Confederate Monument (Portsmouth, Virginia)

The Confederate Monument in Portsmouth, Virginia, was built between 1876 and 1881. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1997.[1]

Confederate Monument
Confederate Monument
LocationJct. of High and Court Sts., Portsmouth, Virginia
Coordinates36°50′6″N 76°18′4″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1876-1881
ArchitectCharles E. Cassell
NRHP reference No.97000956[1]
VLR No.124-0183
Significant dates
Added to NRHPSeptember 4, 1997
Designated VLRDecember 4, 1996[2]

The monument is a 35-foot obelisk of North Carolina granite. It is located at the town square of Portsmouth, on Court Street at the corner of High Street. Also facing on the town square are the Trinity Episcopal Church dating from 1828 and the Portsmouth Courthouse dating from 1846, which are also NRHP-listed.[1][3]

It was erected by the Ladies Memorial Aid Association of Portsmouth, Virginia, which was founded in 1866 with one purpose "being the erection of a monument to the Confederate dead of Portsmouth and Norfolk County." The design was by topographical engineer Charles E. Cassell.[3]

The cornerstone was laid in 1876.The monument's capstone was not placed until 1881, and the monument as a whole was not completed until 1893.[3]

The monument was placed in Olde Towne where a slave whipping post used to stand. The sheriff's office was responsible for whipping slaves 15 to 20 times as punishment.

The four cast white bronze figures that surround the obelisk, including their heads and facial features, are largely generic.[4]:536–537 The sailor figure, for example, also appears outside the G.A.R. Memorial Hall in Wabash, Indiana.

The city of Portsmouth "gave 1,242 men to the Confederacy of whom 199 were killed or died; Norfolk County gave 1,018 men to the cause of whom 280 were killed or died; and the City of Norfolk gave 1,119 of whom 176 were killed or died."[3]

Calls for removal and relocation

In August 2017, in the wake of the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville Virginia where many white supremacist groups protested the removal of Confederate monuments,[5] mayor of Portsmouth John Rowe called for the movement of the monument from its current location. Mayor Rowe's proposed new site for the monument is nearby Cedar Grove Cemetery where many Confederate soldiers are buried.[6] Shortly after the mayor's announcement, a Change.org petition amassing over 30,000 signatures went viral started by a local Virginia man named Nathan Coflin to have the current monument replaced by a statue of Portsmouth native rap artist and businesswoman, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott.[7] This petition received national attention in many publications such as Newsweek,[8] CNN,[9] People[10] and Time magazine.[11]

On June 10, 2020 the Confederate soldier statues were beheaded by sledgehammer and one was toppled by Black Lives Matter protesters as the Police Department watched.[12] A brass band played.[13] One protester, Chris Green, was hit by the falling statue and sustained life-threatening injuries while standing near other people below it.[14]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. William Blake (October 7, 1996). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Confederate Monument / 124-183" (PDF). Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission. Retrieved 2010-04-24. and Accompanying photo at Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
  4. Carol A. Grissom (2009). Zinc Sculpture in America, 1850-1950. University of Delaware Press. ISBN 9780874130317. Retrieved 2016-05-28.
  5. Fausset, Richard; Feuer, Alan (2017-08-13). "Far-Right Groups Surge Into National View in Charlottesville". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  6. Ley, Ana. "Portsmouth mayor calls for moving Confederate monument from Olde Towne to cemetery". Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  7. Ollison, Rashod. "30,000 sign petition for Missy Elliott statue to replace Portsmouth Confederate monument". Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  8. "Could Missy Elliott replace a Confederate statue in Virginia?". Newsweek. 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  9. Lisa Respers France. "Missy Elliott statue instead of Confederate monument?". CNN. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  10. "Virginia Resident Wants to Remove Confederate Statue and Replace It — with a Statue of Missy Elliott!". PEOPLE.com. 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  11. Lang, Cady. "Thousands Petition to Replace Statue With Missy Elliott". Time. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  12. "Portsmouth Confederate statues beheaded, partially pulled down by rioters". The Virginian-Pilot.
  13. Fisher, Marc (June 11, 2020). "Confederate statues: In 2020, a renewed battle in America's enduring Civil War". Washington Post.
  14. Sidersky, Robyn (2020-06-11). "Man injured when Portsmouth Confederate statue fell on him is fighting for his life". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
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