The E. M. Viquesney Doughboy Database
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  • Earl D. Goldsmith
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  • "The Spirit of the American Doughboy"
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    • Alabama >
      • Anniston, Alabama
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    • Florida >
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    • Georgia >
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        • *Trion, Georgia
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    • Iowa >
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      • Winchendon, Massachusetts
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      • Berkley, Michigan
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    • Minnesota >
      • New Ulm, Minnesota (1995 Bronze Replica)
    • Mississippi >
      • Meridian, Mississippi
    • Missouri >
      • Bolivar, Missouri
      • Lexington, Missouri
      • Lexington, Missouri - Styrofoam Replica
      • Sedalia, Missouri
    • Montana >
      • Columbia Falls, Montana >
        • *Kalispell, Montana
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    • *Nebraska >
      • *Omaha, Nebraska
    • New Jersey >
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    • New York >
      • Castile, New York
      • Harrison, New York
      • *Vestal, New York
    • North Carolina >
      • Charlotte, North Carolina
      • Nashsville, North Carolina
    • Ohio >
      • Akron, Ohio
      • *Blue Ash (Cincinnati), Ohio
      • Crooksville, Ohio
      • Fostoria, Ohio
      • Gallipolis, Ohio
      • Marion, Ohio
      • Newark, Ohio
      • New Philadelphia, Ohio
      • St. Bernard (Cincinnati), Ohio
      • Swanton, Ohio
      • Warren, Ohio
      • Woodville, Ohio
      • Zanesville, Ohio
    • Oklahoma >
      • Cherokee, Oklahoma
      • Granite, Oklahoma
      • Henryetta, Oklahoma
      • Hobart, Oklahoma
      • Muskogee, Oklahoma
    • Pennsylvania >
      • Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
      • Egypt, Pennsylvania
      • Forest City, Pennsylvania
      • Indiana, Pennsylvania
      • Lancaster, Pennsylvania
      • Meyersdale, Pennsylvania
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      • Scottdale, Pennsylvania
      • Scranton, Pennsylvania (2018 Bronze Replica)
      • Scranton, Pennsylvania (Original)
      • Tatamy, Pennsylvania
      • Verona, Pennsylvania
    • South Carolina >
      • Anderson, South Carolina
      • Columbia, South Carolina (2002 Copy)
      • Greenville, South Carolina (2004 Bronze Replica)
      • Greenville, South Carolina (Original)
      • Olympia (Columbia), South Carolina
    • South Dakota >
      • Bullhead, South Dakota
    • Tennessee >
      • Johnson City, Tennessee
    • Texas >
      • Canyon, Texas
      • Crowell, Texas
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      • Sinton, Texas
      • Vernon, Texas
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    • Utah >
      • Beaver, Utah
      • Mount Pleasant, Utah
      • Price, Utah >
        • *Hiawatha, Utah
      • Vernal, Utah
    • Vermont >
      • Enosburg Falls, Vermont
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    • Virginia >
      • Petersburg, Virginia
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      • Aberdeen, Washington
    • West Virginia >
      • Logan, West Virginia
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    • Wisconsin >
      • Appleton, Wisconsin (2017 Bronze Replica)
      • Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
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      • Markesan, Wisconsin
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    • Wyoming >
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    • Other States
  • Repair, Restoration, and Conservation (Outdoor Monuments)
  • The Miniature Doughboys
    • The "American Doughboy Art Lamp"
    • Miniature Doughboy FAQs
    • Repair, Restoration, and Conservation (Miniatures)
  • Other Works by E. M. Viquesney
    • 1904: The Early Years
    • 1905-1915: Civil War Memorials
    • 1916: Booklet Illustrations
    • 1920: Burial Vault Patent
    • 1921: The Rylander Theatre
    • 1922: The "Imp-O-Luck"
    • 1922: The United States Infantry Association Trophy
    • 1923: The Klan-Lite
    • 1923 (est.) - "GOB" - "The Spirit of the American Sailor"
    • 1925: The Viquesney Block
    • 1926: "The Spirit of the American Navy"
    • 1927: "The Spirit of the Skies"
    • 1928: The Tivoli Theatre
    • 1928: Plaque at Malvern, Pennsylvania
    • 1929: "Mother" (Madonna and Child)
    • 1930: "Zero Hour"
    • 1930: Flanders Cross Memorial
    • 1930s (est.) - Joan of Arc
    • 1930s (est): Service Plaque
    • 1931: Knute Rockne Bust
    • 1934: "The Unveiling"
    • 1935: Viquesney's Version of "Over the Top"
    • 1935 (est.): Memorial to the Women of the Confederacy
    • 1936: "Resting Doughboy"
    • 1936 (est.): Alf Landon Bust
    • 1936, 1937: "The Spirit of America" / "The Spirit of the Flag",
    • 1938: "Lincoln as an Indiana Boy" >
      • Guido Rebechini's Lincoln Lookalike
    • 1939: Soldiers Memorial Pavilion
    • 1940: "Creation"
    • 1942: "The Yanks Again", "Eagle's Watch", and "Remember Pearl Harbor"
    • 1943: "The Spirit of the Fighting Yank" >
      • Chicago, Illinois
      • Bloomington, Indiana
      • Port Huron, Michigan
      • Belmont, North Carolina
      • Oil City, Pennsylvania
    • 1946: "Comrades", Viquesney's Last Piece
    • Career-long Output: Plaques, Grave Markers
  • "And So the Scene Closes"
  • Carrying On: Frederic L. Hollis
  • E. M. Viquesney vs. John Paulding
    • Paulding's Model 2043-A
    • Paulding's Model 2043-B
    • Paulding's Model 2043-C
    • Paulding's Model 2043-D
  • Viquesney Doughboy Lookalikes and Derivatives
    • Greenville, Alabama (Engraved Panel)
    • Montgomery, Alabama
    • Tampa, Florida
    • New Orleans, Louisiana
    • Union City (West Hoboken), New Jersey
    • Aliquippa, Pennsylvania
    • Franklin, Pennsylvania
    • Arcadia, Wisconsin
    • The McNeel Marble Co. Doughboys >
      • Eufaula, Alabama
      • Headland, Alabama
      • Troy, North Carolina
      • Clarksville, Tennessee
      • Texarkana, Texas
    • Eagle Bronze Works, Fiske Iron Works Doughboys
    • Walter A. Sinz Doughboys
    • Other Viquesney-Inspired Lookalikes
  • Viquesney Doughboy Myths
  • Viquesney Document Archive
  • Epilogue
Picture

MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI

N 32° 21.842 / W 088° 42.075

Copyright version 1920, sheet bronze.

Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: MS000135.
Picture
On top of a large monument on a triangular plot (now known as Dumont Plaza) bounded by 6th Street, 7th Street and 23rd Avenue, across the street from Trustmark Bank in Downtown Meridian.
Picture
An intricate grilled door with a large American Legion emblem encloses the original plaque, which reads:

1917-1918

TO THE GLORY
OF GOD
AND IN HONOR OF
THOSE OF

LAUDERDALE
COUNTY

WHO PATRIOTICALLY
ANSWERED THE CALL
OF OUR COUNTRY
TO UPHOLD JUSTICE
AND THE RIGHTS
OF HUMANITY
AND IN LOVING
REMEMBRANCE OF
THOSE WHO THEREIN
MADE THE
SUPREME SACRIFICE
The Smithsonian record misquotes the plaque (omitting the word "THEREIN"), and the word "SACRIFICE" is stated to be misspelled as "SCARIFICE". A photograph of the plaque shows all words included and spelled correctly. 
A marker at the base of a nearby tree has an inscription that reads:

MEMORY TREE FOUNDATION
         
ESTABLISHED 1998           MERIDIAN , MISSISSIPPI
        
DEDICATED TO THE                            IN REMEMBRANCE OF
   
GLORY OF GOD AND                                THOSE WHO HAVE
   
COUNTRY, TO THE                                 SERVED OR SERVE
             
ENCOURAGEMENT                               ‘THIS GREAT COUNTRY’
      
AND PRESERVATION                               THE UNITED STATES
 
OF THE MEMORIES.                                        OF AMERICA.
        
FIRST MEMORY TREE
          NOVEMBER 11, 1998
An engraved image of the monument is in the space between the two columns of the above inscription.
Picture
The Doughboy was dedicated by the T. C. Carter American Legion Post #21 November 11, 1927.  There is a small cannon on the triangular base immediately in front of the monument. A reference at the Meridian Historic Preservation Commission website lists the monument as having been built "ca. 1918". If so, it means the monument base was built first, and the statue added in 1927. And as can be deduced from reading the original plaque inscription above, the monument was not specifically dedicated to Thomas Clay Carter, as stated by this website. It was the Legion Post that was named and dedicated to him.

The statue stands within the Meridian Downtown Historic District, included in the National Register of Historic Places.

Picture
An old photo of the Meridian Doughboy, circa 1940s.
Picture
An old postcard view of the monument, with the impressive Threefoot Building in the background.
Picture
Links:
Historical Marker Database
flickr.com
meridianstar.com
waymarking.com
wikimedia.org
blogspot.com
virtualglobetrotting.com

meridianms.org
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