The E. M. Viquesney "Spirit of the American Doughboy" Database
 |
 Photos provided by Gail Campbell, Johnson City Public Library. |
JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE
N 36° 19.243 / W 082° 20.502
Copyright version 1934, cast zinc.
Smithsonian Art Inventory control Number: 47260105.
Copyright version 1934, cast zinc.
Smithsonian Art Inventory control Number: 47260105.
At former entrance to now-demolished Roosevelt Memorial Stadium near main Post Office and across from City Hall. The stadium had been accepted for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places only weeks before it was torn down.
The inscription on the plaque on the front of the base reads:
DEDICATED TO
THE MEMORY OF OUR COMRADES
WHO ENTERED THE SERVICE
OF THEIR COUNTRY
FROM WASHINGTON COUNTY
AND WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
IN THE WORLD WAR
PRESENTED BY
KINGS MOUNTAIN POST No. 24
AMERICAN LEGION
A plaque on the rear of the base reads identically except that it ends:
IN WORLD WAR II, KOREAN
AND VIETNAM WARS
and the date
NOVEMBER 11, 1974
DEDICATED TO
THE MEMORY OF OUR COMRADES
WHO ENTERED THE SERVICE
OF THEIR COUNTRY
FROM WASHINGTON COUNTY
AND WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
IN THE WORLD WAR
PRESENTED BY
KINGS MOUNTAIN POST No. 24
AMERICAN LEGION
A plaque on the rear of the base reads identically except that it ends:
IN WORLD WAR II, KOREAN
AND VIETNAM WARS
and the date
NOVEMBER 11, 1974
Dedicated November 11, 1935. Rededicated later (November 11, 1974) to include those who served and died in other wars. A separate nearby stone memorial erected by the Johnson City Jaycees in 1975 honors those who gave their lives in the Vietnam War (with names).
According to a Johnson City Press newsclipping archive, there was a "Doughboy Day" held in 1974, probably involving the rededication.
The statue is designated to be a historical marker at a planned main entrance to a new 25-acre Memorial Park Community Campus on the site of the former stadium which was torn down in August of 2010. The asphalt around the statue has been torn up, but a new fence is being built around it.
The Doughboy appears to be in good condition, except that the bayonet is missing.
According to a Johnson City Press newsclipping archive, there was a "Doughboy Day" held in 1974, probably involving the rededication.
The statue is designated to be a historical marker at a planned main entrance to a new 25-acre Memorial Park Community Campus on the site of the former stadium which was torn down in August of 2010. The asphalt around the statue has been torn up, but a new fence is being built around it.
The Doughboy appears to be in good condition, except that the bayonet is missing.
