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Robert E. Lee Monument
Statue atop the Robert E. Lee Monument
E1!Watts1!/sandbox is located in Virginia
E1!Watts1!/sandbox
E1!Watts1!/sandbox is located in the United States
E1!Watts1!/sandbox
Location1700 Monument Ave., jct. of Monument and Allen Aves., Richmond, Virginia
Coordinates37°33′14″N 77°27′36″W / 37.55384°N 77.46012°W / 37.55384; -77.46012
Arealess than one acre
Built1890 (1890)
ArchitectMercie, Merius-Jean-Antonin; Pujol, Paul
NRHP reference No.06001213[1]
VLR No.127-0181
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 5, 2007
Designated VLRSeptember 6, 2006[2]

Robert E. Lee Monument (Richmond, Virginia)

The Robert E. Lee Monument in Richmond, Virginia, was the first installation on Monument Avenue in 1890 used to honor Southern Civil War General Robert E. Lee. Built as one of the largest monuments on site for over a century, the memorial is the last Confederate monument on the Avenue today.[3] The monument includes General Lee sitting on his horse atop a large marble base that stands over 60 feet tall. Constructed in France by Antonin Mercié and and shipped to Virginia, the statue remains one of of Mercié's most outstanding pieces. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2007, the Virginia Landmarks Register since 2006.[4]

As the last monument standing out of the many built on Monument Avenue, the monument is a topic of discussion based on the controversial nature of General Lee's position in the Civil War.[3] After the killing of George Floyd, the monument was vandalized and many wanted the monument removed. Debates about the monument are still very present with many wanting the monument removed while others believe that the monument is necessary to remember General Lee.[5]

Description and location[edit]

The bronze statue, sculpted by Antonin Mercié, depicts Confederate general Robert E. Lee atop a horse. The horse is not a representation of Robert E. Lee's Traveller, as Mercié felt that its scale wouldn't fit with the overall composition. Lee stands 14 feet (4.3 m) high atop his horse and the entire statue is 60 feet (18 m) tall standing on a stone base designed by Paul Pujol.[4][6] Traveller was not used in the sculpture because Mercié believed that he was not noble enough to be included in a sculpture that was so public. Instead Traveller was replaced by a stronger looking thoroughbred that Lee sits atop in Richmond.[7]

The state-controlled land around the statue serves as a traffic circle at the intersection of Monument Avenue and Allen Avenue (named after Otway Allen, the developer who donated the land to the association). The Lee Monument is a focal point for Richmond. (Most popular online maps depict the "Lee Circle" as the center of Richmond).

History[edit]

Unveiling of the monument, 1890

Background[edit]

Born in 1807, Robert E Lee was raised destined for greatness. Born into a long linage of war heroes tracing back to William the Conqueror, Lee was raised to be the war hero that the South raised and loved. Lee's father, Light-Horse Henry Lee was heavily involved in financial scandal throughout Lee's young childhood. Married to Anne Carter (Lee's mother), the marriage was often dysfunctional due to Harry's financial turmoil. Lee rarely saw his father while growing up because father was sentenced twice to time in prison during his developmental years. Anne moved the rest of her family and children to Alexandria, Virginia while Harry continued to get into financial trouble ultimately sending himself to exile in the West Indies.[8]

Lee always had the dream of going to college and getting a medical degree. However, Carter only lived on twelve hundred dollars and was already sending her eldest son to Harvard. Lee took up his next calling and decided to join the army and study the United States Military Academy. After graduating in 1829, with very high honors, Lee was called back home to help with the falling out of his family and his dying mother. The family unit that Lee was raised in prompted him to remain close to people that had tight family units. In 1831, he married Mary Custis, his childhood playmate and distant cousin. He had always got along with Mary very well and she came from a long line of money and family that Lee always craved. The marriage lasted about forty years but most of the time together was spent apart due to war. Mary resented the fact that her husband was in the army and did not do well with her husband always away from home. Over the course of the marriage, Mary and Lee bore seven children and often had to give birth in her childhood home with the oversight of her mother.[8]

Although family life began to grow more and more stable as he gained more respect in the army, the pay certainly was not enough to support a wife and seven children. He often asked for promotions from lieutenant to general but it often was not heard. Lee began to grow frustrated as he knew that he was letting his family down. At the start of the Civil War, Lee was appointed to General and led the Southern troops into battle against the Union.[8]

Throughout the war, many American Southerners, viewed Lee as a war hero and a master strategist. He was shaped as the God of War and the the perfect child who never disobeyed his family and got high marks all through school. There have been images of the Lee holding a bird while under enemy fire and him being represented as a perfect husband and father. Although many believe this, there are also many people who believe the exact opposite of General Lee. There are arguments that Lee was often less popular than Stonewall Jackson and often was absent for raising his kids and choosing his work over his family. Many past presidents praise Lee for surrendering at the to the Union and accepting defeat. However, in the American South he is often highly praised and loved for his valiant strategies and mastery on the Civil War battle fields.[8]

Following the death of Robert E. Lee in 1870, several organizations formed with the goal of erecting a monument to Lee in Richmond. These included survivors of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, the Lee Monument Association led by Confederate general Jubal Early, and the Ladies' Lee Monument Association. These organizations were merged into the Lee Monument Commission in 1886, led by Lee's nephew and Virginia governor Fitzhugh Lee and together the funds combined to $52,000.[9][10]

The Sculptor: Antonin Mercié[edit]

Antonin Mercié, born on October 30, 1845 in Toulouse, he was a famous French artist and sculptor famous for his many works displayed around France and his Robert E. Lee Memorial in Richmond, Virginia. A student under François Jouffroy and Alexandre Falguière, Mercié gained knowledge about art and sculpting. He earned high honors during his time including, being a member of the Institut des Beaux-Arts as well as president of the "Société des Artistes Français and Grand Officier de la Légion d'Honneur". His style is know for being "soberly realistic". Mercié won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1868 and many other awards such as an honorary medal at the "Salon des Moins de 30 Ans".[11]

Although very famous for his works in Paris, Mercié's "true child" was the Robert E. Lee Monument that stands in Richmond, Virginia. Constructed in France by Mercié, he created the monument and shipped it to America to be displayed.[7] Mercié, not being from the America made it his duty to make the monument as accurate and as Godly as possible. He constructed the monument piece by piece and each individual piece was sent to America in four separate shipping crates. Mercié truly wanted to go to America to watch the unveiling of the monument in front of the crowds. He promised that he would go if he was promised a rich American wife. However, due to post traumatic stress from a previous ocean voyage, Mercié stayed in France and married the daughter of Lafayette. After the unveiling of the monument, Mercié remained in France and became a member of the Institute of France. He became a professor of drawing and sculpture at the Beaux Arts and held the position for the last sixteen years of his life. During this time he continued to sculpt for the Americans and constructed a monument representing Francis Scott Key and the creation of the American National Anthem. Located in Baltimore, Maryland, Mercié always dreamed of seeing the unveiling of his Key monument but still never made it to America due to domestic situations with his wife.[7]

In the last few years of his life, Mercié experienced tragic heartbreak with his wife; after years of marriage she eloped with one his his students. His ex-wife, being very powerful in the social world, sued Mercié for all of her earnings as well as half of his earnings since they had been together. Although seeming ridiculous, the French Law agreed and Mercié was forced to pay. After this tragedy, Mercié lost his motivation to create new art and monuments, and knew that his time had past.[7] On December 14, 1916 at age 71, Mercié died in Paris and leaving behind an incredible legacy and artistic influence.[7][11]

Construction and Dedication[edit]

When the construction of the monument was complete, Mercié and was required to get his work checked by a true Virginian. The Lee Monument Association of Virginia set over a business man to France to approve of the work and to submit the final check of $20,000. Published in The Art World, Lida McCabe was the journalist on scene to depict the transaction between the American business man and the French sculptor. Observed by McCabe, the transaction was forced and uneasy. Although no tensions, the American seemed to have little to no interest in the monument itself and was more there for the financial duties. However, McCabe witnessed the hard work and the dedication that Mercié put into this sculpture. After listening to Mercié, McCabe discovered that he had researched all about the Civil War and the different aspects of General Lee to make sure that the monument was a direct representation of the war and the general. He acquired different artifacts such as saddles and stirrups, coats, and boots to make sure that the monument was as accurate as possible.[7]

The cornerstone was placed on October 27, 1887. The statue was cast in several pieces separately and then the assembled statue was displayed in Paris before it was shipped to Richmond, where it arrived by rail on May 4.[12] Newspaper accounts indicate that 10,000 people helped pull four wagons with the pieces of the monument. The completed statue was unveiled on May 29, 1890. [4]

The site for the statue originally was offered in 1886. Over some opposition, the offer was accepted and later withdrawn when opponents complained that the $20,000 for the Lee Monument was inappropriate because the site was outside the city limit. Richmond City annexed the land in 1892, but bad times economically caused the Lee Monument to stand alone for several years in the middle of a tobacco field before development resumed in the early 1900s.[4]

In 1992, the iron fence around the monument was removed, in part because drivers unfamiliar with traffic circles would run into the fence from time to time and force costly repairs. After the fences came down, the stone base became a popular sunbathing spot.[13] In December 2006, the state completed an extensive cleaning and repair of the monument.

Now and the Future[edit]

Controversy and Calls for Removal[edit]

The monument defaced as part of the George Floyd protests.
See also: Lost Cause of the Confederacy

In August 2017, Richmond officials debated about what to do with the monuments on Monument Avenue specifically the Robert E. Lee Monument. There had been many protests surrounding these monuments there was ideas of taking them down. In 2017, after the violence that occurred at the Unite the Right rally, significant outrage and debate occurred relating to the monuments including the Lee statue in both Charlottesville and Richmond, Virginia.[14]

On June 4, 2020, Virginia governor Ralph Northam announced the statue would be removed in response to the protests that followed the May 2020 killing of George Floyd.[15] On June 8, a judge in Richmond Circuit Court issued a temporary injunction against the monument's removal, citing a lawsuit filed by William C. Gregory, who claims the Commonwealth promised to "faithfully guard" and "affectionately protect" the statue in the deed that originally annexed the property to the state.[16] Subsequent legal proceedings[17] led to a hearing on July 23, which concluded without a ruling on the monument's future.[18] A new 90-day injunction against the monument's removal began August 3.[19] After nearby residents filed a lawsuit to keep the statue in its place, Virginia's Attorney General filed a motion to dismiss the suit; circuit court Judge W. Reilly Marchant ruled August 25, 2020 that the matter would proceed to trial.[20][21] The October 19 trial[22] resulted in a halted decision pending appeal.[23]

Many historians have conflicting ideas about the future of the monument. Some argue that they are necessary to learn about the history of the country that we have grown up in and could use more context to educate people and others argue that the monument should be taken down for what it represents. Some of the more prominent historians believe that many of the monuments that are still standing today and are spreading the word of the Lost Cause were mostly built by foreign sculptors and shipped to the United States. They argue that if they could not build the monument themselves they are creating a set of problems by having foreign sculptors create the monuments since they did not experience the Civil War first hand.[24]

Kudzu[edit]

Kudzu is an invasive vine native to Asia that is very difficult to control and tame. Introduced to the South in 1883, many artists have incorporated the vine into illustrations to represent the "vine consuming monuments associated with racism, materialism, and militarism".[24] Using this idea, artists starting using Kudzu in their works as the start of the Kudzu Project. Knitters assembled long vines with leaves of Kudzu and tossed them on the monuments to represent destroying the ideas of the South. The idea of the Kudzu is to "cloak slavery and racism in the pretty language of gentility and honor" by using the vines to uproot the ideas of racism in the South. [24]

Protest Actions[edit]

Following Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020, the traffic circle where the statue stands was unofficially updated with a sign that reads "Welcome to Beautiful Marcus-David Peters Circle, Liberated by the People MMXX" (after Marcus-David Peters, a Black man from Richmond who was shot and killed by the police in 2018). The area contained signs that told the story of Peters and all that he would be missing since his death. The location is a popular protest sight to remember all that have died to police brutality because of the death of Marcus-David Peters. [25]

In the wake of protests, the graffiti-covered monument increasingly became a venue to portray images of racial justice and empowerment: from ballerinas dancing at the base of the plinth to video projections of George Floyd, Malcolm X, Angela Davis (and others) onto the statue itself.[26] In October 2020 the defaced monument was deemed among the most influential American protest artworks since World War II.[5]

The Future of Education[edit]

Although there are many groups that are calling for the removal of Confederate monuments, educators are taking the calls for removal in another direction. Many teachers with students in the middle school and high school range are using the contested Confederate monuments and the protests as a learning experience. Educators believe that teaching about these monuments needs to be broken down into three categories, "the history of the person or event being depicted, the time in which the object was created, and the present time in which the work is being viewed and understood"[27]. The overall idea for educators is to inform their students about the facts of the monument and facilitate critical conversations without pushing political agendas onto students. Based on events surround the Robert E. Lee Monument in Charlottesville and Richmond, Virginia, many have called the monument a physical representation of white supremacy and racism. However, teachers and educators have decided that in the end they are not making the decisions to remove the monuments so it is their job to show their students different perspectives and the history behind the monument.[27]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. ^ a b Lawler, Andrew (2020-08-09). "The Black, Millennial Mayor Who Tore Down His City's White Monuments". Politico. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  4. ^ a b c d Carter, Robert A.; Murdock, Jennifer W. (August 2006). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Robert E. Lee Monument" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying four photos
  5. ^ a b Force, Thessaly La; Lescaze, Zoë; Hass, Nancy; Miller, M. H. (2020-10-15). "The 25 Most Influential Works of American Protest Art Since World War II". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Mercie, Marius Jean Antonin; Pujol, Paul; Netherwood, James (24 October 1890). "Robert E. Lee Monument" – via siris-artinventories.si.edu Library Catalog.
  7. ^ a b c d e f McCabe, Lida (April 1917). "Mercie and His American Affiliations".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ a b c d Connelly, Thomas (1977). The Marble Man. Louisiana State University Press. pp. 1–25. ISBN 0807104744.
  9. ^ Foster, Gaines (1987). Ghosts of the Confederacy. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 52.
  10. ^ "Robert E. Lee Monument, Richmond, VA" (PDF). January 5, 2007. p. 7–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2017. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Mercié, Marius Jean Antonin". Benezit Dictionary of Artists. October 13, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ DuPriest, James E., Jr. and Douglas O. Tice, Jr., Monument & Boulevard: Richmond;s Grand Avenues, A Richmond Discoveries Publication, Richmond, VA 1996 p, 6
  13. ^ DuPriest, James E., Jr. and Douglas O. Tice, Jr., Monument & Boulevard: Richmond's Grand Avenues, A Richmond Discoveries Publication, Richmond, VA 1996 p. 8
  14. ^ "How Richmond is addressing the debate over Confederate monuments 1 year after Charlottesville". ABC News. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  15. ^ Suderman, Alan; Rankin, Sarah. "Virginia governor to announce removal of Lee statue". Associated Press. Associated Press. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  16. ^ "Virginia Judge Blocks Plan To Remove Statue Of Robert E. Lee". Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  17. ^ Amended lawsuit seeking to halt Robert E. Lee statue’s removal challenges Northam’s authority (July 9, 2020)
  18. ^ Rankin, Sarah (2020-07-23). "Robert E. Lee statue stays on its Richmond pedestal, for now". WSLS. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  19. ^ Duster, Chandelis (2020-08-03). "Judge temporarily blocks Virginia attempt to remove Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond". CNN. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  20. ^ Kolenich, Eric (2020-08-25). "After judge's ruling, Richmond's Robert E. Lee statue will stay in place until at least October". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  21. ^ Schneider, Gregory S. (2020-08-25). "Judge sets trial date for lawsuit blocking removal of Richmond's Robert E. Lee statue". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  22. ^ Schneider, Gregory S. (2020-10-19). "Trial will determine fate of Northam's effort to remove Richmond statue of Robert E. Lee". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  23. ^ Vozzella, Laura (2020-10-27). "Northam can remove Lee statue in Richmond, judge rules". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  24. ^ a b c Beetham, Sarah (Spring 2020). "Confederate Monuments: Southern Heritage or Southern Art?". Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ^ Kolenich, Eric (2020-06-26). "Space around the Lee statue has been informally named for a Black man who lost his life at the hands of police". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  26. ^ "Refacing the Robert E. Lee Monument in Richmond". Reading The Pictures. 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  27. ^ a b Buffington, Melanie. "Confronting Hate: Ideas for Art Educators to Address Confederate Monuments".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[edit]

Category:History

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