At least 26 Confederate monuments have been removed from public land since Charlottesville
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In the weeks after the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, at least 26 Confederate monuments have been removed from public spaces across the country. From California to Ohio and Maryland to Florida, monuments that critics say celebrate slavery have been pulled down by protesters and quietly removed in the dark of night by local governments.
Mic’s analysis shows that since violence in Charlottesville, there has been a 225% increase in the number of Confederate monuments torn down in 2017.
There are at least 700 Confederate symbols on public property in the U.S. Across the southern states, monuments to Confederate soldiers and generals hold prominent positions in town squares and outside county courthouses. On Aug. 12, one of them — a statue of Confederate leader Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia — became the site of a violent clash between white supremacists and anti-racist counterprotesters.
These movements include online petitions, in-person protests, moves by city officials and other efforts to remove memorials. Petitions calling for the removal of Confederate symbols have drawn more than half a million supporters on Change.org alone.
At least 23 Confederate monuments have been removed from public land since violence in Charlottesville.
At least 34 Confederate monuments have been removed from public land in 2017 alone (a 35th was relocated from public land in one Kentucky city to another).
The governors of Virginia, which has the most public Confederate monuments of any state, and North Carolina have called for the removal of all such monuments. A local government in Ohio removed a plaque memorializing Robert E. Lee. The mayor of San Diego removed a plaque commemorating Jefferson Davis, the only known Confederate memorial on public land in the state. And the state of Maryland removed the statue of a Confederate leader from its statehouse grounds.
Here are the movements to remove Confederate monuments nationwide:
Alabama
Birmingham: The city covered up a Confederate monument as it debates whether to remove the memorial permanently. The city was sued by the state’s attorney general for allegedly violating a state law preserving historical monuments.
Arizona
Statewide: There have been calls to remove Confederate monuments from state property, but Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, has rejected those proposals.
Arkansas
Bentonville: An online petition is gathering signatures to push for the removal of a Confederate statue in the town square.
California
San Diego: A group started a petition to remove a plaque memorializing Jefferson Davis in Horton Park. The plaque was removed on Wednesday, Aug. 16 by the city of San Diego. The plaque was the only known Confederate monument on public property in California. That excludes streets and schools named after Confederate leaders.
District of Columbia
Washington: A statue of Albert Pike stands in Judiciary Square. It is the only outdoor statue of a Confederate officer in the nation’s capital.
Florida
Bradenton: The city damaged a Confederate monument while removing it from outside the county courthouse early in the morning on Thursday, Aug. 24.
Daytona Beach: Three plaques honoring Confederate soldiers were removed from a public park on Friday. Aug. 18.
Fort Myers: The local NAACP chapter is pushing to remove a portrait of Gen. Robert E. Lee in the city council chamber.
Gainesville: A Confederate statue known as “Old Joe” was removed by the city on Aug. 14.
Jacksonville: The city council president has called for the removal of Confederate monuments.
Lakeland: City officials are considering removing a Confederate monument.
Orlando: The city removed a Confederate statue in June 2017.
Pensacola: A petition has launched to remove a Confederate monument erected in 1891 to honor “the Uncrowned Heroes of the Southern Confederacy, whose joy was to suffer and die for a cause they believed to be just.”
Tampa: The city removed a Confederate monument on Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Tallahassee: There are calls to remove a Confederate monument outside the Florida state capitol building.
St. Petersburg: The city removed a plaque commemorating a highway named for a Confederate general was removed on Wednesday, Aug. 15.
Georgia
Bainbridge: An online petition is calling for the removal of a Confederate monument.
Covington: Some local leaders are open to the removal of a Confederate monument in a city park.
Decatur: A local petition is pushing for the removal of a Confederate monument.
Gainesville: Activists say they will rally to demand the removal of a Confederate statue in the town square.
Macon: An online petition is calling for the removal of a Confederate monument.
Statesboro: An online petition is calling for the removal of a Confederate monument.
Stone Mountain: Stacey Abrams, a Democratic candidate for Georgia governor, called for the removal of a carving of Confederate generals at a state-owned park. It requires an act of the legislature to remove the carving created in 1915 by leaders of the Ku Klux Klan.
Kentucky
Lexington: The mayor and local activists are pushing to remove two statues.
Louisville: A Confederate monument was relocated to Brandenburg, Kentucky, earlier this year.
Paduach: An online petition is calling for the removal of a Confederate monument.
Owensboro: An online petition is calling for the removal of a Confederate monument.
Louisiana
New Orleans: Four monuments were removed and put in a warehouse in 2017 before the Charlottesville violence.
Shreveport: An online petition to remove the Confederate monument outside the Caddo County Courthouse has nearly 6,000 signatures.
Lafayette: Local residents are still pushing for the removal of the statue of a Confederate general. The parish council passed on moving the statue last year.
Maryland
Annapolis: The Republican governor ordered the removal of the statue of a Confederate leader early in the morning on Friday, Aug. 18.
Baltimore: The city removed four Confederate monuments early in the morning on Wednesday, August 16.
Ellicott City: A Confederate monument was removed on Tuesday, Aug. 22 by the order of county officials.
Frederick: A bust of a Confederate leader was removed by the city in March 2017 before the Charlottesville violence.
Rockville: A Confederate monument was removed in late July.
Salisbury: An online petition and the city’s mayor are calling for the removal of a plaque commemorating the Confederacy.
Massachusetts
Boston: A plaque that remembers Confederate prisoners of war in an island in Boston Harbor has been covered up by the state.
Mississippi
Kosciusko: County leaders have been asked to remove a Confederate statue.
Corinth: Guards were stationed near a Confederate monument after online hacking group Anonymous threatened to tear down public Confederate memorials.
Oxford: The University of Mississippi installed a plaque offering context to a Confederate monument on its campus.
Missouri
Kansas City: City workers removed a Confederate monument on Friday, Aug. 25.
St. Louis: A Confederate monument in a city park was removed in 2017 before the Charlottesville violence.
Montana
Helena: A fountain honoring the Confederacy was removed on Friday, Aug. 18.
New York
New York: The governor ordered the removal of busts of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson from a City University of New York Hall of Fame.
North Carolina
Statewide: Gov. Roy Cooper (D-N.C.) called for the removal of all Confederate monuments on Tuesday, Aug. 15.
Asheville: Protesters called for the removal of a Confederate statue on Aug. 13.
Chapel Hill: The statue of a Confederate soldier on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has long faced calls for removal.
Durham: A Confederate monument in Durham, North Carolina, was torn down by demonstrators on Monday, Aug. 14.
Greenville: A public petition is calling for the removal of a Confederate monument outside the county courthouse.
Wilmington: A petition is calling on the mayor to remove Confederate monuments across the city.
Ohio
Franklin: The city removed a plaque memorializing Robert E. Lee.
Worthington: A plaque memorializing a Confederate general was removed by the city.
Tennessee
Chattanooga: The NAACP chapter asked for the removal of the statue of a Confederate general in July.
Franklin: An online petition is calling for the removal of a Confederate monument.
Knoxville: A Confederate monument in the Fort Sanders neighborhood has been defaced and a petition is calling on the mayor to remove the memorial.
Memphis: The coach of the Memphis Grizzlies said two Confederate monuments in his city should be removed. That came after the city commission unanimously decided it will take down the statues if the state does not take them.
Nashville: Protesters demanded the removal of a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, the founder of the Ku Klux Klan, in the state Capitol.
Texas
Amarillo: An online petition is calling for the removal of a Confederate monument.
Austin: A rally is planned for early September to support the preservation of a Confederate monument near the state capitol. A larger, counter-protest is also planned.
On Sunday, Aug. 20, at the University of Texas at Austin, three statues of Confederate leaders were removed by the university.
Dallas: The city council ordered a statue of Robert E. Lee removed on Wednesday, Sept. 6.
Houston: Petitioners want a Spirit of the Confederacy monument removed from Sam Houston park.
San Antonio: The city removed a Confederate monument on Friday, Sept. 1.
Virginia
Statewide: The state’s governor called for all Confederate statues to be removed on Wednesday, Aug. 16.
Charlottesville: The Robert E. Lee statue in Emancipation Park was the site of the “Unite the Right” rally that drew hundreds of far-right protesters demonstrating against the monument’s planned removal and resulted in the death of one counter-protester. The statue was covered by the University of Virginia on Wednesday, Aug. 23. The city voted Tuesday, Sept. 5 to also remove a statue of Stonewall Jackson, another Confederate general.
Portsmouth: An online petition has garnered more than 15,000 signatures to replace a Confederate statue with one honoring Missy Elliott.
Richmond: Protesters demanded the removal of several statues of Confederate leaders on Monday, Aug. 14. On Wednesday, Aug. 16, the mayor reversed an earlier stance and said Richmond will consider removing statues that are prominently displayed along the city’s Monument Avenue.
West Virginia
Charleston: Protesters called for the removal of a statue of Stonewall Jackson on the state Capitol grounds.
Wisconsin
Madison: The city’s mayor has removed a plaque from a public cemetery and is pushing to remove a larger, stone memorial to the Confederacy.
Help us track movements to remove Confederate monuments
Mic wants to keep track of emerging movements to remove Confederate monuments across the country. This is where you come in.
We have created a spreadsheet of monuments we believe, based on public information online, to be located on public land. You can view that spreadsheet here.
Are we missing any Confederate monuments on public land? Are you aware of any monuments on the list that have been removed? Do you know of any movements to remove any of the listed monuments?
If so, please fill out this form to get in touch with our journalists or email Mic reporter Will Drabold at wdrabold@mic.com. We will verify information submitted to Mic and regularly update this story.
Sept. 6, 2017, 3:00 p.m. This story has been updated.
