Henry Harrison Mayes
Henry Harrison Mayes (8 February 1898 – 7 March 1986) from Middlesboro, Kentucky planted thousands of religious signs and concrete markers along American highways and close to airports. The main message of the crosses and heart-shaped markers were Prepare to Meet God and Jesus is Coming Soon sometimes with an instruction for their final destination on other continents or even planets engraved. His work is considered a type of folk-religion[1] and he referred to himself as God's Advertiser[2].
Mayes started this self-funded life-time mission[3] together with his wife, Lilly Mayes, after the miraculous recovery from an accident in the coal mines in his early twenties.
While most of his early signs disappeared, his main body of work, including tools and other artifacts, is preserved in the The People's Building at the Museum of Appalachia. Around 25 objects (concrete markers, barn signs) are still to find along old highways or relocated to churches or on private property. Notable is also the 120 foot long[4] and in countless newspaper articles and magazines[5] lighted cross installed on a steep hill and visible from Cumberland Avenue, the town's main street[6].
Mayes story has been told in the Foxfire (magazine), in the self-published book "A Coal Miner's Simple Message" by his daughter-in-law Catherine Mayes[7] and in countless newspaper articles and magazines[8].
Links
Harrison Mayes work at the Smithsonian
References
- ↑ Foxfire Fund, I.; Wigginton, E. (2010). Foxfire 9. Foxfire Series (in français). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 328. ISBN 978-0-307-75737-1. Retrieved 2022-05-27. Search this book on
- ↑ Charles Reagan Wilson, J.Y. With signs following. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-61703-539-5. Retrieved 2022-05-27. Search this book on
- ↑ Martha Carver, C.S.; Stager, C.; Carver, M. (2006). Looking Beyond the Highway: Dixie Roads and Culture. University of Tennessee Press. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-57233-467-0. Retrieved 2022-05-27. Search this book on
- ↑ Mayes, Catherine (1999). A coal miner's simple message. Middlesboro, KY: Clyde & Catherine Mayes. OCLC 52114489. Search this book on
- ↑ "Publications and Press - Henry Harrison Mayes". Americananana. p. 92. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
- ↑ Elson, Martha; Courier-Journal, The (2014-07-11). "The Courier-Journal". LCJ. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- ↑ Mayes, Catherine (1999). A coal miner's simple message. Middlesboro, KY: Clyde & Catherine Mayes. OCLC 52114489. Search this book on
- ↑ "Publications and Press - Henry Harrison Mayes". Americananana. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
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