Robert E. Lee Monument (Charlottesville, Virginia)

For other uses, see Robert E. Lee Monument (disambiguation).
Robert Edward Lee
The sculpture in January 2006
Robert E. Lee Monument (Charlottesville, Virginia) is located in Virginia
Robert E. Lee Monument (Charlottesville, Virginia)
Robert E. Lee Monument (Charlottesville, Virginia) is located in the United States
Robert E. Lee Monument (Charlottesville, Virginia)
LocationMarket Street Park, bounded by Market, Jefferson, 1st and 2nd streets, Northeast
Coordinates38°1′54″N 78°28′50″W / 38.03167°N 78.48056°W / 38.03167; -78.48056
Arealess than one acre
Built1924 (1924)
ArchitectWalter Blair; sculptors, Henry Shrady, Leo Lentelli
Architectural stylebronze sculpture
MPSFour Monumental Figurative Outdoor Sculptures in Charlottesville MPS
NRHP reference No.97000447[1]
VLR No.104-0264
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 16, 1997
Designated VLRJune 19, 1996[2]
Lee sculpture covered in black tarpaulin following the Unite the Right rally of 2017

The Robert E. Lee Monument was an outdoor bronze equestrian statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee and his horse Traveller located in Charlottesville, Virginia's Market Street Park (formerly Emancipation Park, and before that Lee Park) in the Charlottesville and Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District. The statue was commissioned in 1917 and dedicated in 1924, and in 1997 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was removed on July 10, 2021, and melted down in 2023.[1][3][4]

In February 2017, as part of the movement for the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials, the Charlottesville City Council voted 3–2 for the statue's removal, along with the city's Stonewall Jackson statue, and for Lee Park to be renamed. The removal proposal generated controversy. A lawsuit was filed on March 20, 2017, and in May 2017 a temporary injunction against its removal was granted by a judge, citing a Virginia state law that blocked the removal. White supremacists organized the Unite the Right rally for August 2017 to protest the proposed removal that drew numerous far-right groups from across the United States; this rally in turn caused counterdemonstrations, which in turn caused serious clashes; the event took a deadly turn when a white supremacist rammed a car into a crowd of counterdemonstrators, killing one and wounding 35. On August 23, 2017, the council had the statue shrouded in black, which in February 2018 a judge ordered removed. In July 2019 a permanent injunction was granted, and in July 2020 the state law was amended to remove the grounds for objection raised by the judge. The Virginia Supreme Court lifted the injunction in April 2021, holding that the state law thought to restrict the removal did not apply retroactively to statues passed before its effect (the law was applied to Virginia cities in 1997, but the statue had been erected in 1924).[5] However, rather than immediately remove the statue, the city opted to employ the new removal process authorized under the law's 2020 amendments, which entails public notice, a public hearing after 30 days, and 30 days to field offers for relocation of the statue.[6]

On July 9, 2021, the City Council announced that the Lee Monument would be removed the following day,[7] and, on July 10, 2021, both the Lee and Jackson statues were removed by the city.[8] In October 2023, the Lee statue was cut into pieces and melted down, with the intention of later turning the metal into a new artwork.[4]

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee removed in Charlottesville, Va". CBC. CBC. July 10, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Neus, Nora (2023-10-26). "Robert E Lee statue that sparked Charlottesville riot is melted down: 'Like his face was crying'". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Allyson Waller (April 1, 2021). "Charlottesville Can Remove Confederate Statues, High Court Rules". New York Times.
  6. ^ Charlotte Rene Wood (May 3, 2021). "Charlottesville's Confederate monuments could come down July 7". Charlottesville Tomorrow.
  7. ^ Deepa Shivaram (July 9, 2021). "Confederate Monument That Sparked Deadly Charlottesville Rally To Be Removed Saturday". NPR.
  8. ^ Paviour, Ben (10 July 2021). "Charlottesville Removes Robert E. Lee Statue That Sparked A Deadly Rally". NPR.org.