Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument |
|
|---|---|
Stonewall Jackson (left) and Robert E. Lee (right)
|
|
| Artist | Laura Gardin Fraser |
| Year | 1948 |
| Medium | Bronze |
| Location | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Owner | City of Baltimore |
The Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument was a large statue in Baltimore, Maryland. It showed two important generals from the Southern states during the American Civil War. These generals were Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. The statue showed them riding horses.
It used to be in Wyman Park Dell in a neighborhood called Charles Village. The statue was taken down on August 16, 2017. The city government of Baltimore ordered its removal. Even though the statue is gone, its base is still there. The area where the statue stood was later renamed Harriet Tubman Grove in March 2018.
Contents
What Made This Statue Special?
The Jackson and Lee Monument was very unique. It was the first statue in the United States to show two people on horses at the same time. This type of statue is called a double equestrian statue.
The artist who created the statue was Laura Gardin Fraser. She was a talented sculptor. She was the only woman chosen for this big project. Five other men were also considered. A famous architect named John Russell Pope designed the base of the monument.
How Was the Statue Built?
A man named J. Henry Ferguson helped pay for the statue. He was the owner of the Colonial Trust Company. Before he passed away in 1928, he set aside $100,000 for the monument. This money helped make the statue possible.
The statue was officially opened in 1948. There was a special ceremony for it. Important people like Governor William Preston Lane Jr. and Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. spoke at the event. For many years, the monument stood proudly in Wyman Park Dell.
Why Was the Statue Removed?
After a sad event in 2015, people started talking about Confederate monuments. The mayor of Baltimore at the time, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, created a group. This group was asked to decide what to do with the city's four Confederate statues.
In January 2016, the group decided that two statues should be removed. One was the Jackson and Lee Monument. The other was a statue of Roger B. Taney.
On August 15, 2017, the Baltimore City Council voted. They all agreed to take down these monuments. The Jackson and Lee Statue was removed the very next day, on August 16, 2017. Workers from Whiting Turner construction company did the job. The base of the statue was left behind.
After the statue was removed, some artists put up a different sculpture. It was a statue of a pregnant African-American woman. However, this new artwork was soon damaged. The empty base of the monument was also often covered in graffiti. People wrote messages on it about their feelings and beliefs.
What Was Written on the Base?
The base of the statue had some words carved into it. These words were about the generals and the monument's purpose. Here are some of the things it said:
- "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"
- "THE PARTING OF GENERAL LEE AND / STONEWALL JACKSON ON THE EVE / OF CHANCELLORSVILLE" (This was on the west steps.)
- "GIFT OF J. HENRY FERGUSON OF MARYLAND." (This was on the east steps.)
- "THEY WERE GREAT GENERALS AND/ CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS AND WAGED / WAR LIKE GENTLEMEN." (This was on the north steps.)
