Wildlife Photograph

The enduring legacy of Earl O. Henry

Saturday October 06, 2007
Prints and note cards available in the Ijams store.

A few weeks ago I was invited to attend the Earl Henry Memorial Clinic - an annual event that attracts 350 Knoxville dental professionals. The clinic is held in memory of Earl O. Henry, a Knoxville dentist and beloved a painter of birds.

Early in life Earl became enchanted with pictures of birds on baking soda boxes and would spend hours in the woods comparing the birds he saw with his collection of miniature cards. It was a childhood hobby that led to a life-long passion for bird watching and wildlife painting. Tragically though, Earl O. Henry's life was cut short when he was killed in World War II. Fortunately, Henry's talents as a painter of birds still lives on today.

Although he only painted 30 pictures of birds, Earl O. Henry left behind a remarkable collection, which his widow, Mrs. Earl Henry and their son, Earl Henry, Jr. share with the memorial clinic. Each year, they generously give a new bird print to everyone at the clinic. This year the print was a previously unseen version of a cardinal.

For many years, Earl O. Henry's bird specimen collection has also been shared with Ijams Nature Center. The collection, originally given to Ijams back in 1997 has recently been taken off public exhibit. Until recent times, natural history specimens were commonly prepared with arsenic which acts as an excellent insect repellent and preservative. Today, arsenic is regarded as an extremely hazardous chemical, and specimens containing it must be handled with extreme care.

During the summer, Ijams Curator, Pam Petko-Seus, tested a sampling of Earl O. Henry's birds and they tested positive for arsenic. In the future, we hope to clean and re-house the bird collection as part of a new exhibit on Earl O. Henry as well as interpret the development of ornithology and natural history.

In the meantime, visit www.ijams.org for images of Henry's wonderful paintings. Prints and note cards are available in the Ijams Museum Store.

-By Paul James

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