Richmond’s Last Confederate Statue Is Removed - The New York Times

U.S.|Richmond’s Last Confederate Statue Is Removed

The past Confederate statue successful Richmond, Va., was removed connected Monday, and the remains beneath it of Ambrose P. Hill, the Confederate lieutenant wide who was memorialized, were acceptable to beryllium transferred to a cemetery, an authoritative said.

Local quality channels broadcast the removal of the statue, which had stood connected a pedestal astatine the engaged intersection successful Richmond, a metropolis of 230,000, since 1892. The limb of a elephantine crane swung implicit the monument and plucked the statue earlier pivoting and depositing it onto a flatbed truck.

A tiny assemblage watched the removal of the statue, Robert Steidel, the lawman main administrative serviceman of operations for the City of Richmond, said successful a telephone interrogation connected Monday.

“The City Council has decided that the statue is going to spell to the Black History Museum,” Mr. Steidel said. Officials astatine the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia could not beryllium reached connected Monday.

Mr. Steidel said that the Hill statue had been “stored and archived pending transfer” to the museum.

Mayor Levar M. Stoney said connected Monday that the removal of the last Confederate statue marked the extremity of a play that helium has denounced arsenic the Lost Cause, referring to the question aft the Civil War by erstwhile Confederates to warrant the Confederacy.

“Over 2 years ago, Richmond was location to much confederate statues than immoderate metropolis successful the United States,” Mayor Stoney said successful a connection connected Twitter aft the statue was gone. “Collectively, we person closed that chapter. We present proceed the enactment of being a much inclusive and welcoming spot wherever ALL belong.”

Like different American cities, Richmond, which was the superior of the Confederacy during the Civil War, has worked to undo the symbols and monuments of its Confederate history. George Floyd’s decease astatine the hands of Minneapolis constabulary officers successful May 2020 and nationwide protests implicit systemic racism and constabulary unit against Black radical brought a surge of attraction to Confederate monuments successful cities crossed the nation.

Richmond has since removed astir a twelve statues and different memorials, from cannons and road markers to statues of the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, and the Confederate wide Robert E. Lee. Hill, a lieutenant wide nether Lee, served successful the Army of Northern Virginia. He was killed extracurricular of Petersburg, Va., a week earlier Lee’s surrender astatine Appomattox successful 1865.

The removal followed a bid of court rulings, successful which the indirect descendants of Hill opposed the city’s plans to instrumentality the statue down. The 2 sides agreed that the general’s remains should beryllium interred successful a cemetery successful Culpeper, Va., but the indirect descendants wanted a accidental connected wherever the statue would go, hoping to determination it to Cedar Mountain Battlefield nearby.

In October, Judge D. Eugene Cheek Sr., of the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond, noted that Richmond’s City Council had adopted an ordinance successful 2020 authorizing the metropolis to region Confederate statues connected city-owned property. He said that the metropolis had the close to dismantle the Hill statue and donate it to the museum. The general’s remains would besides beryllium reburied astatine a cemetery successful Culpeper, astir 85 miles north, Judge Cheek ruled successful October.

Last week, the indirect descendants asked Judge Cheek to hold the removal of the Hill monument pending their appeal. It was mistakenly directed to the Supreme Court of Virginia alternatively of to the Virginia Court of Appeals, The Richmond Times-Dispatch cited tribunal documents arsenic showing. On Thursday, Judge Cheek denied the motion, according to a tribunal document, allowing the statue to beryllium disassembled, Mr. Steidel said successful the telephone interview.

S. Braxton Puryear, a lawyer for the distant relatives, did not instantly respond to a telephone connection connected Monday.