“Preservation of Confederate Monuments in the Era of Black Lives Matter” – panel discussion led by invited experts. Panelists pictured below:
- Katherine Ridgway, State Archeological Conservator at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources
- Dr. Lauranett Lee, Member of Richmond’s Monument Avenue Commission and adjunct faculty at University of Richmond
- Christina Vida, Elise H. Wright Curator of General Collections at the Valentine Museum
- Robert Nieweg, Vice President for Preservation Services & Outreach at National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Meeting Summary by Adrian Hernandez, Pre-Program
The Washington Conservation Guild’s October 2020 meeting “Preservation of Confederate Monuments in the Era of Black Lives Matters,” featured a panel of four cultural heritage workers who described their thoughts and experiences working with Confederate monuments, with a focus on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. Before the panel discussion, each speaker gave a brief overview of their work.
Katherine Ridgway, State Archeological Conservator at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR), discussed her preservation work on the Robert. E. Lee monument on Monument Avenue while the state pursued legal proceedings regarding its removal and relocation. During the Black Lives Matter protests people placed protest signs, art, graffiti, and projections on the Lee Monument. On July 1st, the DHS released a document, “DHR Guidance Regarding Confederate Monuments” which discussed legal and preservation issues regarding these monuments and defined graffiti applied during the civil uprisings as being “historic and should be documented and kept whenever possible. Any damage that does not constitute a public safety hazard should be kept.” Additionally, Ridgeway described some of the social and logistical challenges of working amidst a pandemic and civil unrest and with the sensitivity of this content. These include shifting definitions of “problematic monuments,” hiring contractors who may be worried that removing the Lee monument would hurt their business, being the target of hate crimes for simply doing this work, and burnout. She ended by listing out some actions that have helped her throughout this process, such as protecting oneself from being identified while doing this work and engaging in self-care.
Rob Nieweg, Vice President for Preservation Services and Outreach at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, mentioned two of the National Trust’s actions in response to this cultural moment. The first of these was releasing a public statement on Confederate Monuments, which argues for removal of confederate monuments in some cases, and the second was the announcement of the continued existence of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, which was established in 2017.
Christina Vida is the Elise H. Wright Curator of General Collections at the Valentine Museum in Richmond, Virginia. Her introduction highlighted the Valentine Museum’s work with the local community to reconsider confederate monuments. Community engagement took the form of a rapid response exhibit in 2018 scrutinizing all the monuments in Richmond; a 2019 exhibit displaying entries from a national design competition dedicated to reimagining Monument Avenue; rethinking Edward Valentine’s studio space exhibit to more openly address the museum founder’s involvement in the design of two confederate monuments; and requesting ownership of the recently toppled and graffitied Jefferson Davis Monument in order to display “it as a piece of 2020 artwork.”
Dr. Lauranett Lee’s introduction included more personal anecdotes about her relationship with the study of history and representation. She outlined many of the questions that she is currently thinking about, including: “what does it mean to have such disparities [in our society], while we have such massive monuments to men who would have kept my people as slaves? How do we reckon with that? … How do we teach our children empathy when we have such division about our history?” She recommended reading a book by Dr. Nicole Maurantonio titled Confederate Exceptionalism. Dr. Lee is a member of Richmond’s Monument Avenue Commission and adjunct faculty at the University of Richmond.
What followed these introductions was a thoughtful discussion shaped by questions regarding the reconciliation of the artist’s original intent with the needs of current stakeholders; the changing perceptions of union and abolitionist sculptures in the North; considering the spaces and locations of monuments and their ability to contextualize the objects in question; and engaging communities in conservation.
WCG YouTube video of the talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYNprJbK0cg&t=11s
Links to resources discussed above:
DHR Guidance Regarding Confederate Monuments: https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/news/dhr-guidance-regarding-confederate-monuments/
National Trust for Historic Preservation Statement on Confederate Monuments
https://savingplaces.org/press-center/media-resources/national-trust-statement-on-confederate-memorials?fbclid=IwAR2QEQ8QSa-2Zj34zZu8f-C1pGYk4QsKQSj3zkjL3T63HxbLxOR6_nvojIU
African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund: https://forum.savingplaces.org/build/funding/grant-seekers/specialprograms/aachactionfund
Valentine Museum, Monumental: Richmond’s Monuments (1607-2018): https://thevalentine.org/exhibition/monumental-richmonds-monuments-1607-2018/
Valentine Museum, Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion:
https://thevalentine.org/exhibition/gdgd/
Edward Valentine Sculpture Studio:
https://www.virginia.org/listings/Museums/EdwardVValentineSculptureStudio/
Monument Avenue Competition:
https://www.monumentavenuecommission.org/
Dr. Nicole Maurantonio, Confederate Exceptionalism: Civil War Myth and Memory in the Twenty-First Century
https://www.loyaltybookstores.com/book/9780700628698
