Memorial to the Women of the Confederacy

Last updated

Memorial to the Women of the Confederacy
United Daughters of the Confederacy
Headquarters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.jpg
Main façade of the Memorial Building
For the women of the Confederate States of America [1]
EstablishedApril 17, 1955 (1955-04-17) [1]
UnveiledNovember 11, 1957 (1957-11-11) [1]
United Daughters of the Confederacy Memorial Building
USA Virginia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Coordinatescoordinates = 37°33′25″N77°28′27″W / 37.55694°N 77.47417°W / 37.55694; -77.47417
AreaLess than one acre
Built1955 (1955)-1957
Architectural styleStripped Classical
NRHP reference No. 08000341 [2]
VLR No.127-0398-0054
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 24, 2008
Designated VLRDecember 5, 2007 [3]
Location 37°33′25″N77°28′27″W / 37.55694°N 77.47417°W / 37.55694; -77.47417
328 North Arthur Ashe Boulevard,
Richmond, Virginia,
United States [4]
Designed byLouis Ballou
This building is erected to the glory of God and the memory of our Confederate mothers [1]

The Memorial to the Women of the Confederacy, also known as the U.D.C. Memorial Building, is a historic building located in Richmond, Virginia, that serves as the national headquarters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2008. [2] The building is open to the public on scheduled days. [4]

Contents

History

The Memorial to the Women of the Confederacy is located at 328 North Arthur Ashe Boulevard, on the site of an old soldiers' home for veterans of the military forces of the Confederate States. The Park was created in 1934 by an act of the Assembly of Virginia. [5] It was built between 1955 and 1957, and is a one-story, three part, marble-clad building in a stripped classical style. It features a double leaf, central entrance designed to resemble a mausoleum and with 17-foot high bronze doors composed of rectangular bronze panels. A two-story addition was made to the rear of the northwest corner of the building in 1996. It was constructed principally of Georgia marble, with entrance doors of architectural bronze decorated with the organization's badge. The walks are of red Virginia brick. There are also memorials to Confederate heroes, to the women of the Confederacy, the co-founders of the organization, and a number of items from the camp of Robert E. Lee, a general in the Confederate States Army. [5] [6]

2020 fire

The building was set on fire at about 1:30 am on May 30, 2020, during the George Floyd protests in Richmond, Virginia, following the murder of George Floyd. Reports from the fire department indicated that damage was limited to the headquarters' façade. [7] Windows were broken and fire was set to the curtains hanging in the building's Caroline Meriwether Goodlett Library. Flames covered most of the front of the building. Nine fire trucks responded and the firefighters were able to extinguish the fire. A police line three blocks long protected the firefighting operation. The fire was largely contained to the library, but there was extensive smoke and water damage throughout the building and charring on the building's Georgia marble façade. Staff reported that all the books in the building's library had incurred some damage and that library shelving had been destroyed.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Daughters of the Confederacy</span> American hereditary association

The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, and the promotion of the pseudohistorical Lost Cause ideology and corresponding white supremacy.

<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">Gamble Plantation Historic State Park</span> Florida State Park in Ellenton, Florida

The Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial at Gamble Plantation Historic State Park, also known as the Gamble Mansion or Gamble Plantation, is a Florida State Park, located in Ellenton, Florida, on 37th Avenue East and US 301. It is home to the Florida Division United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC).

<i>Confederate War Memorial</i> (Dallas) Confederate monument previously displayed in Dallas, Texas, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederate Monument (Murray, Kentucky)</span> United States historic place

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederate Monument in Owensboro, Ky. (former)</span> United States historic place

The Confederate Monument in Owensboro, Ky., was a 16-foot-tall, two-part object — a 7-foot-tall bronze sculpture atop a 9-foot-tall granite pedestal — located at the southwest corner of the Daviess County Courthouse lawn, at the intersection of Third and Frederica Streets, in Owensboro, Kentucky. Nearly 122 years after the monument was dedicated in September 1900, the monument was dismantled in 2022, beginning with the removal of the sculpture in May 2022; the sculpture was placed in storage, pending a decision on what to do with it.

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">Confederate Memorial (Arlington National Cemetery)</span> Monument in Arlington National Cemetery built in 1914

The Confederate Memorial was a memorial in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States, that commemorated members of the armed forces of the Confederate States of America who died during the American Civil War. Authorized in March 1906, former Confederate soldier and sculptor Moses Jacob Ezekiel was commissioned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in November 1910 to design the memorial. It was unveiled by President Woodrow Wilson on June 4, 1914, the 106th anniversary of the birth of Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States of America.

<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 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">Pine Bluff Confederate Monument</span> United States historic place

The Pine Bluff Confederate Monument has long been located in front of the Jefferson County courthouse, at Barraque and Main Streets in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. It depicts a standing Confederate Army soldier, holding a rifle whose butt rests on the ground. The statue, built out of Georgia marble by the McNeel Marble Company, stands on a stone base 15 feet (4.6 m) in height and 10 by 10 feet at the base. It was placed in 1910 by the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

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

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Floyd protests in Richmond, Virginia</span> 2020 civil unrest after the murder of George Floyd

Richmond, Virginia, experienced a series of protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. Richmond was the first city in the Southeastern United States to see rioting following Floyd's murder. Richmond, formerly the capital of the short-lived Confederate States of America, saw much arson and vandalism to monuments connected with that polity, particularly along Monument Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jefferson Davis Memorial (Richmond, Virginia)</span> Former monument in Virginia, US

The Jefferson Davis Memorial was a memorial for Jefferson Davis (1808–1889), president of the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865, installed along Richmond, Virginia's Monument Avenue, in the United States. The monument was unveiled on Davis' birthday, June 3, 1907, a day celebrated in Virginia and many other Southern states as Confederate Memorial Day. It consisted of a bronze statue of Davis by Richmond sculptor Edward Valentine surrounded by a colonnade of 13 columns represented the Southern states, and a tall Doric column topped by a bronze statue, also by Valentine, representing Southern womanhood.

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 4 UDC History (Vol. III), 1988, pp. 135-143.
  2. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
  4. 1 2 UDC Handbook (6th ed.), 2013, pp. 157-168.
  5. 1 2 UDC Handbook (1st ed.), 1959, pp. 67-69.
  6. Vicky M. Blackard (August 2007). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: United Daughters of the Confederacy Memorial Building" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying two photos
  7. Moreno, Sabrina. "Daughters of Confederacy headquarters on fire, 2 Capitol Police officers injured as violence erupts during second night of protesting in Richmond". Lee Enterprises. Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved May 31, 2020.