Statue of Ty Cobb

Ty Cobb was born in Banks County, Georgia in 1886. As a professional American baseball player, he played for the Detroit Tigers from 1905 to 1926.[1] He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1936 and became a philanthropist later in life before dying in Atlanta in 1961.[2] In 1977, Citizens & Southern National Bank president Mills Lane commissioned the sculptor Felix de Weldon to create a statue honoring Cobb. It was completed later that year and placed near Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, later moving to Turner Field in 1997.[2] At Turner Field, the statue was placed in Monument Grove, a park near the ticket window that included monuments to other baseball players, such as Hank Aaron and Phil Niekro.[3]

In September 2015, as the Atlanta Braves were preparing to move from Turner Field to SunTrust Park, WXIA-TV reported that the statue of Cobb was not included in the list of items the Braves intended to bring with them to the new stadium.[4] It was the only statue the Braves were not planning to relocate with them.[5] The Braves stated that the reason for this was that the statue was owned by the Atlanta–Fulton County Recreation Authority and not the team.[6] However, several sources alleged that the decision was due in part to Cobb's reputation, particularly with regards to race.[5][7] While both the Recreation Authority and Georgia State University initially claimed the statue as their own, the statue was ultimately gifted to the Cobb's hometown of Royston, Georgia,[2] where it was dedicated on May 21, 2017 in front of the Royston Public Library.[8] In December, a large folk art painting of the statue's rededication was unveiled at the Ty Cobb Museum, also located in Royston.[9][10]

• 1977 in art