Located outside of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Schenley Park, the memorial honors Christopher Magee, a local political boss and philanthropist during the late 1800s.

[3] Noted American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens was selected to design the memorial, which would take the form of a public drinking fountain,[2] and he began working on the project in 1905.

Bacon and Saint-Gaudens had previously collaborated on other works of public art, including memorials for prominent individuals such as Mark Hanna, Charles Stewart Parnell, and James Abbott McNeill Whistler.

[2][5] Its primary structure is a granite stele featuring a bronze relief sculpture of a woman dressed in clothing from classical antiquity, including robes and a cape, representing Charity.

[6] Just above the figure's head is an inscription of a quote from Portia, a character in the play The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, which reads: "THE QUALITY OF / MERCY IS NOT STRAINED / IT DROPPETH AS / THE GENTLE RAIN FROM / HEAVEN / UPON THE PLACE BENEATH / IT IS TWICE BLESSED / IT BLESSETH HIM / THAT GIVES AND / HIM THAT TAKES".

[6] Other inscriptions on the relief include the year of its completion in the lower left in Roman numerals ("MCMVII") and the monogram of sculptor Saint-Gaudens (the letters "AST" surrounded by a large "G").

[2] While Saint-Gaudens had originally intended to carve the relief directly into the granite stele, he opted to instead use bronze after considering the effect that the air pollution in Pittsburgh would have on the memorial.