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List of Confederate monuments and memorials in Alabama

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This is a list of Confederate monuments and memorials in Alabama that were established as public displays and symbols of the Confederate States of America (CSA), Confederate leaders, or Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War. 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, counties, cities, lakes, dams, military bases, and other public works.[note 1]

This list does not include items which are largely historic in nature such as historic markers or battlefield parks if they were not established to honor the Confederacy. Nor does it include figures connected with the origins of the Civil War or white supremacy, but not with the Confederacy.

Monuments and memorials

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See also: Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials § Alabama
Further information: Alabama in the American Civil War
Monument to Confederate Soldiers and Sailors, by Alabama by sculptor Alexander Doyle, at the Alabama State Capitol

As of 24 June 2020, there are at least 122 public spaces with Confederate monuments in Alabama.[2]

The 2017 Alabama Memorial Preservation Act was passed to require local governments to obtain state permission before removing Confederate monuments and memorials.[3][4][5]

State capitol

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State symbols

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Coat of arms of Alabama
Flag of the Governor since 1939
  • Alabama Coat of Arms (1923) and the State Seal include the Confederate Battle Flag.
  • Alabama State Flag (1895) The Alabama Department of Archives and History found in 1915 that the flag was meant to "preserve in permanent form some of the more distinctive features of the Confederate battle flag, particularly the St. Andrew's cross."[11] According to historian John M. Coski, the adoption of Alabama's flag coincided with the rise of Jim Crow laws and segregation,[12] as other former Confederate slave states, such as Mississippi and Florida, also adopted new state flags based on Confederate designs around the same time when those states instituted Jim Crow segregation laws themselves:[12]
  • The Governor's version of the State Flag includes St Andrew's Cross plus the State Coat of Arms with the Confederate Battle Flag inclusion and the military crest on the bottom.

State holidays

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Buildings

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Monuments

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Courthouse monuments

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Panel on Jefferson County Court House, Birmingham, 1932[14]
Pickens County War Memorial in Carrollton
Confederate Monument, Clayton (circa 1910)
Confederate Monument in Jasper, Alabama, showing cavalryman and infantryman

Other public monuments

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Confederate monument at Blakeley, Alabama
Raphael Semmes monument in Mobile, Alabama by sculptor Caspar Buberl
Monument to the Confederate victory in the Battle of Newton, Newton, Alabama
Calhoun County Confederate Memorial in Ohatchee, Alabama
"Arsenal Place" memorial in Selma, Alabama
Bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest in Old Live Oak Cemetery.
  • Selma:
    • The Edmund Pettus Bridge (1940), on US Route 80, is named for Edmund Pettus, Confederate General and Alabama Grand Dragon of the KKK.[62] This is the beginning of the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail (1996), commemorating the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches of 1965.
    • Defense of Selma Memorial (1907) by UDC[59][63]
    • Memorial boulder marking The Selma Ordnance and Naval Foundry "destroyed by the Federals 1865," placed "in honor of the memory of hundreds of faithful men who made these great works a base for war material for the entire Confederate Army and Navy." (1917) Alabama Division United Daughters of Confederacy.[64]
    • "Arsenal Place" memorial (1931), marking the site of the Confederate ordnance works "destroyed by the Union Army April 6, 1865"
    • A memorial arch on the grounds of the Federal Building honors Confederate Generals and Senators John Tyler Morgan and Edmund Pettus
    • Old Live Oak Cemetery, a Selma city-owned property, incorporates various features including:
      • Jefferson Davis Memorial Chair – an inscribed stone chair
      • Confederate Memorial Circle (1878) Confederate Memorial Association[59]
      • The Nathan Bedford Forrest Bust Monument (2000). Built partly with city funds, sponsored by Friends of Forrest and UDC. It was first located at the Vaughan-Smitherman Museum, but during protest over Forrest's KKK links trash was dumped on it[65] and it was damaged during an apparent attempt to remove the bust from its foundation. It was then moved to the Cemetery's Confederate Circle. The bust was then stolen in 2012[66] and has not been recovered, despite a $20,000 reward; the present bust is a replacement.[67] The base is inscribed, under a Confederate flag: "Defender of Selma, Wizard of the Saddle, untutored genius, the first with the most. This monument stands as testament of our perpetual devotion and respect to Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, C.S.A., 1821-1877, one of the South's finest heroes. In honor of Gen. Forrest's unwavering defense of Selma, the great state of Alabama, and the Confederacy, this memorial is dedicated. Deo vindice."[68][69]
      • A Confederate Soldier Monument (pre-1881) with cannons protecting it
      • Graves and memorials to four CSA generals: John Tyler Morgan, Edmund Winston Pettus, Nathaniel H. R. Dawson, William J. Hardee and Confederate Navy Commander Catesby ap Roger Jones
      • A building historically used for concerts and Confederate Memorial Day celebrations
      • Elodie Todd Dawson Monument (sister-in-law to President Lincoln, strong advocate for the Confederacy)[70]
  • Tallassee
    • Confederate Armory. When Richmond was threatened by Union troops, the Confederacy moved its armory to Tallassee. It is the only Confederate armory to survive the war. Only the brick shell of the large building survives. There is a historical marker.[71]
    • Confederate Officers' Quarters, 301, 303 (demolished), 305, and 307 King Street. Made necessary by the relocation of the armory. After the Civil War, Confederate Brigadier-General Birkett Davenport Fry lived at 301 King Street until 1880. The building is currently used as a law firm office, but there is a historical marker.[72]
  • Troy: "Comrades" Confederate Monument (1908) Pike Monumental Association, UCV, and UDC of Pike County, Alabama[73]
  • Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Civil War Memorial, South entrance of the University of Alabama's Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library (1914) by UDC, Alabama Division[74]
  • Tuscaloosa County: UDC monument (1977) at Tannehill Ironworks, where Confederate munitions and iron were manufactured[75]

Private monuments

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Mesopotamia Cemetery, Eutaw, Alabama

Inhabited places

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Parks, water features and dams

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Roads

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Schools

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City symbols

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  • Mobile: city flag includes the city seal which incorporates a small Confederate Battle Flag along with other flags.[1]
  • Montgomery:
    • The red and gray city flag includes a strip of stars from the Confederate Battle Flag.

Notes

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  1. ^ "In an effort to assist the efforts of local communities to re-examine these symbols, the SPLC launched a study to catalog them. For the final tally, the researchers excluded nearly 2,600 markers, battlefields, museums, cemeteries and other places or symbols that are largely historical in nature."[1]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monuments and memorials of the Confederate States of America in Alabama.
  1. ^ Gunter, Booth; Kizzire, Jamie (April 21, 2016). Gunter, Booth (ed.). "Whose heritage? Public Symbols of the Confederacy" (PDF). Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  2. ^ "Whose Heritage? Public Symbols of the Confederacy". Southern Poverty Law Center. February 1, 2019.
  3. ^ Subberwal, Kaeli (2017-08-18). "Several States Have Erected Laws To Protect Confederate Monuments". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  4. ^ Edgemon, Erin (2017-08-17). "AG files lawsuit against Birmingham over Confederate monument". AL.com. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  5. ^ "Alabama Lawmaker sponsors bills to repeal legislation preserving Confederate Monuments". The Birmingham Times. 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  6. ^ Alabama Confederate Monument. Archived March 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Conservation Solutions Inc., accessed April 24, 2010
  7. ^ Charles, Dean (24 June 2015). "Alabama Gov. Bentley removes Confederate flags from Capitol grounds". The Birmingham News. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  8. ^ Jefferson Davis Star-Montgomery, Alabama. Waymarking.com. Accessed August 16, 2017
  9. ^ Parish (November 19, 2004), Alabama State Capitol, Montgomery, Bronze star marking where Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the first president of the CSA on the front steps, Emporis, archived from the original on December 15, 2017, retrieved December 10, 2017{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ Jefferson Davis – Montgomery, Alabama. Waymarking.com. Accessed August 16, 2017
  11. ^ "These 5 states still use Confederate symbols in their flags". Msnbc.com. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  12. ^ a b Coski, John M. (2005). The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most Embattled Emblem. United States of America: First Harvard University Press. pp. 80–81. ISBN 978-0-674-01983-6. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved March 8, 2016. The flag changes in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida coincided with the passage of formal Jim Crow segregation laws throughout the South. Four years before Mississippi incorporated a Confederate battle flag into its state flag, its constitutional convention passed pioneering provisions to 'reform' politics by effectively disenfranchising most African Americans.
  13. ^ a b c "State of Alabama 2018 Official State Holidays" (PDF). Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  14. ^ White, Marjorie Longenecker, Richard W. Sprague, G. Gray Plosser Jr. Editors, Downtown Birmingham Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide, Birmingham Historical Society, The First National Bank of Birmingham, 1980 p. 91
  15. ^ "Confederate Soldiers Monument, Ashville, Alabama". Civilwaralbum.com. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  16. ^ a b c Davis, Michael. In Remembrance: Confederate Funerary Monuments in Alabama and Resistance to Reconciliation, 1884–1923. Master's thesis, Auburn University. Accessed August 15, 2017
  17. ^ "The Choctaw County Courthouse". Rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  18. ^ "Things to Do – Pickens County Alabama". Pickenscountyal.com. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  19. ^ Confederate Veterans Memorial – Centre, AL Waymarking.com. Accessed August 18, 2017
  20. ^ "National Register of Historic Places, Centreville Historic District, registration form" (PDF).
  21. ^ Eufaula and Barbour County in Vintage Postcards. Arcadia. 2004. p. 97. ISBN 9780738515953.
  22. ^ "Confederate Memorial Monument – Decatur, AL – American Civil War Monuments and Memorials". Waymarking. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  23. ^ Where are Alabama's Confederate Monuments? Markers, many at courthouses, exist across Alabama. Accessed August 15, 2017.
  24. ^ Pons, Aria (February 9, 2024). "New marker could be placed near Lauderdale County Confederate statue to explain the history behind it". 48 WAFF. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  25. ^ Shumate, Joyce Nunn. The Confederate monument in Jasper, Alabama on the national register of historic places. Accessed August 15, 2017
  26. ^ Confederate Monument. Our Southern Home (May 6, 1908). Accessed August 16, 2017
  27. ^ "Nicola Marschall". HMdb.org. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  28. ^ Holloway, Kali (March 25, 2019). "'Loyal Slave' Monuments Tell a Racist Lie About American History". The Nation. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  29. ^ Lawrence County Confederate Veterans Memorial – Moulton, AL. Waymarking.com. Accessed August 18, 2017
  30. ^ Colbert County Confederate Veterans Memorial – Tuscumbia, AL Waymarking.com Accessed August 16, 2017
  31. ^ Major John Pelham – Anniston, AL Waymarking.com. Accessed October 6, 2017
  32. ^ Christine Watkins, Associated Press (September 28, 2020). "Alabama city removes Confederate monument following vote". Sports Grinding Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  33. ^ "Alabama". HMdb.org. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  34. ^ Edgemon, Erin (July 16, 2016). "Alabama police officer crashes into Confederate Monument while on patrol". AL.com. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  35. ^ Montgomery, David (August 6, 2017). "A car crash topples a Confederate statue – and forces a Southern town to confront its past". The Week. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  36. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Demopolis Public Square
  37. ^ Johnston, Patrick (June 11, 2010). "Confederate monument needs to be moved". The Eufaula Tribune. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  38. ^ "James Cantey". HMdb.org. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  39. ^ Graham, Kelsey (August 2, 2013). Fort Payne celebrates Confederate Monument. Times Free Press. Accessed August 15, 2017
  40. ^ Crownover, Danny (April 1, 2016) The Vagabond – 109 Years Ago Unveiling of the Emma Sansom Statue. Gadsden Messenger. Accessed August 15, 2017
  41. ^ Crownover, Danny (June 27, 2014). The Vagabond: A decision in Gadsden. Gadsden Messenger. Accessed August 16, 2017
  42. ^ Historic Downtown Greenville, Alabama. Brochure. Greenville-alabama.com. Accessed August 16, 2017
  43. ^ Henry County Confederate Memorial. Hmdb.org Accessed August 16, 2017
  44. ^ Gattis, Paul (May 16, 2017). "Remove Confederate monument in Huntsville, petition says". AL.com. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  45. ^ Gattis, Paul (October 23, 2020). "Confederate monument in Huntsville removed overnight". AL.com. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  46. ^ Robinson-Smith, Will (October 25, 2020). "Moving a monument: how the Confederate monument eventually moved to Maple Hill Cemetery". WAAY. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  47. ^ a b Tutor, Philip (January 17, 2016). "Memory or History? Insight: Throughout the South, memorials with difficult histories pose vexing problems". Anniston Star.
  48. ^ "Confederate Memorial – Midway, AL – Alabama Historical Markers". Waymarking.com. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  49. ^ North American Preservation of Monuments. Alabama. Archived June 30, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Napom.org. Accessed August 16, 2017
  50. ^ Sons of Confederate Veterans: Raphael Semmes Camp 11. Statue of Admiral Semmes Overlooking Bankhead Tunnel in Downtown Mobile. Scvsemmes.org. Accessed August 16, 2017
  51. ^ "Mobile National Cemetery". U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. August 28, 2017.
  52. ^ "Dexter Avenue". HMdb.org. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  53. ^ Yawn, Andrew J. "MPS to 'look at' relocating school's Robert E. Lee statue". The Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
  54. ^ Miller, Rex, Croxton's Raid, p.82
  55. ^ "Monument at Opelika, Ala." Confederate Veteran 19, no. 5 (May 1911): 250–51
  56. ^ "The Battle of Newton - Newton, Alabama". Explore Southern History. March 17, 2014. Archived from the original on 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
  57. ^ "Janney Furnace Memorial Park". Calhoun County Alabama. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  58. ^ Catoe, Laura (October 21, 2012). "History Is Alive At Janney Furnace Park In Ohatchee". The Gadsten Times.
  59. ^ a b c "Committee Work of Confederation: Complete Record of Monuments and Memorials." Bulletin (Sons of Confederate Veterans) 1, no. 6 (June 1910): 180
  60. ^ "The Prattville Dragoons". HMdb.org. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  61. ^ Historical Marker Database. General Joseph Wheeler. Hmdb.com Accessed August 18, 2017
  62. ^ Finch, Ginny. "We Shall Overcome – Selma-to-Montgomery March". Nps.gov.
  63. ^ "Defense of Selma Memorial Historical Marker". hmdb.org. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  64. ^ "Selma Navy Yard and Ordnance Works Marker – Historic Markers Across Alabama". www.lat34north.com. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  65. ^ "Council Moves Forward with Plans to Sell Confederate Circle". Selma Times-Journal. September 11, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  66. ^ "Monument is now headless". Selma Times-Journal. March 13, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  67. ^ Evans, Daniel (May 23, 2015). "Forrest bust back at Old Live Oak." Selma-Times Journal. Accessed August 16, 2017
  68. ^ Teague, Matthew (March 6, 2015). "Selma, 50 years after march, remains a city divided". LA Times. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  69. ^ "Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, Alabama". www.civilwaralbum.com. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  70. ^ Elodie Todd Dawson Monument in Selma's Old Live Oak Cemetery. Ruralswalabama.org. Accessed August 16, 2017
  71. ^ Alabama Historical Association (1965). "Tallassee Armory". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  72. ^ Alabama Historical Association (2014). "Brigadier General Birkett Davenport Fry, CSA / Tallassee Confederate Officers Quarters". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  73. ^ Historical Marker Database. Confederate Memorial. Hmdb.org Accessed August 16, 2017
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  75. ^ "Tannehill Furnaces". HMdb.org. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
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  77. ^ a b Johnson, Alex (August 28, 2017). "A New Confederate Monument Goes Up in Alabama". NBC News. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  78. ^ Okeowo, Alexis (2017-08-29). "Witnessing a Rally for a Brand-New Confederate Monument". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  79. ^ Simelton, Benard (August 24, 2017). "State NAACP opposes new Confederate statue". The Tuskegee News.
  80. ^ Almond, Mark (July 2, 2015). "A close-up look at Birmingham's embattled Confederate monument". AL.com. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  81. ^ "Confederate Rest". Admiral Raphael Semmes Camp #11.
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  83. ^ "Chapter History". Amelia Gayle Gorgas Chapter 2117
    United Daughters of the Confederacy    . Retrieved August 19, 2017.
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  86. ^ iconions (Dec 12, 2012). Confederate Soldiers Memorial – Union Springs, AL Waymarking.com Accessed September 26, 2017
  87. ^ "The Wetumpka Light Guard 1861 - 1865". John D. Gordon Chapter, U.D.C. and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. 1931. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  88. ^ "McFarland Park and Recreation Area Marker – Historic Markers Across Alabama". Lat34north.com. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  89. ^ Alabama Historical Commission, State Historic Preservation Office. History of Confederate Memorial Park. Accessed August 15, 2017
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  92. ^ "About The School / School Profile". www.lee.k12.al.us. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
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