Elijah Pierce

Elijah Pierce

Columbus barber, Baptist preacher and woodcarver whose painted relief carvings, made for decades in his East Long Street barbershop, won him a National Heritage Fellowship in 1982.

Born March 5, 1892, farm near Baldwyn, Mississippi
Died May 7, 1984, St. Anthony's Hospital, Columbus

Adjoajo / CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born: March 5, 1892, farm near Baldwyn, Mississippi source
Died: May 7, 1984, St. Anthony's Hospital, Columbus (Franklin County) source
Known as: Artist
Organizations: Columbus Museum of Art

Life story

Elijah Pierce was born in Baldwyn, Mississippi, the youngest son of a father who had been enslaved. He got his first pocket knife at seven and learned carving from an uncle.

He worked as a barber from 1908, earned a Baptist preacher's licence in 1920, and moved to Columbus in 1923, where he kept a barbershop.

He carved painted wood reliefs, many telling Bible stories, including the Book of Wood. He won prizes in Europe and a National Heritage Fellowship in 1982.

He died in Columbus in 1984. The Columbus Museum of Art holds over 300 of his works.

Ohio ties

Columbus (Near East Side) (1924-1984)
barber and woodcarver; lived and worked at as many as fourteen addresses in the neighborhood Franklin County · source
Columbus, 142-44 North Everett Alley (1946-1970)
home; a c. 1910 brick double he bought in 1949 Franklin County · source
Columbus, 534 East Long Street (1954-1984)
barbershop he built in 1954 and ran until 1980, then the Elijah Pierce Art Gallery Franklin County · source
Columbus (Columbus Museum of Art) (to present)
holds more than 300 of his carvings Franklin County · source
Canal Winchester (National Barber Museum) (1991)
inducted into the National Barber Hall of Fame Franklin County · source

Timeline

1892 Born March 5 on a farm near Baldwyn, Mississippi; his father had been enslaved. source
1908 Began training as a barber, at 16. source
1920 Received a preacher's license from Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Baldwyn, after the death of his first wife, Zetta Palm. source
1923 Married Cornelia Houeston in September after following her to Columbus (the 1983 National Register nomination gives his arrival as 1924). source
1929 Carved Noah's Ark, one of the early works he kept in his shop. source
1932 Completed the Book of Wood in about six months: 33 carved scenes from the life of Christ, one for each year of his life. source
1933 Carved the many small pieces later mounted as his monumental Crucifixion. source
1946 Moved to 142-44 North Everett Alley, which he bought in 1949. source
1954 After marrying his third wife, Estelle, built his own barbershop at 534 East Long Street, on the same lot as his home. source
1971 Showed his carvings at a senior citizens' art show in Columbus, the start of wide recognition. source
1973 Won first prize at the International Meeting of Naive Art in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. source
1974 Honored by a resolution of the Ohio House of Representatives and the Governor's Award for Community Action. source
1980 Retired from barbering; the shop, with a new addition for his own collection, became the Elijah Pierce Art Gallery. Franklin University gave him an honorary doctorate in fine arts. source
1982 Named a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts. source
1983 The barbershop and Everett Alley home were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places on August 3 as the Elijah Pierce Properties. source
1984 Died May 7 at St. Anthony's Hospital in Columbus of an apparent heart attack. source
1991 Inducted into the National Barber Hall of Fame. source

What Elijah is known for

Folk-art woodcarver; 'Book of Wood'
1982 National Heritage Fellowship
Book of Wood
Painted wood relief carvings

Stories

A barbershop that was itself a work of art

Pierce built his shop at 534 East Long Street in 1954, the only shop he ever built for himself, on the same lot as the brick double on Everett Alley where he lived. It was a one-story block building stuccoed and painted barn red, with hand-painted trade signs. Inside, a red leather barber chair stood among bright blue walls covered with his painted relief plaques and small carved figures. When he retired in 1980 he added a room at the back for his permanent collection, including Christ's Charge to Peter (1920), Noah's Ark (1929) and The Last Supper (1930), and renamed the place the Elijah Pierce Art Gallery, leaving the barbering room as it was. The 1983 National Register nomination called the shop an integral part of his artwork.

Source

From a YMCA show to Zagreb

Pierce began carving seriously in Columbus in the late 1920s, after he carved an elephant for Cornelia's birthday, and in the early 1930s he began mounting figures on cardboard and wood backgrounds, finishing the Book of Wood in 1932. In the early 1970s Boris Gruenwald, a sculptor and Ohio State graduate student, saw his work at a Columbus YMCA exhibition and helped bring it to the art world. Shows followed at the Krannert Art Museum, the Phyllis Kind Gallery in New York and the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, and in 1973 he took first prize at the International Meeting of Naive Art in Zagreb. In 1982 he was one of fifteen master traditional artists named National Heritage Fellows.

Source

The last holdout on Long Street

The National Register listed Pierce's Long Street barbershop and his Everett Alley home in August 1983, the year before he died. In the mid-1990s Columbus State Community College began buying parcels for a parking structure, and the Pierce properties were the last holdout; the college threatened eminent domain. It prevailed, and both buildings were torn down for a 1,000-car garage. A statue of Pierce now stands near the site.

Source

Honors and things named for them

National Heritage Fellowship (1982)
Elijah Pierce Gallery at the King Arts Complex, Columbus

Named for Elijah Pierce

Elijah Pierce Gallery, King Arts Complex (Columbus, Franklin County) source

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1 Site of the Elijah Pierce barbershop and gallery (National Register 1983; demolished for a Columbus State Community College garage) (demolished)
Columbus, 534 E. Long Street Franklin County · source
2 Site of the Elijah Pierce residence, 142-44 N. Everett Alley (demolished) (demolished)
Columbus Franklin County · source
Statue of Elijah Pierce, by the Columbus State Community College parking garage
Columbus (Discovery District) Franklin County · source
Elijah Pierce Gallery, Martin Luther King Jr. Performing and Cultural Arts Complex
Columbus (Near East Side) Franklin County · source
Columbus Museum of Art (more than 300 Pierce carvings)
Columbus, 480 E. Broad Street Franklin County · source
National Barber Museum and Hall of Fame (Pierce inducted 1991)
Canal Winchester, 135 Franklin Street Franklin County · source

Places in Ohio to see

Columbus Museum of Art (Pierce collection) (museum)
480 E Broad St, Columbus, Franklin County ZIP 43215 · Columbus · Franklin County · official page
Elijah Pierce Gallery, King Arts Complex (museum)
Columbus, Franklin County ZIP 43203 (approximate) · Columbus · Franklin County · official page

Ohio places

Where Elijah Pierce was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Worked: Columbus, Franklin County (483 E. Long Street (barbershop from 1951)) ZIP 43215 · Columbus · Franklin County

Documents

Primary records: patents, letters, court and government files, nominations and old county histories, each at the archive that holds it.

National Register of Historic Places nomination: Pierce, Elijah, Properties (83001971), with biography, awards and collections list 1983, National Archives (NARA), Record Group 79

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

Columbus State parking garage. Site of the Elijah Pierce properties.
Ɱ / CC BY-SA 4.0
Columbus State parking garage. Site of the Elijah Pierce properties.
Ɱ / CC BY-SA 4.0
Artist Elijah Pierce Historic Marker in his hometown Baldwyn, Mississippi. The sign is located in the southeas...
Guy954 / CC BY-SA 4.0
Elijah Pierce statue by the Columbus State Community College parking garage in Downtown Columbus, Ohio.
Ɱ / CC BY-SA 4.0
Elijah Pierce statue by the Columbus State Community College parking garage in Downtown Columbus, Ohio.
Ɱ / CC BY-SA 4.0