Robert E. Lee statue becomes epicenter of protest movement
4 years, 8 months ago

Robert E. Lee statue becomes epicenter of protest movement

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — Just a little over a month ago, the area around Richmond’s iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was as quiet and sedate as the statue itself. The statue is located on Richmond’s Monument Avenue, a boulevard of stately homes that also features several other Confederate monuments targeted for removal. “You can’t be human and not feel this.” Nighttime gatherings near the statue have been more volatile, as protesters have clashed with police using tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. Hand-painted messages cover concrete barriers that were put in place after protesters toppled several other Confederate statues and state officials became concerned that people could get hurt if they tried to do the same with the 12-ton Lee statue.

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History of this topic

Crowd on hand for unveiling of John Lewis statue at spot where Confederate monument once stood
7 months ago

Crowd on hand for unveiling of John Lewis statue at spot where Confederate monument once stood

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A crowd was on hand …

Robert E. Lee statue that prompted deadly protest in Virginia melted down
1 year, 5 months ago

Robert E. Lee statue that prompted deadly protest in Virginia melted down

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, a Charlottesville-based …

Statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, melted down to create new art
1 year, 5 months ago

Statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, melted down to create new art

CNN  

CNN — The statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that was once at the center of the deadly 2017 White nationalist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been melted down. Schmidt co-leads “Swords into Plowshares,” a project dedicated to transforming the controversial Lee statue into public art. While other Confederate statues across the South have been removed …

US city removes last public Confederate statue
2 years, 3 months ago

US city removes last public Confederate statue

Al Jazeera  

Mayor of Richmond, Virginia, ordered Confederate symbols removed amid the 2020 racial justice protests across the US. The US city of Richmond, Virginia, once the capital of the Confederacy during the United States Civil War, has removed its last public statue commemorating a Confederate general. Richmond began removing its remaining public Confederate statues in February, and has said that the …

Maryland’s last public Confederate monument removed
3 years ago

Maryland’s last public Confederate monument removed

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A statue that was thought …

Pedestal where Lee statue stood in Va. capital fully removed
3 years, 2 months ago

Pedestal where Lee statue stood in Va. capital fully removed

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — The enormous pedestal where the Robert E. Lee monument in Virginia’s capital resided for over 130 years until September has been completely removed and hauled away. Every piece of the 40-foot-tall pedestal where the bronze statue stood over Monument Avenue in Richmond was gone from a traffic circle as of Friday afternoon, WRIC-TV reported. Ralph Northam announced …

Experts pull documents, money from Lee statue time capsule
3 years, 3 months ago

Experts pull documents, money from Lee statue time capsule

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — Conservation experts in Virginia’s capital pulled books, money, ammunition, documents and other artifacts Tuesday from a long-sought-after time capsule found in the remnants of a pedestal that once held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The time capsule had been found a day earlier — buried and sitting in water — by workers wrapping up …

Mystery lingers around time capsule found beneath Lee statue
3 years, 3 months ago

Mystery lingers around time capsule found beneath Lee statue

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — A rust-colored 1875 almanac, a cloth envelope and a silver coin were found Wednesday in a time capsule that lay hidden beneath a towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Virginia for more than 130 years. Devon Henry, the contractor who took down the Lee statue and is continuing to work on the removal of …

Virginia To Remove Robert E. Lee Statue Pedestal, Transfer Land To City
3 years, 3 months ago

Virginia To Remove Robert E. Lee Statue Pedestal, Transfer Land To City

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Sunday that his administration will remove an enormous pedestal that until earlier this year held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond. The Lee statue, a one-of-a-kind bronze equestrian piece installed in 1890, was perched in the middle of the traffic circle, part of a collection …

Northam to remove Lee statue pedestal, transfer land to city
3 years, 3 months ago

Northam to remove Lee statue pedestal, transfer land to city

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Sunday that his administration will remove an enormous pedestal that until earlier this year held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond. The Lee statue, a one-of-a-kind bronze equestrian piece installed in 1890, was perched in the middle of the traffic circle, part of a collection of other Confederate …

Black Heritage Center Submits Proposal To Melt Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee Statue
3 years, 5 months ago

Black Heritage Center Submits Proposal To Melt Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee Statue

Huff Post  

A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E Lee located in Charlottesville, Virginia, is transported away after being removed from Market Street Park in July. The Washington Post via Getty Images A Black heritage center in Charlottesville, Virginia, wants to melt down the city’s recently removed statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee so that it can be repurposed into public …

An Emancipation Statue Debuts In Virginia Two Weeks After Robert E. Lee Was Removed
3 years, 6 months ago

An Emancipation Statue Debuts In Virginia Two Weeks After Robert E. Lee Was Removed

NPR  

An Emancipation Statue Debuts In Virginia Two Weeks After Robert E. Lee Was Removed Enlarge this image toggle caption Virginia's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Commission Virginia's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Commission Two weeks after the 6o-foot-tall statue of Robert E. Lee was removed in Richmond, Va., the former Confederate capital city has become home to a …

New capsule installed within pedestal where Lee statue stood
3 years, 6 months ago

New capsule installed within pedestal where Lee statue stood

The Independent  

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Lee statue base reassembled after failed time capsule search
3 years, 6 months ago

Lee statue base reassembled after failed time capsule search

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Workers returned Friday to the …

Statue of General Robert E Lee comes down in former Confederate capital of Virginia
3 years, 6 months ago

Statue of General Robert E Lee comes down in former Confederate capital of Virginia

Firstpost  

The removal marked a major victory for civil rights activists, whose previous calls to dismantle the statues had been steadfastly rebuked by city and state officials alike Richmond: A statue of General Robert E Lee that towered over Richmond for generations was taken down, cut into pieces and hauled away Wednesday, as the former capital of the Confederacy erased the …

Gen. Lee statue comes down in former Confederate capital
3 years, 6 months ago

Gen. Lee statue comes down in former Confederate capital

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — A statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee that towered over Richmond for generations was taken down, cut into pieces and hauled away Wednesday, as the former capital of the Confederacy erased the last of the Civil War figures that once defined its most prominent thoroughfare. “It’s very difficult to imagine, certainly, even two years ago that the …

1 Of America's Largest Remaining Monuments To Confederacy To Be Removed In Virginia
3 years, 6 months ago

1 Of America's Largest Remaining Monuments To Confederacy To Be Removed In Virginia

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING RICHMOND, Va. — Crews are set to remove one of the country’s largest remaining monuments to the Confederacy, a towering statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia. Crews are set to remove one of the country’s largest remaining monuments to the Confederacy, a towering statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia. In Richmond, a city …

Lee statue in Richmond set to be removed, sent to storage
3 years, 6 months ago

Lee statue in Richmond set to be removed, sent to storage

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Crews are set to remove …

Virginia removes massive Confederate monument
3 years, 6 months ago

Virginia removes massive Confederate monument

Al Jazeera  

Activists have long said the hulking statue of Civil War General Robert E Lee in Richmond glorifies the US South’s slave-owning past. In a move that caps decades of activism, crews have removed one of the United States’ largest remaining Confederate statues – a towering statue of Robert E Lee in Richmond, Virginia. Our streets!” and singing “Hey hey hey, …

Virginia is set to remove Richmond's Lee statue on Wednesday
3 years, 6 months ago

Virginia is set to remove Richmond's Lee statue on Wednesday

The Independent  

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A towering statue of Confederate General Robert E. …

Virginia Supreme Court Rules The State Can Remove Statue Of Robert E. Lee
3 years, 6 months ago

Virginia Supreme Court Rules The State Can Remove Statue Of Robert E. Lee

NPR  

Virginia Supreme Court Rules The State Can Remove Statue Of Robert E. Lee Enlarge this image toggle caption Steve Helber/AP Steve Helber/AP RICHMOND, Va. — The Supreme Court of Virginia ruled Thursday that the state can take down an enormous statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that became widely seen as a symbol of racial injustice as it towered …

What follows Confederate statues? 1 Mississippi city's fight
3 years, 7 months ago

What follows Confederate statues? 1 Mississippi city's fight

The Independent  

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The county initially considered leaving the Confederate statue and building a civil …

What follows Confederate statues? 1 Mississippi city’s fight
3 years, 7 months ago

What follows Confederate statues? 1 Mississippi city’s fight

Associated Press  

— For more than a century, one of Mississippi’s largest and most elaborate Confederate monuments has looked out over the lawn at the courthouse in the center of Greenwood, a Black-majority city with a history of civil rights protests and clashes. The county initially came up with an idea to leave the Confederate statue and build a civil rights monument …

What follows Confederate statues? 1 Mississippi city's fight
3 years, 7 months ago

What follows Confederate statues? 1 Mississippi city's fight

The Independent  

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The county initially came up with an idea to leave the Confederate …

‘An incredible day’ as Lee statue removed in Charlottesville
3 years, 8 months ago

‘An incredible day’ as Lee statue removed in Charlottesville

Associated Press  

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Cheers erupted Saturday as a Confederate statue that towered for nearly a century over downtown Charlottesville was carted away by truck from the Virginia city where it had become a flashpoint for racist protests and deadly violence. The statue’s removal came more than five years after racial justice activists had renewed a push to take down the …

Charlottesville statue that sparked deadly white supremacy rally removed
3 years, 8 months ago

Charlottesville statue that sparked deadly white supremacy rally removed

ABC  

A Confederate monument that helped spark a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been hoisted off its stone pedestal. Key points: The removal of the statues was held up by a lawsuit and a law that was amended in 2020 There have been 10 expressions of interest from organisations wanting to acquire the statues Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker …

Opinion: The House takes a revealing vote on Confederate statues
3 years, 8 months ago

Opinion: The House takes a revealing vote on Confederate statues

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Nicole Hemmer is an associate research scholar at Columbia University with the Obama Presidency Oral History Project and the author of “Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics.” She co-hosts the history podcasts “Past Present” and “This Day in Esoteric Political History” and is co-producer of the new podcast “Welcome To Your Fantasy.” …

Virginia hopes to remove time capsule along with Lee statue
3 years, 9 months ago

Virginia hopes to remove time capsule along with Lee statue

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — If a court clears the way, the state of Virginia expects to remove not just a soaring statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond’s historic Monument Avenue but also a little-known piece of history tucked inside the massive sculpture’s base: a 134-year-old time capsule. Ralph Northam’s office shared details of the time capsule removal project …

Charlottesville's Robert E. Lee statue can finally be removed after 5 years of protests, court rules
3 years, 11 months ago

Charlottesville's Robert E. Lee statue can finally be removed after 5 years of protests, court rules

Salon  

Late last week, the Virginia Supreme Court overturned a Circuit Court decision that prevented the city of Charlottesville from removing a monument of Confederate general Robert E. Lee — the same monument that was the focus of a violent white nationalist and neo-Nazi rally in 2017. "Stonewall" Jackson after a group of residents had sued to prevent the statues' removal, …

High court: Charlottesville can remove Confederate statues
3 years, 11 months ago

High court: Charlottesville can remove Confederate statues

Associated Press  

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Virginia’s highest court ruled Thursday that the city of Charlottesville can take down two statues of Confederate generals, including one of Robert E. Lee that became the focus of a violent white nationalist rally in 2017. The state Supreme Court overturned a Circuit Court decision in favor of a group of residents who sued to block …

Lee statue removed from US Capitol is now in Virginia museum
4 years, 3 months ago

Lee statue removed from US Capitol is now in Virginia museum

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — The Robert E. Lee statue that stood in the U.S. Capitol on behalf of the state of Virginia for 111 years has been taken to a museum in Richmond. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the 700-pound bronze statue of Lee arrived Tuesday at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. Confederate monuments have reemerged as a national …

Confederate general Robert E Lee statue removed from US capitol
4 years, 3 months ago

Confederate general Robert E Lee statue removed from US capitol

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Virginia governor Ralph Northam has announced that a statue of …

Judge sides with Virginia, but Lee statue stays put for now
4 years, 5 months ago

Judge sides with Virginia, but Lee statue stays put for now

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — A judge on Tuesday ruled in favor of the Democratic Virginia governor’s plans to remove an enormous statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee — but said the state can’t immediately act on his order. Richmond Circuit Court Judge W. Reilly Marchant sided with the Commonwealth, writing that Virginia had proved that enforcing those deeds would be …

US: Confederate statue removed near site of 2017 far-right rally
4 years, 6 months ago

US: Confederate statue removed near site of 2017 far-right rally

Al Jazeera  

A Confederate statue has been taken down in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a white supremacist rally three years ago resulted in a counter-protester’s death. The Albemarle County Board of supervisors voted in August to remove the “At Ready” statue, which displays a Confederate soldier, from outside the county court. We know that taking this action is not some end point,” said …

Detailed plans in place for careful removal of Lee statue
4 years, 7 months ago

Detailed plans in place for careful removal of Lee statue

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — When the bronze equestrian statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee arrived by rail in Richmond from Paris in 1890, it took 10,000 men, women and children to haul its pieces more than a mile to the site where the towering monument was erected as a tribute to a Confederate hero. Howard Conservation, a Pennsylvania company that specializes …

Richmond removes Confederate Soldiers and Sailors statue
4 years, 8 months ago

Richmond removes Confederate Soldiers and Sailors statue

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — Work crews have taken down the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors statue, the sixth Confederate monument to be removed in Richmond amid national protests against police brutality and symbols many see as racist icons. Richmond’s largest statue left standing is on state land — the massive monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. These Confederate statues were erected …

Monuments and statues are falling. But what comes next?
4 years, 8 months ago

Monuments and statues are falling. But what comes next?

Associated Press  

TIERRA AMARILLA, N.M. — The dusty town of Tierra Amarilla perches in the shadows of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Some advocates say monuments to the late U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan or Mexican American civil rights leader Dolores Huerta should replace the fallen statues. “Leave it like that.” Brett Chapman, a Tulsa, Oklahoma, attorney and descendant of Standing Bear, a …

Richmond removes statue of Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart
4 years, 8 months ago

Richmond removes statue of Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — Work crews on Tuesday took down a monument to Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, the third major statue to be cleared away in less than a week as the Confederacy’s former capital rushes to remove symbols of oppression in response to protests against police brutality and racism. One person sang, “Na na na na, na na na na, …

Stonewall Jackson removed from Richmond’s Monument Avenue
4 years, 8 months ago

Stonewall Jackson removed from Richmond’s Monument Avenue

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — Work crews wielding a giant crane, harnesses and power tools wrested an imposing statue of Gen. Stonewall Jackson from its concrete pedestal along Richmond, Virginia’s famed Monument Avenue on Wednesday, just hours after the mayor ordered the removal of all Confederate statues from city land. Confederate statues were erected decades after the Civil War, during the Jim …

Confederate statues removed in Richmond, Virgina
4 years, 8 months ago

Confederate statues removed in Richmond, Virgina

Al Jazeera  

Richmond, Virginia Mayor Levar Stoney on Wednesday ordered the immediate removal of all Confederate statues on city land, saying he was using his emergency powers to speed up the healing process for the former capital of the Confederacy amid weeks of protests against police brutality and racial injustice. ‘Emergency powers’ Stoney said he was also moving quickly because protesters have …

Trump signs order vowing to protect statues from ’anarchists’
4 years, 9 months ago

Trump signs order vowing to protect statues from ’anarchists’

Live Mint  

-- President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that he says is intended to protect monuments and statues from “anarchists and left-wing extremists.” “My administration will not allow violent mobs incited by a radical fringe to become the arbiters of the aspects of our history that can be celebrated in public spaces,” Trump said in the order, which was …

Protesters try to pull down Andrew Jackson statue in DC
4 years, 9 months ago

Protesters try to pull down Andrew Jackson statue in DC

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Protesters tried to pull down a statue of President Andrew Jackson near the White House Monday night before being dispersed by police. WUSA-TV in Washington reported that police used pepper spray to move protesters out of Lafayette Square, where the Jackson statue is located. President Donald Trump tweeted late Monday that “Numerous people” had been arrested for “the …

Jackson Statue Near White House Still Standing After Protesters Try To Topple It
4 years, 9 months ago

Jackson Statue Near White House Still Standing After Protesters Try To Topple It

NPR  

Jackson Statue Near White House Still Standing After Protesters Try To Topple It Enlarge this image toggle caption Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images Police fired chemical agents to clear Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., on Monday night after protesters attempted — and failed — to pull down a huge statue of Andrew Jackson located there. …

Protesters try to pull down Andrew Jackson statue in D.C.
4 years, 9 months ago

Protesters try to pull down Andrew Jackson statue in D.C.

LA Times  

Firefighters put out a dumpster fire as protesters and police gather at Lafayette Park near the White House in Washington on Monday. Protesters tried to pull down a statue of President Andrew Jackson near the White House on Monday night before being dispersed by police. President Trump tweeted late Monday that “Numerous people” had been arrested for “the disgraceful vandalism.” …

While Confederate statues come down, other symbols targeted
4 years, 9 months ago

While Confederate statues come down, other symbols targeted

Associated Press  

RALEIGH, N.C. — Spectators in North Carolina’s capital cheered Sunday morning as work crews finished the job started by protesters Friday night and removed a Confederate statue from the top of a 75-foot monument. The bronze statue that has stood at the museum’s Central Park West entrance since 1940 depicts Roosevelt on horseback with a Native American man and an …

For now, Virginia still can’t remove massive Lee statue
4 years, 9 months ago

For now, Virginia still can’t remove massive Lee statue

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — A judge on Thursday extended a court order preventing Virginia’s governor from removing a historic statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from a famed avenue in the former capital of the Confederacy. “This grandiose monument to a leader of a four-year armed insurrection against the United States of America in order to perpetuate a brutal and immoral …

Four ways to help settle Australia’s colonial statue debate
4 years, 9 months ago

Four ways to help settle Australia’s colonial statue debate

ABC  

They’ve towered over parks and plazas around the country for decades, commissioned in a bygone era to immortalise European settlers and celebrate colonial legacies. In Virginia earlier this month, Governor Ralph Northam announced plans to take down a statue of Lee, but a judge has since granted an injunction while the "public interest" merits are assessed. Replace the statues In …

Statues became political lightning rods around the world
4 years, 9 months ago

Statues became political lightning rods around the world

CNN  

CNN — Statues are products of one era built to endure into others. ” But the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has resisted the removal of the Columbus statue in Manhattan, saying he understood “the feelings about Christopher Columbus and some of his acts which nobody would support, but the statue has come to represent and signify appreciation for …

Floyd’s cousin implores marchers to be a force for change
4 years, 9 months ago

Floyd’s cousin implores marchers to be a force for change

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — Thousands of people gathered in Richmond on Saturday for Virginia’s “5000 Man March,” a demonstration against racism that included a speech by the cousin of George Floyd, the black man whose death at the hands of police has prompted weeks of protests around the world. They returned to the monument about two hours later to hear speakers, …

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