Confederate Monument (Portsmouth, Virginia)

Last updated
Confederate Monument
Portsmouth, Virginia (8596805587).jpg
Confederate Monument
USA Virginia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationJct. of High and Court Sts., Portsmouth, Virginia
Coordinates 36°50′6″N76°18′4″W / 36.83500°N 76.30111°W / 36.83500; -76.30111
Arealess than one acre
Built1876–1881
Architect Charles E. Cassell
NRHP reference No. 97000956 [1]
VLR No.124-0183
Significant dates
Added to NRHPSeptember 4, 1997
Designated VLRDecember 4, 1996 [2]

The Confederate Monument in Portsmouth, Virginia, was built between 1876 and 1881. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1997. [1]

Contents

The monument was a 35-foot obelisk of North Carolina granite. It was located at the town square of Portsmouth, on Court Street at the corner of High Street. Also on the town square where the monument was formerly located are the Trinity Episcopal Church dating from 1828 and the Portsmouth Courthouse dating from 1846, which are also NRHP-listed. [1] [3]

It was erected by the Ladies Memorial Aid Association of Portsmouth, Virginia, which was founded in 1866 with one purpose "being the erection of a monument to the Confederate dead of Portsmouth and Norfolk County." The design was by topographical engineer Charles E. Cassell. [3]

The cornerstone was laid in 1876.The monument's capstone was not placed until 1881, and the monument as a whole was not completed until 1893. [3]

The four cast white bronze figures that surrounded the obelisk, including their heads and facial features, were largely generic. [4] :536–537 The sailor figure, for example, also appeared outside the G.A.R. Memorial Hall in Wabash, Indiana.

The city of Portsmouth "gave 1,242 men to the Confederacy of whom 199 were killed or died; Norfolk County gave 1,018 men to the cause of whom 280 were killed or died; and the City of Norfolk gave 1,119 of whom 176 were killed or died." [3]

Calls for removal and relocation

In August 2017, in the wake of the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville Virginia where many White Supremacist groups protested the removal of Confederate monuments, [5] mayor of Portsmouth John Rowe called for the movement of the monument from its current location. Mayor Rowe's proposed new site for the monument is nearby Cedar Grove Cemetery where many Confederate soldiers are buried. [6] Shortly after the mayor's announcement, a Change.org petition amassing over 30,000 signatures went viral started by a local Virginia man named Nathan Coflin to have the current monument replaced by a statue of Portsmouth native rap artist and businesswoman, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. [7] This petition received national attention in many publications such as Newsweek , [8] CNN, [9] People [10] and Time magazine. [11]

On June 10, 2020 the Confederate soldier statues were beheaded by sledgehammer and one was toppled by Black Lives Matter rioters as the Police Department watched. [12] A brass band played. [13] One protester, Chris Green, was hit by the falling statue and sustained life-threatening injuries while standing near other people below it. [14]

Removal

On July 28, 2020, the Portsmouth City Council voted unanimously to remove the monument. On August 26, 2020, crews officially began removing the monument from Olde Towne and moving it to a undisclosed storage area. [15] The monument has since been removed.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portsmouth, Virginia</span> Independent city in Virginia, United States

Portsmouth is an independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. It lies across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is the ninth-most populous city in Virginia and is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard is a historic and active U.S. Navy facility located in Portsmouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missy Elliott</span> American rapper (born 1971)

Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott, also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the R&B girl group Sista during the 1990s, who were part of the larger musical collective Swing Mob—led by DeVante Swing of Jodeci. The former group's commercially unsuccessful debut album, 4 All the Sistas Around da World (1994), was released by Elektra Records and met with positive critical reception. She collaborated with album's producer and Swing Mob cohort Timbaland to work in songwriting and production for other acts, yielding commercially successful releases for 702, Aaliyah, SWV, and Total.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monument Avenue</span> United States historic place

Monument Avenue is a tree-lined grassy mall dividing the eastbound and westbound traffic in Richmond, Virginia, originally named for its emblematic complex of structures honoring those who fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Between 1900 and 1925, Monument Avenue greatly expanded with architecturally significant houses, churches, and apartment buildings. Four of the bronze statues representing J. E. B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis and Matthew Fontaine Maury were removed from their memorial pedestals amidst civil unrest in July 2020. The Robert E. Lee monument was handled differently as it was owned by the Commonwealth, in contrast with the other monuments which were owned by the city. Dedicated in 1890, it was removed on September 8, 2021. All these monuments, including their pedestals, have now been removed completely from the Avenue. The last remaining statue on Monument Avenue is the Arthur Ashe Monument, memorializing the African-American tennis champion, dedicated in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia State Capitol</span> State capitol building of the U.S. state of Virginia

The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the state capital. It houses the oldest elected legislative body in North America, the Virginia General Assembly, first established as the House of Burgesses in 1619.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Lucas</span> American politician from Virginia (born 1944)

Lillie Louise Lucas is an American politician serving as a Virginia state senator, representing the 18th District in the southeast region of the state since 1992. Democrats won a majority of seats in the 2019 Virginia Senate election, so Lucas succeeded Republican Stephen Newman as the Virginia Senate's President pro tempore. She is the first woman and first African American to hold that office. She also chairs the powerful Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the first African American in that role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Beauregard Equestrian Statue</span> United States historic place

The General Beauregard Equestrian Statue, honoring P. G. T. Beauregard, was located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The statue, by Alexander Doyle, one of the premier American sculptors, was officially unveiled in 1915.

Confederate monuments and memorials in the United States include public displays and symbols of the Confederate States of America (CSA), Confederate leaders, or Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War. Many monuments and memorials have been or will be removed under great controversy. Part of the commemoration of the American Civil War, these symbols include monuments and statues, flags, holidays and other observances, and the names of schools, roads, parks, bridges, buildings, counties, cities, lakes, dams, military bases, and other public structures. In a December 2018 special report, Smithsonian Magazine stated, "over the past ten years, taxpayers have directed at least $40 million to Confederate monuments—statues, homes, parks, museums, libraries, and cemeteries—and to Confederate heritage organizations."

<i>Appomattox</i> (statue) Bronze statue in Virginia, United States

Appomattox is a bronze statue commemorating soldiers from Alexandria, Virginia, who had died while fighting for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. The memorial was located in the center of the intersection of South Washington Street and Prince Street in the Old Town neighborhood of Alexandria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equestrian statue of Stonewall Jackson (Charlottesville, Virginia)</span> United States historic place

Thomas Jonathan Jackson is a historic bronze equestrian statue of Confederate general Stonewall Jackson which was formerly located at Courthouse Historic District of Charlottesville, Virginia and installed in 1921. The statue was sculpted by Charles Keck and was the third of four works commissioned from members of the National Sculpture Society by philanthropist Paul Goodloe McIntire. It was the second of three statues McIntire donated to the city of Charlottesville, which he did over a period of five years from 1919 to 1924. The statue was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert E. Lee Monument (Charlottesville, Virginia)</span> Destroyed equestrian statue

The Robert E. Lee Monument was an outdoor bronze equestrian statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee and his horse Traveller located in Charlottesville, Virginia's Market Street Park in the Charlottesville and Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District. The statue was commissioned in 1917 and dedicated in 1924, and in 1997 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was removed on July 10, 2021, and melted down in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portsmouth Olde Towne Historic District</span> Historic district in Virginia, United States

Portsmouth Olde Towne Historic District, is a national historic district located at Portsmouth, Virginia. It encompasses 89 buildings. It is located in the primarily residential section of Portsmouth and includes a notable collection of Federal and Greek Revival style townhouses, known as "basement houses." Other notable buildings include the Watts House (1799), Grice-Neeley House, Ball-Nivison House (1752), Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (1857), St. John's Episcopal Church (1898), Court Street Baptist Church (1901-1903), and Union Machinist Home. Located in the district is the separately listed Monumental Methodist Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert E. Lee Monument (Richmond, Virginia)</span> Former public sculpture in Richmond, Virginia, United States

The Robert E. Lee Monument in Richmond, Virginia, was the first installation on Monument Avenue in 1890, and would ultimately be the last Confederate monument removed from the site. Before its removal on September 8, 2021, the monument honored Confederate Civil War General Robert E. Lee, depicted on a horse atop a large marble base that stood over 60 feet (18 m) tall. Constructed in France and shipped to Virginia, it remained the largest installation on Monument Avenue for over a century; it was first listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007 and the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2006.

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

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

The Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument was a commemorative obelisk that was erected in Linn Park, Birmingham, Alabama in 1905. The monument was dismantled and removed in 2020.

Payne v. City of Charlottesville is a 2017 lawsuit opposing the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials in Charlottesville, Virginia.

<i>J. E. B. Stuart Monument</i> Monument of J. E. B. Stuart formerly in Richmond, Virginia

The J. E. B. Stuart Monument is a deconstructed monument to Confederate general J. E. B. Stuart at the head of historic Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, which was dedicated in 1907. The equestrian statue of General Stuart was removed from its pedestal and placed into storage on July 7, 2020 after having stood there for 113 years. The removal was in response to nationally reported events of police brutality and a corresponding emergency declaration in Virginia. The granite pedestal, which stood empty for nineteen months, was finally dismantled in February 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norfolk Confederate Monument</span> Confederate memorial in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.

The Norfolk Confederate Monument was a Confederate memorial in front of the Norfolk Southern Museum in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. The monument was removed in June 2020.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy Monument is a Confederate monument in Cleveland, Tennessee owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It was sculpted in 1910 and installed in 1911.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 William Blake (October 7, 1996). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Confederate Monument / 124–183" (PDF). Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission. Retrieved 2010-04-24. and Accompanying photo at Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
  4. Carol A. Grissom (2009). Zinc Sculpture in America, 1850–1950. University of Delaware Press. ISBN   9780874130317 . Retrieved 2016-05-28.
  5. Fausset, Richard; Feuer, Alan (2017-08-13). "Far-Right Groups Surge Into National View in Charlottesville". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  6. Ley, Ana. "Portsmouth mayor calls for moving Confederate monument from Olde Towne to cemetery". Virginian-Pilot. Archived from the original on 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  7. Ollison, Rashod. "30,000 sign petition for Missy Elliott statue to replace Portsmouth Confederate monument". Virginian-Pilot. Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  8. "Could Missy Elliott replace a Confederate statue in Virginia?". Newsweek. 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  9. Lisa Respers France (21 August 2017). "Missy Elliott statue instead of Confederate monument?". CNN. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  10. "Virginia Resident Wants to Remove Confederate Statue and Replace It — with a Statue of Missy Elliott!". PEOPLE.com. 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  11. Lang, Cady. "Thousands Petition to Replace Statue With Missy Elliott". Time. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  12. "Portsmouth Confederate statues beheaded, partially pulled down by rioters". The Virginian-Pilot. 11 June 2020.
  13. Fisher, Marc (June 11, 2020). "Confederate statues: In 2020, a renewed battle in America's enduring Civil War". The Washington Post .
  14. Sidersky, Robyn (2020-06-11). "Man injured when Portsmouth Confederate statue fell on him is fighting for his life". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  15. Albiges, Ley, Marie, Ana (26 August 2020). "Portsmouth begins taking down Confederate monument". Pilot Online. The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved May 21, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)