In 1941 the Orange and White reported that two sculptures by William Edmondson (although the paper misspelled his name Edmiston) of Nashville had been acquired from the WPA by the Related Arts Department of the College of Home Economics. Edmondson, of Nashville, was a self-taught sculptor. In 1937 he became the first African American to have a solo exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. He carved Tennessee limestone into figures used in cemeteries and figures and shapes that are now in museums and private collections. The WPA hired Edmondson for two projects in 1939–41.
Three Edmondson sculptures were transferred from a closet in the Jessie Harris Building to the Frank H. McClung Museum in the 1990s, prior to the renovation of the room in which the closet was located. The Bride and the Preacher are on permanent display at the museum.