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Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument

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Coordinates: 39°19′28″N 76°37′11″W / 39.32431°N 76.61983°W / 39.32431; -76.61983
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Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument
Stonewall Jackson left, and Robert E. Lee right
ArtistLaura Gardin Fraser
Year1948
2017: removed
MediumBronze
LocationBaltimore, Maryland
Coordinates39°19′28″N 76°37′11″W / 39.32431°N 76.61983°W / 39.32431; -76.61983
OwnerCity of Baltimore

The Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument, often referred to simply as the Jackson and Lee Monument or Lee and Jackson Monument, was a double equestrian statue of Confederate generals Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, formerly located on the west side of the Wyman Park Dell in Charles Village in Baltimore, Maryland, alongside a forested hill, similar to the topography of Chancellorsville, Virginia, where Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee met before the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. The statue was removed on August 16, 2017, on the order of Baltimore City Council, but the base still remains. The monument is in storage and some city council members have called for all Confederate monuments in the state to be destroyed.[1][2]

The area surrounding the old monument was rededicated as Harriet Tubman Grove in March 2018.[3]

Significance

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The Jackson and Lee Monument was the first double equestrian statue in the United States.[4] Artist Laura Gardin Fraser was the only woman sculptor selected out of five other men to create the monument. Notable architect John Russell Pope was commissioned to design the base of the monument.

Background

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Funding for the statue was secured by Colonial Trust Company owner J. Henry Ferguson before he died in 1928. Ferguson provided $100,000 for the erection of the monument.[5] It was dedicated in 1948 in a ceremony at which Governor William Preston Lane Jr. and Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. spoke.[6]

The monument was located on the west side of the Wyman Park Dell along Art Museum Drive from its dedication until its removal by the Baltimore City Government.

Removal

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The empty pedestal, two days after the statue's removal.
See also: Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials

After the 2015 Charleston church shooting, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake organized a commission to evaluate removal of the city's four confederate monuments.[7] In January 2016, the commission decided that the Jackson and Lee Monument, along with the Roger B. Taney Sculpture by William Henry Rinehart in Mount Vernon Place would be removed.[8]

On August 14, 2017, the Baltimore City Council voted unanimously to deconstruct these two monuments along with the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument and the Confederate Women's Monument.[9] The Jackson and Lee Statue was subsequently removed by The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company on August 16, 2017, but the base remains intact.[10] Activists replaced the monument with a papier-mache rendition of a pregnant African-American woman, created by artist Pablo Machioli, which was destroyed shortly thereafter, though it was unclear to observers whether this was due to vandalism or the effects of weather.[11] The pedestal was also repeatedly vandalized with politically motivated graffiti.[citation needed]

Inscription

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The base of the sculpture featured the following inscription:[4]

SO GREAT IS MY CONFIDENCE IN / GENERAL LEE THAT I AM WILLING TO / FOLLOW HIM BLINDFOLDED / STRAIGHT AS THE NEEDLE TO THE POLE / JACKSON ADVANCED TO THE EXECUTION / OF MY PURPOSE
(West steps:) THE PARTING OF GENERAL LEE AND / STONEWALL JACKSON ON THE EVE / OF CHANCELLORSVILLE
(East steps:) GIFT OF J. HENRY FERGUSON OF MARYLAND.
(North steps:) THEY WERE GREAT GENERALS AND/ CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS AND WAGED / WAR LIKE GENTLEMEN.

See also

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument, Baltimore.
  1. ^ Evans, Michelle (August 14, 2017). "Debate Over Confederate Statues Continues in Baltimore". Baltimore. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  2. ^ Evans, Michelle; Herzing, Meredith (August 16, 2017). "Confederate Monuments in Baltimore "Quickly and Quietly" Removed". Baltimore. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  3. ^ Rector, Kevin (May 10, 2018). "Baltimore park space where Confederate statue once stood is rededicated to Harriet Tubman". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
  4. ^ a b "Monument Commission". Baltimoreplanning.wix.com. Retrieved 2016-01-15.[dead link‍]
  5. ^ "Baltimore's Confederate Memory & Monuments · Baltimore's Civil Rights Heritage". Baltimoreheritage.github.io. Archived from the original on 2016-01-08. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
  6. ^ Singman, Brooke (August 24, 2017). "Nancy Pelosi's dad helped dedicate Confederate statue". The New York Post. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  7. ^ "monumentcommission". Baltimoreplanning.wix.com. Archived from the original on 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
  8. ^ "Baltimore City commission recommends removal of two Confederate monuments". Baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
  9. ^ "Council resolves "to deconstruct" Confederate monuments". baltimorebrew.com. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
  10. ^ "Baltimore Removes Confederate Statues Overnight". Wall Street Journal. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
  11. ^ "Replacement for removed monument is down in Baltimore". wusa9.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
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