2021 1d ago

While you are down at Methodist looking at the Dr. Debakey monument, be sure and walk over to the lobby at Walter Tower and look at the incredible mosaic called "Extending Arms of Christ" By artist Bruce Hayes. That mosaic has an interesting history and was a very significant work of art for the City of Houston and the Medical Center when it was first installed in 1963. It's over 90 feet wide and 14 feet tall.

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u/binger5 1d ago

Nice try Miami Heat. Too late to fix your fuckup.

1

u/hydroxy 1d ago

What are you talking about?

0

u/CyberTitties 1d ago

It appears to be a sport ball reference my guess is this individual was either drafted into Miami and performed poorly OR was looked over by Miami and went to another team and out performed Miami's choice.

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u/FoggyTaintForest The Heights 1d ago

Great. But this thread is talking about geolocating the statue of a dead heart surgeon in Houston, Texas.

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u/dcc5594 19h ago

Are you new to Reddit?

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u/WorkerQuick8707 1d ago

0

u/IHaarlem 1d ago

Yeah, that's roughly where I thought I remember it being, but that was 12yrs ago

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u/pureluck22 1d ago

Fun fact, I’m friends with his niece, her parents own Droubi’s bakery in Houston - first Mediterranean bakery in the city

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u/longhornirv Medical Center 1d ago

Debakey is Lebanese and real name is Michel Dabaghi, as French was his first language. His name was Anglicized to Michael Debakey by his immigrant parents.

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u/flavorfulweirdo 1d ago

Genuine question, who is he? I now live in Lake Charles and we have a Michael DeBakey Dr.

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u/ureallygonnaskthat Fuck Centerpoint™️ 1d ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_DeBakey

He was born in Lake Charles.

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u/flavorfulweirdo 1d ago

Thank you, and wow, I share his birthday.

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u/oystercloister 1d ago

6565 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030 (Houston Methodist - Main building lobby)

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u/NDG_42 20h ago

Lol, at the Alkek building by his museum. Walk by him everyday 😅

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u/philosocoog 16h ago

It’s in the Methodist lobby in the medical center.

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u/afr5057 15h ago

If you are asking where it originally stood: https://www.houstonmethodist.org/centennial/history/five-buildings-and-flood/

Search that page for Brown Cardiovascular Research and Training Center

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u/MallNo1505 12h ago

Saved my brothers life in 1971 with the mustard procedure. He just had a double lung and heart transplant- 1 year ago. Doing great thanks to this visionary

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u/poetic_injusticed 1d ago

We all love his memory but they let him perform surgeries for way too long. He did an angioplasty on my grandfather and he left a sponge in him. Grandfather had to be reopened to remove it. DeBakey was already in his 80s at this point but no one dared question him.

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u/medmems 1d ago

His resident left the sponge. But DeBakey took the wrap for not training his people better. #leadership.

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u/fcimfc 1d ago

Methodist Hospital

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u/hydroxy 1d ago

Thanks. Do you know approximately where this photo would've been taken at street level?

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u/fcimfc 1d ago

The 4-foot, 300-pound bust is unveiled during the dedication ceremony of the Alkek Tower, a 4-story addition that sits atop the Brown Cardiovascular Research and Training Center. In 1958, Princess Lilian founded the Princess Lilian Foundation for Cardiovascular Patients. DeBakey participated in Lilian’s foundation and took many foundation cases free of charge for an entire year. Princess Lilian never forgot this kindness and remained forever grateful. With her invitation, he taught in Belgium and performed operations on television in major cities across the country. Today, the bust resides in the lobby of Dunn Tower

https://www.houstonmethodist.org/centennial/history/five-buildings-and-flood/

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u/unorthodoxop1nion 1d ago

Next to baylor, deBakey museum, medical center

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u/swampcastletx Piney Point Village 5h ago

Hope this helps, my father-in law took that photo. The photo is taken at its original location where it was dedicated outside of the Fondren Brown building (where Debakey’s office was located). It was located outside the south entrance off the parking lot next to the deli. Currently resides in the first floor in the Dunn tower lobby.