Lee monument Archives - The Virginia Star

Sen. Kaine Says Richmond Residents Owed an Explanation About the Alleged Mass Shooting

August 14, 2022August 13, 2022 Eric Burk

Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) said that Richmond authorities need to provide an explanation after questions arose about the alleged July 4 mass shooting Richmond police said they prevented.

“If there are facts suggesting that this really was a potential mass tragedy, those need to be put on the table,” Kaine said Friday according to WTVR. “City officials didn’t have to put it on the table at the outset. They could have just said, ‘we’ve arrested some people.’ But they put it on the table that we’ve arrested them, and this was going to be a mass shooting incident.”

Youngkin Announces Two Board of Historic Resources Appointees Including Historian Outspoken Against Destroying Monuments, Dr. Ann McLean

July 14, 2022July 13, 2022 Eric Burk

Governor Glenn Youngkin announced his first two appointments to the Board of Historic Resources (BHR), including Richmond-area art historian Dr. Ann McLean, who has appeared both on Richmond’s Morning News with John Reid and Bacon’s Rebellion critical of efforts to rename the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library and destroy monuments. The other appointee is Hon. Aimee Jorjani, nominated by Trump to be the first full-time chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. The BHR is a seven-member group of governor-appointed Virginia citizens responsible for approving nominations to the Virginia Landmarks Register, to create new or revised state historic markers, and to hold historic preservation easements, according to its website.

“I think we should try to preserve the wonderful heritage that we have in Virginia and that our heritage has come under a vicious attack,” McLean told The Virginia Star.

State Senator Reeves Supporting Lawsuit over Decision to Melt Charlottesville Lee Statue

January 2, 2022January 1, 2022 Eric Burk

Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania) is supporting a lawsuit against the City of Charlottesville over the decision to give the Lee statue to a museum that plans to melt it. The lawsuit argues that the city didn’t have a competitive or transparent process to consider offers to take the statue, and additionally argues that melting the statue violates the spirit of state law governing monument removals. According to the lawsuit, the statue has already been delivered to a foundry and broken up, although not yet melted down.

“The City can legally remove, relocate, contextualize or cover the Lee monument, but the General Assembly denied the City authority to alter or destroy it,” the Trevillian Station Battlefield Foundation and the Ratcliffe Foundation state in the lawsuit.

Lee Monument and Other Richmond Confederate Statues to be Given to Virginia Museum

December 31, 2021December 30, 2021 Eric Burk

The Lee Monument and the other Confederate statues from Richmond’s Monument Avenue will be given to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, which will partner with The Valentine and other Richmond organizations to determine the future of the objects. The Thursday announcement is the latest move from Governor Ralph Northam, who has been working to conclude removal of the controversial Lee Monument and remove state control of the monument and the land.

“Symbols matter and for too long, Virginia’s most prominent symbols celebrated our country’s tragic division and the side that fought to keep alive the institution of slavery by any means possible,” Northam said in a Thursday press release shared by NBC12 reporter Henry Graff.

Lee Monument Time Capsule Opened, but It Doesn’t Match Historical Descriptions

December 23, 2021December 22, 2021 Eric Burk

Conservators at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) opened a time capsule from the Lee Monument pedestal on Wednesday afternoon, but the capsule and its contents don’t match the description of a capsule reportedly placed in the monument in 1887, leading to speculation that there may be an additional capsule somewhere on site. Governor Ralph Northam and First Lady Pamela Northam were at the Department of Historic Resources at 12 p.m. for the opening of the box. Opening the box without damaging it took longer than expected, due to corrosion and masonry from the pedestal in the box seams.

“I’ve been asked a number of times if we’re going to use a torch,” Conservator Chelsea Blake said. “That’s not an option.”

Crews Unable to Find 1887 Time Capsule Reportedly Hidden in Lee Monument Pedestal

September 11, 2021September 10, 2021 Eric Burk

After removing the huge statue of Lee from its pedestal on Wednesday, crews spent all day Thursday excavating a corner of the pedestal in search of an 1887 time capsule reportedly placed in the monument. But they never found it.

“Disappointing not to find the time capsule,” Governor Ralph Northam’s Chief of Staff Clark Mercer told reporters Thursday evening.

Northam Seeks Artifacts for New Time Capsule at the Lee Monument, Asks City of Richmond to Not Remove Monument Avenue Pedestals

June 26, 2021June 25, 2021 Eric Burk

It’s thought that there is a time capsule in the pedestal of the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond. The Virginia Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether or not the state can remove the monument, and in an announcement earlier this week Governor Ralph Northam said they will open the capsule when the monument is removed. He also invited Virginians to suggest new artifacts for a replacement time capsule to be placed at the site.

Richmond Mayoral Underdog Griffin Attacks Gray in Mailer

October 31, 2020October 30, 2020 Eric Burk

Mayoral candidate Justin Griffin recently sent out mailers arguing for a link between opponent candidate Kim Gray and Richmond For All (RFA), Governor Ralph Northam, and Louis Salomonsky. Griffin only got three percent in the most recent poll, well behind his nearest competitor Alexsis Rodgers who got 15 percent, Kim Gray, who got 16 percent, and incumbent Mayor Levar Stoney, who got 36 percent.