Louisville Confederate Monument
Encyclopedia
The Confederate Monument in Louisville is a 70-foot-tall monument adjacent to and surrounded by the University of Louisville
Belknap Campus in Louisville, Kentucky
, USA. Owned by the city of Louisville, the monument commemorates the sacrifice of Confederate
veterans.
As with many monuments to the Confederacy, some community activists, such as Louisville's Reverend Louis Coleman, have called for the removal of the monument from such a prominent location due to its association with the history of civil rights abuses against African-Americans, however both the city and university oppose such proposals. In 2002, the University announced plans to add civil rights monuments around the statue as part of its redevelopment as "Freedom Park", but funding was not secured until late 2008.
annual reunion.
Initially, the monument was built away from the University's campus at 3rd and Shipp Streets, but was moved in 1954 when the Eastern Parkway viaduct over the campus was built. During the 1920s and 1940s there were plans to remove the monument for road construction, until public sentiment saved it. In fact, in 1947 Louisville mayor Charles P. Farnsley, a fighter for civil rights, took a gun and made a public announcement on his wishes to keep the monument where it was. In 2002 plans were initiated to make it part of a "Freedom Park", with trees transplanted from Civil War
battlefields. On November 17, 2008, funding was approved for such a park, with the Kentucky state government using $1.6 million of federal funds and the university spending $403,000. Louisville sculptor Ed Hamilton
has been selected to make a civil rights monument to counter the Confederate Monument; Hamilton has already made an Abraham Lincoln
memorial statue in Louisville.
monument in Kentucky. It is built of granite
, with the German Ferdinand von Miller
-designed Confederate soldiers (an artillerist, a cavalryman, and an infantryman) made of bronze
. The base had a diameter 48 feet when first established, but has been reduced. It was originally to be designed by Louisville sculptor Enid Yandell
, but the fact that Yandell was a woman caused a scandal, and instead the monument was done by the Muldoon Monument Company.
It is currently owned by the city of Louisville.
The monument was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
on July 17, 1997, one of sixty-one different Civil War-related sites in Kentucky so honored on the same day. Four other monuments are in Louisville/Jefferson County. The 32nd Indiana Monument
and the Union Monument in Louisville
are in Cave Hill Cemetery. John B. Castleman Monument
is on Cherokee Circle in the Highlands, a block from Bardstown Road. The other, Confederate Martyrs Monument in Jeffersontown
, is in Jeffersontown City Cemetery in Jeffersontown, Kentucky
.
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
Belknap Campus in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, USA. Owned by the city of Louisville, the monument commemorates the sacrifice of Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
veterans.
As with many monuments to the Confederacy, some community activists, such as Louisville's Reverend Louis Coleman, have called for the removal of the monument from such a prominent location due to its association with the history of civil rights abuses against African-Americans, however both the city and university oppose such proposals. In 2002, the University announced plans to add civil rights monuments around the statue as part of its redevelopment as "Freedom Park", but funding was not secured until late 2008.
History
Completed in 1895, the Confederate Monument in Louisville was built with funding from the Kentucky Women's Confederate Monument Association, costing $12,000. Its dedication was on May 6, 1895, done so quickly in order to coincide with the 29th Grand Army of the RepublicGrand Army of the Republic
The Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, US Marines and US Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. Founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, it was dissolved in 1956 when its last member died...
annual reunion.
Initially, the monument was built away from the University's campus at 3rd and Shipp Streets, but was moved in 1954 when the Eastern Parkway viaduct over the campus was built. During the 1920s and 1940s there were plans to remove the monument for road construction, until public sentiment saved it. In fact, in 1947 Louisville mayor Charles P. Farnsley, a fighter for civil rights, took a gun and made a public announcement on his wishes to keep the monument where it was. In 2002 plans were initiated to make it part of a "Freedom Park", with trees transplanted from Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
battlefields. On November 17, 2008, funding was approved for such a park, with the Kentucky state government using $1.6 million of federal funds and the university spending $403,000. Louisville sculptor Ed Hamilton
Ed Hamilton
Edward Norton Hamilton, Jr. is an American sculptor living in Louisville, Kentucky, who specializes in public art. His most famous work is The Spirit of Freedom, a memorial to black Civil War veterans, that stands in Washington, DC, in the Shaw neighborhood near Howard University. Hamilton has...
has been selected to make a civil rights monument to counter the Confederate Monument; Hamilton has already made an Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
memorial statue in Louisville.
Description
It is located at the intersection of 2nd and 3rd Streets. It is the largest Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
monument in Kentucky. It is built of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, with the German Ferdinand von Miller
Ferdinand Von Miller
Ferdinand von Miller was a German artisan who is noted for his furtherance of bronze founding.-Biography:Von Miller was born in Fürstenfeldbruck....
-designed Confederate soldiers (an artillerist, a cavalryman, and an infantryman) made of bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
. The base had a diameter 48 feet when first established, but has been reduced. It was originally to be designed by Louisville sculptor Enid Yandell
Enid Yandell
Enid Yandell was an American sculptor who studied with Auguste Rodin and Frederick William MacMonnies. She was the daughter of Dr. Lunsford Pitts Yandell, Jr. and Louise Elliston Yandell of Louisville, Kentucky. Yandell was a prolific sculptor creating numerous portraits, garden pieces and small...
, but the fact that Yandell was a woman caused a scandal, and instead the monument was done by the Muldoon Monument Company.
It is currently owned by the city of Louisville.
The monument was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on July 17, 1997, one of sixty-one different Civil War-related sites in Kentucky so honored on the same day. Four other monuments are in Louisville/Jefferson County. The 32nd Indiana Monument
32nd Indiana Monument
The 32nd Indiana Monument, also known as the August Bloedner Monument, is located in Cave Hill National Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. It honors the fallen soldiers of the 32nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, also known as the "1st German," at the Battle of Rowlett's Station, near...
and the Union Monument in Louisville
Union Monument in Louisville
The Union Monument in Louisville is located in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. It was built in 1914 from granite, honoring unknown soldiers who fought in the Union during the American Civil War...
are in Cave Hill Cemetery. John B. Castleman Monument
John B. Castleman Monument
The John B. Castleman Monument, within the Cherokee Triangle of Louisville, Kentucky, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS....
is on Cherokee Circle in the Highlands, a block from Bardstown Road. The other, Confederate Martyrs Monument in Jeffersontown
Confederate Martyrs Monument in Jeffersontown
The Confederate Martyrs Monument at the Jeffersontown City Cemetery in Jeffersontown, Kentucky marks where four Confederate soldiers were executed "without cause or trial", due to Order #59, the creation of Union General Stephen G. Burbridge, known as "Butcher Burbridge" in Kentucky, which called...
, is in Jeffersontown City Cemetery in Jeffersontown, Kentucky
Jeffersontown, Kentucky
Jeffersontown is a city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. Before Louisville and Jefferson County were consolidated in 2003, it was the county's largest city outside of Louisville. The population was 26,633 at the 2000 census.- History :...
.
See also
- History of Louisville, KentuckyHistory of Louisville, KentuckyThe history of Louisville, Kentucky spans hundreds of years, with thousands of years of human habitation. The area's geography and location on the Ohio River attracted people from the earliest times. The city is located at the Falls of the Ohio River...
- List of Civil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS
- Louisville in the American Civil War