Workers set to relocate the Confederate Memorial were spotted Sunday in Arlington National Cemetery preparing the 109-year-old statue for removal. Plans were announced in September that the iconic work would be moved to grounds at Virginia Military Institute’s New Market Battlefield State Historical Park.
The removal of the Reconciliation Monument is underway ~ Judy Smith Photography pic.twitter.com/CQfLuAntNr
— Mindy Esposito (@mespo2006) December 17, 2023
Erected in 1914 and dedicated by President Woodrow Wilson, the memorial marked the final resting place for nearly 500 Confederate veterans and their families.
After repeated requests to keep the statue in place were rebuffed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Governor Youngkin secured approval from the Virginia Military Institute’s (VMI) Board of Visitors to transfer the bronze statue to the Virginia Museum of the Civil War at New Market Battlefield State Historical Park. The park, owned and operated by VMI, holds historical significance as the site where cadets joined Confederate forces in 1864 to repel Union troops.
The Pentagon’s Commission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense has mandated the removal of Confederate memorials, renaming military installations, and stripping quotes from military insignia. The commission determined that it would remove the Confederate Memorial’s bronze sculpture and leave the granite base and surrounding graves untouched.
Hugh Fain, a VMI Board of Visitors member, reportedly expressed reservations about accepting the monument, describing it as a “gift” and a “reconciliation effort” at its creation.
The statue, crafted by Moses Jacob Ezekiel, VMI’s first Jewish graduate and a Confederate veteran, is buried at the foot of the monument, and is expected to remain after his work is moved.
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Christina Botteri is the Executive Editor of The Virginia Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Reconciliation Monument” by Arlington National Cemetery.
