David Astor Dowdy Jr.

Last updated

David Astor Dowdy Jr. (born March 9, 1933) is a retired businessman who in later life has become a sculptor. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Dowdy attended High Point Public Schools and Oak Ridge Military Institute before entering pharmacy school.[ citation needed ] After obtaining a B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of North Carolina in 1954, [3] Dowdy served in the United States Navy. Upon discharge in 1956, he entered the business world.[ citation needed ]

Sculpture

For most of his life, Dowdy sculpted primarily as a hobby, rendering portrait work of men, women, children, and historical and religious figures at the request of friends and business associates. Most of his commissions are privately owned, but a number are on public display, including Albert Schweitzer (1966) at the Duke University Medical Center Eye Center, John Wesley (1990) at the First United Methodist Church of High Point, Dr. James A, Johnson (1991) at the High Point Regional Hospital, George Watts Hill (1993) [4] Alumni Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hargrove 'Skipper' Bowles (1993) in the Thurston – Bowles Building, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Senator Jesse Helms at the Helms Center in Wingate, North Carolina. [4] One of his works is a three-part, life-size bronze on display outside the BellSouth state headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. [5] [6] [4] This piece consists of a life-size statue of Alexander Graham Bell observing a lineman pulling fiber-optic cable around the globe, and is entitled "Bringing the World Together". His latest major work is the "Plank Road Foreman" at the Depot in High Point. [4] [7]

Personal life

In later life, Dowdy developed Parkinson's disease. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chapel Hill, North Carolina</span> Town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States

Chapel Hill is a town in Orange and Durham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-most populous municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state capital, Raleigh, make up the corners of the Research Triangle, with a total population of 2,106,463 in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill</span> Public university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It is the flagship of the University of North Carolina system. After being chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolling students in 1795, making it one of the oldest public universities in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank of America Stadium</span> Soccer and Football stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, US

Bank of America Stadium is a 74,867-seat football stadium located on 33 acres (13 ha) in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It is the home facility and headquarters of the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League and Charlotte FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in 1996 as Ericsson Stadium, with Swedish telecom company LM Ericsson initially holding the naming rights. In 2004, Charlotte-based financial services company Bank of America purchased the naming rights under a 20-25-year agreement at $140 million. Former Panthers president Danny Morrison called it a "classic American stadium" due to its bowl design and other features.

WUNC is a listener-supported public radio station, serving the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. It is licensed to Chapel Hill and is operated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. On weekdays, WUNC carries National Public Radio, American Public Media, Public Radio Exchange, and BBC programming in an "all-news-and-information" format, including shows such as All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Fresh Air. On weekends, in addition to NPR weekend shows, WUNC broadcasts locally produced folk music programming. The longest-running continuously produced program offered by the station is Back Porch Music, a weekly folk and traditional music program. WUNC holds periodic on-air fundraisers seeking listener contributions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean Smith Center</span> Multi-purpose arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

The Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center is a multi-purpose arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, used primarily as the home for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels men's basketball team. The university began to inquire about building a standalone arena for the men's basketball team beginning in the mid-1970s, but due to an ongoing university wide investigation, the fundraiser halted until its conclusion. In June 1980, the fundraising began with a goal of at least $30 million and a target completion date for the building of December 1984. It was initially planned to be called the Student Activities Center; however, after its announcement it began to be referred to as The Dean Dome and it was speculated it would be named for then coach Dean Smith. The fundraising concluded in August 1984 with over $33 million raised, but construction would not be finished until 1986. The day before the opening game on January 18, 1986, against the Duke Blue Devils, the building was officially announced to be named the Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center, while a formal dedication happen later in September. In 2018, the hardwood floor of the Smith Center was named for then coach Roy Williams.

<i>Silent Sam</i> Bronze statue of a Confederate soldier on the University of North Carolina campus from 1913 to 2018

The Confederate Monument, University of North Carolina, commonly known as Silent Sam, is a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier by Canadian sculptor John A. Wilson, which once stood on McCorkle Place of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) from 1913 until it was pulled down by protestors on August 20, 2018. Its former location has been described as "the front door" of the university and "a position of honor".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Chapel Hill High School</span> Public school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

East Chapel Hill High School ("East") is a public high school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It is the second high school of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district, which also contains Chapel Hill High School and Carrboro High School. The total enrollment in the 2013–2014 school year was 1,409 with 48% minority students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chapel Hill High School (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)</span> Public school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

Chapel Hill High School is a public high school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It is located close to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill High School is part of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district which contains two other high schools, Carrboro High School and East Chapel Hill High School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium</span> On-campus football facility at East Carolina University

Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium is the on-campus football facility at East Carolina University for the East Carolina Pirates in Greenville, North Carolina. The official capacity of the stadium is 51,000, tying it for the second largest college stadium in North Carolina. The record attendance for the stadium was on September 3, 2022, against North Carolina State University with 51,711 in attendance. The stadium is also the site of Spring Commencement exercises for the university. The field itself was commemorated as Bagwell Field in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skipper Bowles</span> American politician (1919–1986)

Hargrove "Skipper" Bowles Jr. was an American Democratic politician and businessman, based in Greensboro, North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Carolina Tar Heels</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the Tar Heel State. The campus at Chapel Hill is referred to as the University of North Carolina for the purposes of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was chartered in 1789, and in 1795 it became the first state-supported university in the United States. Since the school fostered the oldest collegiate team in the Carolinas, the school took on the nickname Carolina, especially in athletics. The Tar Heels are also referred to as UNC or The Heels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Carolina Pirates football</span> College football team

The East Carolina Pirates are a college football team that represents East Carolina University. The team is a member of the American Athletic Conference, which is in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Mike Houston is the head coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Warren (American football)</span> American football player (born 1981)

Gregory Robert Warren is an American former football long snapper. He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels and was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in after the 2005 NFL Draft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honored North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players</span>

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill men's basketball program honors fifty-one former players by hanging their jerseys in the rafters of the Dean E. Smith Center, the home to the men's basketball team on the university's campus. Of these, eight are both honored and retired. However, only seven jersey numbers are retired, as honoree Jack Cobb played before jersey numbers were the norm, meaning he had no number to retire. Justin Jackson and Joel Berry are the most recent players to be honored, following the 2016–17 season. Jackson qualified by being named the ACC Player of the Year and a first-team All-American. Berry was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2017 Final Four.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy</span>

The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and includes a satellite campus at UNC Asheville. The Asheville School of Pharmacy campus opened in 2011, and graduated its first class in 2015.

Hocutt v. Wilson, N.C. Super. Ct. (1933) (unreported), was the first attempt to desegregate higher education in the United States. It was initiated by two African American lawyers from Durham, North Carolina, Conrad O. Pearson and Cecil McCoy, with the support of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The case was ultimately dismissed for lack of standing, but it served as a test case for challenging the "separate but equal" doctrine in education and was a precursor to Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 North Carolina Democratic presidential primary</span>

The 2016 North Carolina Democratic presidential primary took place on March 15 in the U.S. state of North Carolina as one of the Democratic Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials</span> Ongoing controversy in the United States

More than 160 monuments and memorials to the Confederate States of America and associated figures have been removed from public spaces in the United States, all but five since 2015. Some have been removed by state and local governments; others have been torn down by protestors.

References

  1. "Dowdy, David Astor, Jr. – 3/9/1933". High Point Museum & Historical Society. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  2. "The High Point Enterprise from High Point, North Carolina on May 27, 1951 · Page 31". Newspapers.com. May 27, 1951. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  3. "Full text of "Commencement [1954]"". Internet Archive. June 7, 1954. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Plank Road Foreman statue, High Point". Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina. June 16, 2004. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  5. GmbH, Emporis (April 27, 2007). "AT&T Plaza". EMPORIS. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  6. "Uptown". charlotteoutdoorart.org. May 9, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  7. "Plank road statue at home near depot". Greensboro News & Record. December 1, 1969. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  8. Columnist, Mary Canrobert. "Column: Dowdy's legacy a 'God-given gift'". HDR | Hickory Daily Record. Retrieved August 19, 2017.