Since the tragic events in Charlottesville, many scholars of Civil War memory have been on the front lines of a public discussion about the meaning of white supremacist memorials, and their future in our nation’s civil and collegiate landscapes.
You will find below links to historian-authored op-eds and blog posts, listed in alpha order by last name.
A few were written in the weeks before Charlottesville (noted with an *) and most others in the wake of it. Through them you can see the ways that this event has produced a sea change in public and historical opinion about these memorials.
As historians continue to write pieces about the symbols and structures of racism in American culture, I will update the page.
Single-authored op-eds and blog posts:
Anne C. Bailey, “[…] Today, Most of the Sites of the [Slave] Trade are Forgotten, New York Times (1619 Project, 2019).
Erin Blakemore, “The Lost Dream of a Superhighway to Honor the Confederacy,” The Atlantic
Michael J. Birkner, “Monuments ought to be considered case by case,” LancasterOnline
*Bill Black, “Celebrating Nathan Bedford Forrest is Celebrating White Supremacy,” MLK50
Bill Broun, “Why Confederate Monuments Should be Removed from Gettysburg,” The Morning Call
Marcia Chatelain, “How Universities Embolden White Nationalists,” The Chronicle of Higher Education
Karen L. Cox, “Why Confederate Memorials Must Fall,” New York Times
Karen L. Cox, “The Confederacy’s ‘Living Monuments’,” New York Times
Jane Dailey, “The Confederate General Who Was Erased,” Huffington Post
Eric Foner, “Confederate Statues and ‘Our History,'” New York Times
Adam Goodheart, “Regime Change in Charlottesville,” Politico
Annette Gordon-Reed, “Charlottesville: Why Jefferson Matters,” New York Times Book Review
Sarah Handley-Cousins, “Falling Out of Love with the Civil War,” Nursing Clio
*Caroline E. Janney, “Why We Need Confederate Monuments,” Washington Post
Kevin M. Levin, “Why I Changed my Mind about Confederate Monuments,” The Atlantic
Jim Marten, “Thoughts on Confederate Monuments,” Historians@Work
Jon Meacham, “Why Lee Should Go, and Washington Should Stay,” New York Times
Keri Leigh Merritt, “Charlottesville and the Confederate Legacy,” Moyers & Co.
Michael Leroy Oberg, “On Charlottesville, and our National Character,” michaelleroyorberg.com
David Shorter, “The Fragile Statues of Whiteness,” Huffington Post
Manisha Sinha, “What Those Monuments Stand For,” New York Daily News
*Susannah J. Ural, “Let us speak of what we have done,” Reflections on War and Society
Kevin Waite, “The largest Confederate monument in America can’t be taken down,” Washington Post
Jason Ward, “The Myth of Southern Blood,” Washington Post
Chad Williams, “Donald Trump: The Neo-Confederate President,” Cassius
Brendan Wolfe, “History Writ Aright,” brendanwolfe.com.
“Roundtable” articles and blog posts:
“A Monumental Discussion,” Emerging Civil War Blog. From this link you can move back and forth between posts by several historians.
“Historians: ‘Defending history’ is complicated in the U.S.,” CNN
“Letters to the Editor: The Confederate Memorial in Decatur, Georgia,” Decaturish. Letters from Joe Crespino, Julia Gaffield, and William S. Cossen.
Podcasts:
“Charlottesville: Our Town, Our Country,” BackStory
“What do we do with Confederate monuments?” Impolitic
Featured image of the August 16, 2017 candlelight vigil in Charlottesville, by Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images.
The title of this page perpetuates the myth that the War of 1861 was fought between equality on one side and white-supremacy on the other. Racism is not what distinguished the C. S. A. from the U. S. A.
At the American Civil War Museum in Richmond we’ve created a website that includes a document reader, a reading list, a blog series, and some forthcoming online exhibits. It’s a work-in-progress: we’re adding new partners, new resources, and blog posts will keep rolling out for the foreseeable future.
https://onmonumentave.com/
Fantastic! Thanks for the head’s up!
Thank you for including us in your round-up. You do some great work.
— Chris Mackowski, Emerging Civil War
Thanks for this! I will share this with colleagues.
ECW had a long and serious discussion among its writers before we decided to create “A Monumental Discussion.” It was handled by our Editor-in-chief, Chris Mackowski, and I think our results prove the worthiness of the process. Thank you for including us in your links.
I’m so glad you decided to do it! This series of posts is excellent.