A life-size statue of General Robert E. Lee along with the busts of eight of his Confederate colleagues were removed from the Virginia Capitol late Thursday and early Friday.
State House President Eileen Filler-Corn ordered the removal of the House from the Old Capitol House, a room where rebel lawmakers often met, but which in later years served primarily as a museum for visitors.
“Virginia has a story to tell that extends far beyond glorifying the Confederacy and its participants,” the Democratic legislator in Fairfax wrote in a statement. “Now is the time to provide context for our Capitol to truly tell the whole story of the community.”
Richmond became the capital of the Confederacy in 1861.
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In addition to Lee, the removed statues are of Joseph E. Johnston, Fitzhugh Lee, Alexander H. Stephens, Thomas Bocock, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, James EB “Jeb” Stuart, Jefferson F. Davis, and Matthew F. Maury. All will be taken to an undisclosed storage location.
Filler-Corn said her role as a speaker gives her power over furniture and decorations in parts of the Capitol controlled by the House.
He also announced the formation of an advisory group to propose new types of memorials for the iconic Capitol designed by Thomas Jefferson. The group will be comprised of bipartisan House legislators, historians, and community leaders from across the state.
Virginia, like so many other states across the country, is grappling with racial reckoning and has had to decide whether to stick to the controversial symbols of the past or accept change.
The base of General Robert E. Lee’s statute in Richmond, Virginia is covered in graffiti. (Barnini Chakraborty / Fox News)
(Barnini Chakraborty / Fox News)
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Governor Ralph Northam is locked in a court battle with the descendants of the signatories in an 1890 act over the removal of a massive statue of Lee from Richmond Monument Avenue.
On Thursday, a judge heard arguments in the case, but said he would not immediately issue a decision on the state’s plan to remove the statue.
Attorney General Mark Herring’s office asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit and dissolve an existing court order prohibiting the removal of the statue.
The lawsuit was filed by William C. Gregory, a descendant of the signers of the deed who transferred the statue, the pedestal, and the floor where they sit to the state. In his lawsuit, he argues that the state agreed to “faithfully protect them” and “lovingly protect them.”
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Earlier this month, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the immediate removal of multiple Confederate monuments across the city.
After the Stonewall Jackson statue, which was erected on October 11, 1919, was removed from its city-owned pedestal, Northam tweeted: “A monumental day in Richmond beginning the important process of removing these painful symbols from our past. Thank you, next. “
