Monument Avenue Historic District
Which site was the heritage designation of Robert E. Lee Monument (Richmond, Virginia) from 2007 to 2008?
Robert E . Lee Monument ( Richmond , Virginia ) The Robert E . Lee Monument in Richmond , Virginia , was the first installation on Monument Avenue in 1890 . Honoring Civil War General Robert E . Lee , it was the largest monument on the site for over a century , and remains the last Confederate monument on the Avenue today . The monument includes General Lee sitting on his horse atop a large marble base that stands over 60 feet tall . Constructed in France by Antonin Mercié and shipped to Virginia , the statue remains one of Merciés most outstanding pieces . It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2007 and the Virginia Landmarks Register since 2006 . As the last Confederate monument on Monument Avenue , the statue is a source of controversy . After the murder of George Floyd , the monument was covered in graffiti , and many activists have called for its removal . Description and location . The bronze statue , sculpted by Antonin Mercié , depicts Confederate general Robert E . Lee atop a horse . The horse is not a representation of Robert E . Lees horse Traveller , whose modest scale Mercié believed would not suit the overall composition . Traveller was replaced by a stronger looking thoroughbred . Lee stands high atop his horse and the entire statue is tall including a stone base designed by Paul Pujol . The state-controlled land around the statue serves as a traffic circle at the intersection of Monument Avenue and Allen Avenue ( named after Otway Allen , the developer who donated the land to the association ) . The Lee Monument is a focal point for Richmond . ( Most popular online maps depict the Lee Circle as the center of Richmond ) . History . Background . Throughout the war , many American Southerners viewed Lee as a war hero and a master strategist . Following the death of Robert E . Lee in 1870 , several organizations formed with the goal of erecting a monument to Lee in Richmond . These included survivors of Lees Army of Northern Virginia , the Lee Monument Association led by Confederate general Jubal Early , and the Ladies Lee Monument Association . These organizations were merged into the Lee Monument Commission in 1886 , led by Lees nephew and Virginia governor Fitzhugh Lee and together the funds combined to $52,000 . The Sculptor : Antonin Mercié . Antonin Mercié , born on October 30 , 1845 in Toulouse , was an artist and sculptor known for his works in France before his Robert E . Lee Memorial earned him a reputation in the United States . He was a student under François Jouffroy and Alexandre Falguière , and he became a member of the Institut des Beaux-Arts as well as president of the Société des Artistes Français and Grand Officier de la Légion dHonneur . His style is know for being soberly realistic . Mercié won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1868 and awards such as an honorary medal at the Salon des Moins de 30 Ans . Although famous for his works in Paris , Mercié devoted particular attention to the construction of the Robert E . Lee Monument . Mercié constructed the monument in France and had it shipped to America . He constructed the monument in sections , which were sent to America in four separate shipping crates . Mercié wished to watch the unveiling of the monument , but due to stress from a previous ocean voyage , he stayed in France . After the unveiling of the monument , Mercié earned other commissions from the United States , including a monument representing Francis Scott Key and the creation of the American National Anthem in Baltimore , Maryland . Mercié dreamed of seeing the unveiling of the Key monument , but was reportedly unable to attend due to a domestic situation with his wife . Construction and dedication . When the construction of the monument was complete , the Lee Monument Association of Virginia sent a representative to France to inspect the work and issue the final payment of $20,000 . The journalist Lida McCabe reported on the transaction between the American business man and the French sculptor , observing that the transaction was forced and uneasy . The Monument Association representative seemed to have little interest in the monument itself and simply occupied himself with his financial duties . McCabes reporting focused on the dedication that Mercié put into the sculpture . After listening to Mercié , McCabe discovered that he had researched the Civil War and General Lee extensively . McCabe reported that had acquired different props such as saddles and stirrups , coats , and boots to make sure that the monument was as accurate as possible . The cornerstone for the monument was placed on October 27 , 1887 . The statue arrived in Richmond by rail on May 4 , 1890 . Newspaper accounts indicate that 10,000 people helped pull four wagons with the pieces of the monument . The completed statue was unveiled on May 29 , 1890 . Two of Lees daughters , Mary Custis Lee and Mildred Childe Lee , attended the dedication . The site for the statue originally was offered in 1886 . Richmond City annexed the land in 1892 , but economic difficulties meant that the Lee Monument stood alone for several years in the middle of a tobacco field before development resumed in the early 1900s . In 1992 , the iron fence around the monument was removed , in part because drivers unfamiliar with traffic circles would run into the fence from time to time and force costly repairs . After the fences came down , the stone base became a popular sunbathing spot . In December 2006 , the state completed an extensive cleaning and repair of the monument . It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2007 , the Virginia Landmarks Register since 2006 , and is located in the Monument Avenue Historic District . Recent protests . Controversy and calls for removal . In August 2017 , after the violence that occurred at the Unite the Right rally , protestors called for the removal of the Lee statue in Charlottesville and Richmond . On June 4 , 2020 , Virginia governor Ralph Northam announced that the Richmond statue would be removed in response to the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd . On June 8 , a judge in Richmond Circuit Court issued a temporary injunction against the monuments removal , citing a lawsuit filed by William C . Gregory , who claims the Commonwealth promised to faithfully guard and affectionately protect the statue in the deed that originally annexed the property to the state . Subsequent legal proceedings led to a hearing on July 23 , which concluded without a ruling on the monuments future . A new 90-day injunction against the monuments removal began August 3 . After nearby residents filed a lawsuit to keep the statue in its place , Virginias Attorney General filed a motion to dismiss the suit ; circuit court Judge W . Reilly Marchant ruled August 25 , 2020 that the matter would proceed to trial . The October 19 trial resulted in a halted decision pending appeal . Historians have offered a range of opinions on the monument , often pointing out its problematic perpetuation of the Lost Cause mythology . Kudzu . Kudzu is an invasive vine introduced to the South in 1883 and became very difficult to control and tame . Artists have recently incorporated the vine into their responses to Confederate monuments , including Richmonds Lee Monument . A knitting collective known as the Kudzu Project has created knitted vines and tossed them on monuments . In 2019 , the artist Aaron McIntosh created a full-scale installation of the Lee Monument overtaken by kudzu . Also in 2019 , the Chicago-based artist Jenny Kendler , who grew up in Richmond , VA , displayed a proposal to bioremediate Confederate monuments with kudzu at the DePaul Art Museum . Protest actions . Following Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020 , the traffic circle where the statue stands was unofficially updated with a sign that reads Welcome to Beautiful Marcus-David Peters Circle , Liberated by the People MMXX : memorializing Marcus-David Peters , a Black man from Richmond who was shot and killed by the police in 2018 . The area contained signs that told the story of Peters and milestones he missed since his death . The location is often used as protest site to remember all who have died from police brutality . In the wake of protests , the graffiti-covered monument increasingly became a venue to portray images of racial justice and empowerment : from ballerinas dancing at the base of the plinth to video projections of George Floyd , Malcolm X , Angela Davis ( and others ) onto the statue itself . In October 2020 the graffiti-covered monument was deemed among the most influential American protest artworks since World War II by the New York Times . In January 2021 , a barrier fence was erected around the space .