Confederate Monument in Louisville

Confederate Monument in Louisville

South view of monument
Location Jct. of 2nd and 3rd Sts., Louisville, Kentucky
Coordinates 38°13′6″N 85°45′43″W / 38.21833°N 85.76194°W / 38.21833; -85.76194Coordinates: 38°13′6″N 85°45′43″W / 38.21833°N 85.76194°W / 38.21833; -85.76194
Built 1895
Architect Ferdinand von Miller
Architectural style No Style Listed
MPS Civil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS
NRHP Reference #

97000689

[1]
Added to NRHP July 17, 1997

The Confederate Monument in Louisville is a 70-foot-tall monument adjacent to and surrounded by the University of Louisville Belknap Campus in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. The monument, the ownership of which is disputed, commemorates the sacrifice of Confederate veterans.

As with many monuments to the Confederacy, some community activists, such as Louisville's late Reverend Louis Coleman, have called for the removal of the monument from such a prominent location due to its association with the history of civil rights abuses against African-Americans. In the past, both the city and university have opposed such proposals. In 2002, the University announced plans to add civil rights monuments around the statue as part of its redevelopment as "Freedom Park", but funding was not secured until late 2008.[2]

In late April 2016, officials in Louisville announced plans to remove the monument to another location. Subsequently, a Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge signed a temporary restraining order filed by the Kentucky Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

History

The idea for the monument was first conceived in the basement of the Walnut Street Baptist Church in 1887 during discussion concerning the decoration of graves at Cave Hill Cemetery.[3] The Kentucky Women's Confederate Monument Association was incorporated April, 1890 for the purpose of raising money for construction.[4] After several years of fund raising with picnics, plays and dinners, the monument was completed in 1895 at a cost of $10,200. The dedication was in summer, in time to coincide with the 29th Grand Army of the Republic annual reunion later in September 1895. Basil W. Duke gave the principle speech. The only Confederate flag at the occasion was battle worn from the war and unfurled at the end of the event.[5]

During the 1920s and 1940s there were plans to remove the monument for road construction, until public sentiment saved it. In fact, in 1947, Louisville Mayor Charles P. Farnsley, a fighter for civil rights, stood guard in front of the monument with a musket and made a public announcement on his wishes to keep the monument where it was.[6] In 1954, Mayor Andrew Broaddus agreed to reduce the area around the monument from a 48 foot diameter circle to a smaller elliptic plot to ease traffic congestion and avoid moving the monument.[3]

Freedom Park

The area presently occupied by the nearby University of Louisville was purchased in 1850 by the city for use as an underutilized cemetery. In 1859, the city transferred the land to the House of Refuge, an orphanage and reform school, also known as the Industrial School of Reform after 1886. As the first buildings neared completion, the Civil War broke out and the Union Army commandeered the buildings as hospitals until 1865. The University of Louisville purchased the property in 1923.[7][8] The chapel of the House of Refuge was converted to The Belknap Playhouse by the University by 1925. In 1980 it was rebuilt across the street and resides at the center of the current Freedom Park which includes the Confederate monument.[9]

In 2002, plans were initiated to integrate the monument into the larger Freedom Park, with trees transplanted from Civil War battlefields.[10] On 17 November 2008, funding was approved, with the Kentucky state government using $1.6 million of federal funds and the university spending $403,000.[11] Louisville sculptor Ed Hamilton was selected to create a civil rights monument to balance the Confederate Monument; Hamilton had already created an Abraham Lincoln memorial statue in Louisville. In 2002, the late J. Blaine Hudson, at the time Chair of the Pan-African Studies Department at the University of Louisville, explained:

What we hope to do with Freedom Park is to put all the historical information on the table and develop an interpretation that reflects as accurately as possible the totality of the Civil War and the late Antebellum experience of this area.

September 2015, the park's name was changed to Charles H. Parrish Jr. Freedom Park. The name reflects the contributions of Dr. Parrish (1899-1989) as the University of Louisville's first African-American educator and Chair of the Sociology Department.[12] At present, the park contains series of black granite obelisks detailing the history of Louisville as well as panels to commemorate the lives of community civil rights leaders.[13]

Protected Status

The Confederate monument, along with many other memorials in Kentucky, was protected by a 2002 act of the General Assembly that created the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission. The Commission oversees the protection of monuments and memorials in their registry. [14]

The monument was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997, one of sixty-one different Civil War-related sites in Kentucky so honored on the same day. Four other monuments are in Louisville/Jefferson County. The 32nd Indiana Monument and the Union Monument in Louisville were both in Cave Hill Cemetery, although the first is now at Louisville's Frazier History Museum to preserve it. John B. Castleman Monument is on Cherokee Circle in the Highlands, a block from Bardstown Road. The other, Confederate Martyrs Monument in Jeffersontown, is in Jeffersontown City Cemetery in Jeffersontown, Kentucky.

Recent Controversy

As a result of the aftermath of the Charleston church shooting in June 2015, Confederate symbolism has come under increased scrutiny across the United States. A week following a opinion article published in The Courier-Journal by a University of Louisville professor advocating removal or destruction of the monument, Louisville officials held a press conference in front of the monument with excavation equipment in the background.

At the press conference, on April 29, 2016, the Mayor of Louisville Greg Fischer and University President James R. Ramsey explained their intention to immediately remove the monument and place it into storage where it would receive cleaning. They stated the monument would be reconstructed at a new location but the location had not yet been determined.[15]

On 2 May 2016, a Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge signed a temporary restraining order filed by the Kentucky Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans along with several private individuals.[16] The next day, the Jefferson County Attorney, representing the Mayor, asked for more time to prepare a defense for the intended monument removal. The Court granted an extension to May 25, 2016.[17]

The plaintiffs contend that Mayor Fischer, by attempting removal of the monument, is violating state and federal preservation law. On Thursday May 5, 2016, the attorney for the plaintiffs amended the complaint arguing the monument does not belong to the City of Louisville nor the University. The revised complaint contends the monument belongs to the State of Kentucky as it is apart of the transportation right of way.[18]

Description

The monument is located at the intersection of 2nd and 3rd Streets, immediately south of West Brandeis Avenue. It is built of Georgia granite, with the German Ferdinand von Miller designed Confederate soldiers (an artillerist, a cavalryman, and an infantryman) made of bronze. "Our Confederate Dead" and "Tribute to the Rank and File of the Armies of the South" are inscribed on the north and south face respectively.

The base had a diameter of 48 feet in the early 20th century, but has been reduced. The National Register of Historic Places nomination form describes four elaborate lamp standards that were placed at compass points around the monument. These were also removed for traffic considerations in 1954. The now missing lamps were designed by Louisville sculptor Enid Yandell.[19][20]

The monument committee initially chose the sculpture design of Enid Yandell as the best in an ostensibly blind competition. In November 1893, the Confederate Veteran magazine reported:

She has opened a studio in New York, but hopes for her greatest patronage from the South. She is at present making studies for a magnificent Confederate monument, to be erected in one of our Southern States.[21]

Yandell's proposed design was a female allegorical figure of 'Victory' rising 75 feet high on a pedestal of red granite.[22] The public disclosure that the committee's choice was from a woman caused a modest scandal, and included the charge that Yandell's friends on the monument committee had influenced the vote. As a result of the controversy, Yandell withdrew her design and the monument was constructed by the Muldoon Monument Company, which is still operating today.[3][23]


Monument images

See also

References

  1. ↑ Staff (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Shafer, Sheldon (2008-11-18). "Confederate Monument site to be Freedom Park". Courier-Journal. pp. 1B.
  3. 1 2 3 John E. Kleber (5 February 2015). The Encyclopedia of Louisville. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 216–. ISBN 978-0-8131-4974-5.
  4. ↑ Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Passed. 1890. pp. 595–.
  5. ↑ The Confederate Veteran Magazine. Blue and Grey Press. 1895. pp. 299–.
  6. ↑ John E. Kleber (5 February 2015). The Encyclopedia of Louisville. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 282–. ISBN 978-0-8131-4974-5.
  7. ↑ John E. Kleber (2001). The Encyclopedia of Louisville. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 406–. ISBN 0-8131-2890-0.
  8. ↑ Meyer, Jana. "A History of U of L's Belknap Campus". The Filson Historical Society. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "The Playhouse - Freedom Park". University of Louisville. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  10. ↑ Schreiner, Bruce. "Confederate statue might get company". Cincinnati Enquirer. AP. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  11. ↑ Staff. "UofL to receive $1.6 million for Freedom Park, Stansbury Park improvements". University of Louisville. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  12. ↑ Shafer, Sheldon. "U of L Freedom Park to bear Parrish's name". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  13. ↑ "Charles H. Parrish, Jr. Freedom Park". louisville.edu. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  14. ↑ "Kentucky Heritage Council". Military Heritage & Civil War Preservation Program. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  15. ↑ Bailey, Phillip. "What to know about U of L Confederate statue removal". The Courier Journal. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  16. ↑ Kenning, Chris. "Judge blocks Confederate monument removal". The Courier Journal. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  17. ↑ Kenning, Kenning. "Hearing on Confederate monument delayed". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  18. ↑ Yetter, Deborah. "City or state? Confederate statue site disputed". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  19. ↑ "National Register of Historic Places, Nomination Form, Belknap Campus". University of Louisville. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  20. ↑ Bier, Justus (1 January 1956). "A Forgotten Work By Ferdinand Von Miller The Younger, A Contribution To The History Of Confederate Monuments". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. pp. 125–133. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  21. ↑ "Confederate Veteran, Volume 1". Internet Archive. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  22. ↑ Deborah C. Pollack (18 January 2015). Visual Art and the Urban Evolution of the New South. University of South Carolina Press. pp. 209–. ISBN 978-1-61117-433-5.
  23. ↑ "About Muldoon Memorials". Muldoon Memorials. Retrieved 4 May 2016.

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