Samuel Herbert Adams was born in Vermont in 1858 and studied at MIT and the Massachusetts Normal Art School. He also studied under Antonin Mercie in Paris for five years, and then taught at Pratt Institute for eight years before becoming a sculptor full-time. He was a member of the National Academy of Design in New York and was elected its president in 1917.
By the turn of the 20th century, Adams was considered one of America’s foremost sculptors. He designed the bronze doors, representing “Research” and “Truth” in Renaissance Revival-style, at the Library of Congress. He also designed the memorial bronze door at the south entrance of St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York, commissioned by Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt in memory of her husband. Adams’ design depicts angels bowing before the Madonna and child. This commission suggests that Adams may have been recommended to Research Corporation by Dave Hennen Morris, who had joined RC’s Board of Directors two years earlier and whose wife was a member of the Vanderbilt family.
Adams died in 1945. His work can be seen in numerous American museums, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.