Knoxville statues salute contribution, not conflict

It says something about Knoxville that its statues celebrate common folk who gave of themselves to others and heroic individuals who raised people’s spirits without driving anyone else down.

No combative generals scowl over Knox County courtyards or parks. We have our soldiers, true, but they are nameless, noted simply for their sacrifice.

There’s The Hiker on the grounds of the Old Courthouse downtown. The sculpture represents the ordinary riflemen – they called themselves hikers – who served in the Spanish-American War and in the Philippines and China.

Likewise, the Doughboy in front of Historic Knoxville High School recalls the service of the 117th Infantry Division in World War I and earlier conflicts. Its members included Knoxville High grads who died in the Great War.

Humbler still is the War Dog at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, acknowledging the “love and devotion” of the courageous canines who saved Marines in the Pacific during World War II.

Another anonymous hero is the Fallen Firefighter, who bears a small child away from danger outside the Fire Department headquarters downtown. Though the model for this sculpture and the sculptor both are unknown, the names of actual heroes, firefighters who gave their lives in service, are engraved on the memorial.

The real people immortalized in bronze in Knoxville include Sergei Rachmaninoff. The Russian composer of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini may seem an unlikely subject for remembrance in the land of Rocky Top. But he gave his last performance here in 1943, despite pain from terminal cancer, and Moscow sculptor Victor Bokarov wanted that remembered.

More Knoxville statues salute those who spread joy and hope.

William Sergeant, a member of the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge for more than six decades, led that organization’s worldwide drive to eradicate polio, and is memorialized in Krutch Park.

Nearby in Market Square are the bronzes of Lizzie Crozier French, Anne Dallas Dudley, and Elizabeth Avery Meriwether, suffragettes who pushed Tennessee to cast the critical deciding vote to amend the Constitution and give women the right to vote.

Another strong woman stands on the UT campus. Pat Head Summitt epitomized constructive leadership as she coached the Lady Vols to eight national championships and helped reshape female athletics in America.

Then there’s the statue of writer Alex Haley, whose work awoke the nation to the majesty of African American history and who made East Tennessee his beloved adopted home.

Knoxville’s two most iconic statues represent abstractions rather than individuals.

The Torchbearer at UT exalts the selfless spread of knowledge with the inscription: “One that beareth a torch shadoweth oneself to give light to others.”

The Oarsman's message is a bit more obscure. But from his half-submerged seat downtown, he reminds us that we can hold our heads above water, if we just keep paddling.

Jack McElroy is executive editor of the News Sentinel. He can be reached at editor@knoxnews.com.