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Confederate Monument (Murray, Kentucky)

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Confederate Monument in Murray
Confederate Monument (Murray, Kentucky) is located in Kentucky
Confederate Monument (Murray, Kentucky)
Confederate Monument (Murray, Kentucky) is located in the United States
Confederate Monument (Murray, Kentucky)
LocationJct. of KY 94 and Ky 121, Murray, Kentucky
Built1917
ArchitectMcneil Marble Co., Marietta, GA
MPSCivil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS
NRHP reference No.97000711[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 17, 1997

The Confederate Monument in Murray is a statue located in the northeast corner of the Calloway County Courthouse in Murray, Kentucky. It commemorates the 800 citizens of the county who served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, and is one of several Confederate monuments in Kentucky featuring Robert E. Lee. There is another one in Bardstown KY.[2] Despite recent controversy, the Calloway County Fiscal Court voted to keep the statue on its grounds in July 2020.[3]

Establishment

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During the American Civil War, Calloway County saw about 800 of its citizens serve in the Confederate Army. 200 plus served in the Union Army.[2] At the time of the Civil War 1,500 enslaved people were living in Calloway County making up about 15% of the county's population at the time.[4]

The monument was funded after a three-year fund raising drive by the J. N. Williams Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (U.D.C.) in 1917, whose chairman died during that period; her name was added to the monument in tribute. The U.D.C. paid $2,500 to Marietta, Georgia's McNeel Monument Company for the structure.[2][5]

Structure

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The 16.5-foot-tall (5.0 m) monument has three parts. The bottom is a porcelain drinking fountain; It was a working fountain, a step pedal was used to obtain water. In its time, was the most elaborate and modern of the Civil War fountain monuments:[6] the other three fountains are the Confederate Memorial in Mayfield, Confederate Memorial Fountain in Hopkinsville, and the Confederate Monument of Cadiz.[2]

Four 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) Doric columns support a granite canopy. Inside the canopy is an ornate iron light fixture with four incandescent bulbs to light the fountain. On top are four marble balls and a 5.5-foot-tall (1.7 m) marble statue of Lee, making it the only monument in Kentucky that heavily features Robert E. Lee;[6] the only other monument in Kentucky with a likeness of Lee is Bardstown, Kentucky's Confederate Monument of Bardstown which has only a small relief portrait of Lee below the large statue of a Confederate soldier.[2][6]

On July 17, 1997, the Confederate Monument in Murray was one of sixty-one different monuments related to the Civil War in Kentucky placed on the National Register of Historic Places, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission.[7]

Controversy

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Call for removal

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In the wake of the George Floyd protests in June 2020, a call to remove the statue was initially made by Sherman Neal II, a football coach at Murray State University, in a letter to Murray Mayor Bob Rogers and other local officials.[8][9][10][11] When asked about the statue, Governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear said, "If it is at a courthouse, it ought to come down. Having a confederate monument on courthouse grounds or in the rotunda is not the right thing."[12][13][14] A number of other prominent local organizations and individuals called for Calloway Court to remove the statue including a unanimous resolution by the Murray City Council,[15][16][17][18] Murray State University,[19][20] Murray Main Street Board of Directors,[21][22] and Ja Morant,[23][24][25][26] among others.

Official response

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In response to the June 2020 calls for removal, the Mayor of Murray, Bob Rogers, released a statement that the statue was situated on land owned by Calloway County and therefore the City of Murray had no jurisdiction which was confirmed by Judge/Executive of the Calloway County Fiscal Court, Kenny Imes.[27] In its June 2020 meeting, Calloway Court updated its rules as a result of COVID-19 to limit the number of speakers discussing this issue which included Mr. Neal, but afterwards made no decision about whether to keep or remove the statue citing unclear ownership issues.[28] During the July 2020 meeting of the Calloway Court, a proposal was heard from Kevin Elliott of the Murray State University Political Science Department to move the statue to the nearby Confederate cemetery, however, the Court instead unanimously voted to keep the statue where it was located.[3] In a resolution drafted by Calloway County Attorney Bryan Ernstberger, one of the justifications was a claim of statue ownership by the U.D.C. which Ernstberger indicated the Court could not dispute based on minutes from 1916 Calloway Court meeting as indicating the U.D.C. "may be granted the privilege of erecting a monument" on Courthouse grounds.[3][29] The minutes from the 1916 Calloway Court meeting also indicate "the location shall be by and with the approval of the Fiscal Court."[3][29] Although not part of the resolution, a voting magistrate of the Calloway Court, Paul Rister, indicated he was basing his vote on a survey where he drove around his district and asked people who were outside their homes their thoughts on the statue resulting in 77% asking for the monument to stay and 23% asking for it to be moved out of a reported 280 surveyed.[30][31][3]

Protests and escalation

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In the two months following the June 2020 calls for removal, a number of protests took place in Murray and Calloway County related to this statue, the murder of George Floyd, and police brutality nationwide.[32][21][22][33] In June 2020, an arrest was made of a man at a parade away from the monument for allegedly pointing a gun at protesters from his vehicle.[34] Another arrest was made of a man at the same parade who allegedly rolled down his window and sprayed pepper spray on multiple protesters and five police officers.[34] According to police, the suspect then attempted to drive through the crowd of protesters and officers before being stopped by police.[34]

Following the Calloway Court's July 2020 vote to keep the statue on its grounds, a series of protests were held at the statue including both protesters and counter-protesters of the Court's decision.[21][35] In August, 2020, a man approached opposed to removal of the statue approached protestors and sprayed and the sidewalk with a water hose.[36] Charges have been filed against one of the protestors who was sprayed, rather than the person spraying the hose, for allegedly falsifying a police report regarding the incident which is on video.[36] County Attorney Ernstberger, who wrote the resolution to keep the statue, was also serving as the prosecutor in this case.[36] The charges were later dropped.[37]

In early February 2021, an opponent to removal allegedly brandished a gun from their vehicle towards a group protesting the statue including college students from Murray State University and young children with their parents with no known arrests made.[38][39] In December 2021, the Confederate monument was splashed with red paint.[40]

In January 2022, Ernstberger faced a challenger in his re-election for County Attorney. The challenger Madison Leach made the removal of the monument one of the points of her platform and proposed a legal theory that because "the Daughters of the Confederacy owns this monument, and the Sons of the Confederacy seem to be the one that’s taking care of it now – that means that the government has opened this up as a venue for speaking because (the monument) is obviously a type of speech. That means that they can’t get involved with viewpoint discrimination."[41] Ernstberger was reelected by a ~13% margin, or 45 votes.[42]

In media

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Several films were made about the community effort to remove the Confederate Monument.

  • "Ghosts of a Lost Cause" sponsored by the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange[43][44]
  • "Friendliest Small Town in America" sponsored by the Pulitzer Center[45]
[edit]
  • Front view
    Front view
  • Monument with courthouse in view
    Monument with courthouse in view

References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System – (#97000711)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e Murray, Ky. Trailsrus.com, Accessed November 12, 2008
  3. ^ a b c d e Niemeyer, Liam (15 July 2020). "Calloway Co. Fiscal Court Passes Resolution Keeping Confederate Monument By County Courthouse". wkms.org. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  4. ^ Caldwell, Robert (1989). "The Civil War in Murray, Calloway County, Kentucky". Jackson Purchase Historical Society. 17: 115 – via Digital Commons.
  5. ^ Brent, Joseph. Confederate Monument in Murray NRHP Nomination Form (Kentucky Heritage Council, 1997) p.1
  6. ^ a b c Brent p.1
  7. ^ Joseph E. Brent (January 8, 1997). National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Submission: Civil War Monuments in Kentucky, 1865–1935 (pdf). National Park Service.
  8. ^ Ortiz, Aimee; Diaz, Johnny (2020-06-03). "George Floyd Protests Reignite Debate Over Confederate Statues". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  9. ^ "Request made to remove statute of Robert E. Lee in Murray". Kentucky Today. June 2, 2020. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  10. ^ Rogers, Tom (June 1, 2020). "Murray State Coach Asks for Lee Statue to Be Removed". WKDZ Radio. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  11. ^ "Murray State assistant football coach asks for Confederate Memorial to be removed". The State Journal. June 2, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  12. ^ York, Dalton (8 June 2020). "Beshear Calls For Removal Of Calloway County Confederate Monument". wkms.org. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  13. ^ Rogers, Steve (2020-06-08). "Beshear: Confederate memorials should go, better training, health care, education diversity coming". ABC 36 News. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  14. ^ Yu, Chris (25 June 2020). "Murray City Council passes resolution urging fiscal court to remove Confederate monument". WPSD Local 6. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  15. ^ "Kentucky city passes resolution to remove Lee statue". AP NEWS. 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  16. ^ Rogers, Steve (2020-06-26). "Murray Council asks for removal of Confederate statue". ABC 36 News. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  17. ^ "Murray City Council Wants Confederate Statue Moved". Western Kentucky Star. June 12, 2020. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  18. ^ Wright, John (June 12, 2020). "Council passes resolution to pursue removing Confederate statue". Murray Ledger & Times. Archived from the original on June 30, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  19. ^ Bold, Paige. "Murray State University supports the removal of Confederate statue". TheNews.org. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  20. ^ Niemeyer, Liam (17 June 2020). "Murray State University Supports Removal Of Calloway Co. Courthouse Confederate Monument". wkms.org. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  21. ^ a b c News 3 (2020-07-18). "Dueling protests in Murray, KY over Robert E. Lee monument". WSIL. Retrieved 2020-07-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ a b Teague, Hawkins (July 17, 2020). "Group plans another protest against Confederate monument Saturday morning". Murray Ledger & Times.
  23. ^ "Morant asks for removal of Murray's Lee statue". ESPN.com. 2020-06-13. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  24. ^ "Grizzlies' Ja Morant pens letter to county judge in Kentucky asking for removal of Confederate statue". CBSSports.com. 13 June 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  25. ^ Chiari, Mike. "Ja Morant Writes Letter Urging Kentucky Judge to Remove Confederate Statue". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  26. ^ Gleeson, Scott. "Ja Morant asks judge to have Confederate 'white supremacy' monument removed". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  27. ^ Yu, Chris (3 June 2020). "Murray man calls for removal of Confederate memorial outside Calloway County Courthouse". WPSD Local 6. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  28. ^ Niemeyer, Liam (26 June 2020). "As Advocates Call For Confederate Monument Removal, Judge-Executive Says No Timeline For Action". wkms.org. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  29. ^ a b Calloway County Fiscal Court, 1916, Meeting Minutes
  30. ^ Yu, Chris (15 July 2020). "Calloway County Fiscal Court decides to keep Confederate monument where it stands". WPSD Local 6. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  31. ^ Teague, Hawkins (July 15, 2020). "Fiscal Court approves resolution to keep Confederate monument on courthouse lawn". Murray Ledger & Times. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  32. ^ York, Liam Niemeyer, Rachel Collins, Dalton (4 June 2020). "Man Assaults Protesters With Spray During Second Day Of Murray Protests". wkyufm.org. Retrieved 2020-07-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ Mohundro, Mike (19 July 2020). "Protesters, counter-protesters quarrel over confederate statue in Murray, Ky". kfvs12.com. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  34. ^ a b c "Two Arrested for Endangering Murray Protesters". Western Kentucky Star. June 3, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  35. ^ Teague, Hawkins (July 17, 2020). "Group plans another protest against Confederate monument Saturday morning". Murray Ledger & Times. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  36. ^ a b c Collins, Rachel (20 November 2020). "Murray's Confederate Monument Brought Protests For Months. Two Locals Still Face Charges". www.wkms.org. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  37. ^ "Case Dismissed Against Confederate Monument Protester Accused Of False Report". WKMS. 2021-06-23. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  38. ^ Niemeyer, Liam (23 January 2021). "Murray Residents Calling For Confederate Monument Removal Donate Books To Library". www.wkms.org. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  39. ^ First Presbyterian Church of Murray, Kentucky: A Roundtable Discussion on Racism in America, 2021 (Youtube). Murray, Kentucky: First Presbyterian Church of Murray, Kentucky. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2021.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  40. ^ "Confederate statue in Murray splashed with paint". Kentucky Today. 2021-12-03. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  41. ^ jpaine@murrayledger.com, JESSICA JONES PAINE • (2022-01-24). "Ernstberger faces challenger in county attorney race". Murray Ledger and Times. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  42. ^ "General Election Results" (PDF).
  43. ^ Lantern, Liam Niemeyer, Kentucky. "Film Series Captures Black Communities, Struggles, Solidarity Across Kentucky". Cincinnati CityBeat. Retrieved 2024-01-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  44. ^ "RUX LIVE: Rural-Urban Solidarity Project Premieres Aug. 5 + 8". Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange. 2023-07-24. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  45. ^ Franklin, Curtis. "The Friendliest Small Town in America".
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