- Enoch Tanner Wickham
Enoch Tanner Wickham (E.T.), 1883 - 1970, was a self-taught
folk artist who built life-size concrete statues along a rural road inPalmyra, Tennessee . Wickham began his creations in 1950 at the age of 67 after retiring from being a tobacco farmer and raising nine children.The first statue Wickham built was of the
Blessed Virgin Mary crushing a snake under her feet. More statues followed ofTecumseh the Indian Chief, and ofWorld War I heroAlvin York . In 1961 Wickham built anequestrian statue ofAndrew Jackson . One of his largest statues was a Memorial to honor his son Ernest Wickham and other local soldiers ofMontgomery County, Tennessee who died inWorld War II . Wickham continued building statues until his death in 1970. By that time, he had built over forty statues using only simple materials of chicken wire, rebar and concrete.In 2001 the Customs House Museum in
Clarksville, Tennessee had a year long exhibition of his work.Today some of the statues still stand along Buck Smith Road in Palmyra in spite of much aging and vandalism. The statues ofAlvin York and the sleeping dog have been restored and are displayed in the Trahern Art building atAustin Peay State University inClarksville, Tennessee . Another statue of a kneeling soldier is located outside Soldier's Chapel in nearbyFort Campbell, Kentucky .See also
*
Ferdinand Cheval
*Samuel P. Dinsmoor
*Howard Finster
*Simon Rodia External links
* [http://www.customshousemuseum.org/wickham/index.html Customs House Museum Wickham Exhibit]
* [http://wickhamstonepark.com/ Wickham Stone Park]
* [http://www2.vscc.cc.tn.us/jschibig/images/a_tribute_to_my_grandfather.htm Wickham's Way]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.