See also
- List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
- Statue of Charles Linn, removed around the same time
- Statue of Frank Rizzo, removed around the same time
| Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| For Confederate Soldiers and Sailors | |
| Established | 1905 |
| Removed | June 2, 2020 |
| Location | 33°31′12″N86°48′34″W / 33.52007°N 86.80948°W Linn Park, Birmingham, Alabama |
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. [1]
The cornerstone of the Monument plinth was laid during the 1894 Reunion of United Confederate Veterans on Confederate Decoration Day, April 26. [2] and contained a Bible and Confederate flag. [3] The slab of rock was unused for several years, though a surplus artillery piece from the Spanish–American War of 1898 once rested on it. On May 29, 1896, The United Daughters of the Confederacy held a meeting to decide what to do with the plinth and, in 1900, raised money for construction of the obelisk. The 52-foot tall (16 m) monument was completed on April 27, 1905. [4] [5] [6]
In 2017, following widespread concern about the monument being a symbol of historic racism, the Birmingham city council erected a barrier surrounding the memorial, resulting in a lawsuit being brought against it by the state. [7] [8] In January 2019, an Alabama court declared unconstitutional the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act that prohibited "alteration" of the monument. [7] The lower court's decision was reversed in November 2019 by the state Supreme Court, which upheld a fine of $25,000 against the city council. [9] [10]
Following protests in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, during which protestors damaged and tried to remove the monument, the city council removed the obelisk, leaving only the plinth. [11] [12] The state Attorney General responded by filing a new lawsuit against the city council saying [13] the removal was in violation of the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017, a law passed specifically to prevent the removal of this monument. It was the most prominent Confederate monument in the state. The Alabama Attorney General filed suit against the city of Birmingham for violating the statute. Mayor Randall Woodfin said the expected $25,000 fine for removing the statue would be much more affordable than the cost of continued unrest in the city. [14] [15] [16]
The Confederate War Memorial was a 65 foot (20 m)-high monument that pays tribute to soldiers and sailors from Texas who served with the Confederate States of America (CSA) during the American Civil War. The monument was dedicated in 1897, following the laying of its cornerstone the previous year. Originally located in Sullivan Park near downtown Dallas, Texas, United States, the monument was relocated in 1961 to the nearby Pioneer Park Cemetery in the Convention Center District, next to the Dallas Convention Center and Pioneer Plaza.
The Confederate Monument in Murray is a statue located in the northeast corner of the Calloway County Courthouse in Murray, Kentucky. It commemorates the 800 citizens of the county who served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, and is one of several Confederate monuments in Kentucky featuring Robert E. Lee. There is another one in Bardstown KY. Despite recent controversy, the Calloway County Fiscal Court voted to keep the statue on its grounds in July 2020.
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."
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.
Steven Troy Marshall is an American lawyer serving as the 48th attorney general of Alabama. He was appointed in February 2017 by Governor Robert J. Bentley to fill the vacancy created by previous attorney general Luther Strange's appointment to the United States Senate. He was elected to a full term in 2018, and was re-elected in 2022. He previously served as district attorney in Marshall County for 16 years.
The Battle of Liberty Place Monument is a stone obelisk on an inscribed plinth, formerly on display in New Orleans, in the U.S. state of Louisiana, commemorating the "Battle of Liberty Place", an 1874 attempt by Democratic White League paramilitary organizations to take control of the government of Louisiana from its Reconstruction Era Republican leadership after a disputed gubernatorial election.
The Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017 is an act of law in the U.S. state of Alabama which requires local governments to obtain state permission before moving or renaming historically significant buildings and monuments that date back 40 years or longer.
There are more than 160 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.
Randall Woodfin is an American lawyer and politician who is the 34th and current mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, after winning the October 3, 2017, runoff against incumbent William A. Bell. He previously served as president of the Birmingham City School Board (2013–2015) and as a city attorney of Birmingham from 2009–2017.
Linn Park is a seven-acre (2.8 ha) urban park in the centre of Birmingham, Alabama. It is overlooked by Birmingham City Hall on the west side and Jefferson County Courthouse on the east side. Formerly known as Capitol Park, Woodrow Wilson Park, and Central Park, the park was renamed after Confederate naval officer and businessman Charles Linn in the 1980s.
This is a list of George Floyd protests in Alabama, United States. Protests occurred in fourteen various communities in the state.
A statue of Charles Linn was previously installed in Birmingham, Alabama's Linn Park, in the United States. The statue was erected in 2012 and toppled in 2020.
A statue of the Confederate naval officer Raphael Semmes was displayed in Mobile, Alabama, since June 1900. It was removed on 5 June 2020 during the George Floyd protests, and was Relocated to the History Museum of Mobile.
The Athens Confederate Monument is a Confederate memorial near Barber Creek in Athens, Georgia, United States. It is a Carrara marble obelisk mounted on a granite foundation engraved with names of the city's soldiers who were killed during the American Civil War. It was formerly located in the median strip of Broad Street in the Downtown Local Historic District of Athens until being removed in 2020 and being placed at its current site in 2021.
The DeKalb County Confederate Monument is a Confederate memorial that formerly stood in Decatur, Georgia, United States. The 30-foot stone obelisk (9.1 m) was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy near the old county courthouse in 1908.
The Peace Monument is a public monument in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Designed by Allen George Newman, the monument is located in Piedmont Park and was erected in 1911 by members of the Old Guard of the Gate City Guard, a Confederate-era militia, as a show of national unity in the years following the American Civil War. The monument has been the subject of controversy recently, with some calling for its removal as a symbol of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy.
The Confederate Obelisk is a large Confederate monument located in the Oakland Cemetery of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The structure, a tall obelisk located in the cemetery's Confederate section, was dedicated in 1874. Due to its connection to the Confederate States of America, the monument has been vandalized repeatedly.
More than 20,000 visitors were in Birmingham in attendance upon the fourth annual re-union of the United Confederate Veterans, which convened here to-day. To-morrow, Decoration Day, will be observed in an appropriate manner. The cornerstone of a Confederate monument to be erected by Camp Clayton Sons of Veterans will be laid.
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