Hadrosaurus Foulkii: New Jersey’s Oldest Resident
By Stephen Finn
LISTEN TO AUDIO OF JOHN GIANNOTTI
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Former Rutgers University professor John Giannotti is responsible for creating the Hadrosaurus Foulkii sculpture in downtown Haddonfield, N.J.
HADDONFIELD – A small South Jersey town with picturesque, old-time charm, Haddonfield is home to corner cafes, boutiques, gourmet restaurants… and a ten-foot dinosaur.
While strangers to the town might not believe their eyes, Haddonfield’s residents livecomfortably in the shadow of a giant reptile. The Hadrosaurus foulkii is actually one of local artist John Giannotti’s lifelike pieces of public art proudly displayed in the center of the town’s shopping district.
Giannotti is an artist, sculptor, and a former professor of fine arts at Rutgers University. His work can be seen in public areas everywhere from his hometown in Haddonfield to Soka University in Tokyo, Japan. In 2002, he was commissioned by his town to build a sculpture commemorating the 1858 discovery in Haddonfield of the first intact dinosaur skeleton found in North America.
The historic discovery of the Hadrosaurus led to its being named New Jersey’s official state dinosaur in 1991. The prehistoric addition to Jersey’s state symbols was made possible by the efforts of elementary school teacher Joyce Berry and her fourth grade class at Strawbridge Elementary School in Haddon Township.
Over the roughly ten-month period it took to complete the dinosaur, Giannotti invited children from surrounding schools to visit his studio. Each one was given a piece of clay to place anywhere on the framework of the Hadrosaurus, or “Haddy” as they started calling it. The project was gradually becoming theirs and Giannotti wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“It became a real community project,” Giannotti recalls. “I was really happy with how it turned out. Children still come to visit the sculpture and point to the spot where they put their piece of clay.”
There’s not many places you can go and tell someone to “meet me at the dinosaur” without sounding slightly deranged, but for Haddonfield locals the Hadrosaurus represents not only a landmark centerpiece for the town’s business district, but a community project that brought people together and will continue to do so for years to come.
