John Garman was born in Urbana, Illinois, in 1896. When he was two, his family moved to Portland. After graduating from Benson Polytechnic High School in 1916, Garman enrolled at Oregon Agricultural College (OAC). After his first year, he entered the Army and served as an instructor. After WWI, he returned to OAC, and completed his B.S. in Physics in 1922. In 1923, he became an instructor in Engineering. In 1924, Garman began teaching photography for the Physics Department, which he continued doing until his retirement in 1966. In 1969, he helped the Art Department set up classes when that department assumed the teaching of photography. In the 1920's, Garman, with Ed Yunker, established Photographic Services at OAC; Photographic Services is now part of OSU's Communication Media Center. In 1925, Garman married Florence Goff; they had three children. Garman passed away in November of 1989.
The Lady of the Fountain was a gift of the class of 1902 and constructed shortly after graduation. It was the second class gift presented to OSU in school history and was located on Lowe Campus just west of the intersection of where Madison Street today crosses 9th Street. On January 21, 1929, the statue was found destroyed.