On Commemorative Statues
"But you are a preservationist!" people tell me. "How can you not think tearing down statues of confederate generals, generic Columbus statues, and the like is terrible?"
Well, for one thing, statues are not automatically considered historic structures in the same way buildings are. The National Register Criteria for Evaluation lists 4 main criteria:
Whereas there are some memorials and statues that have achieved historic significance in their own right (such as the Lincoln Memorial), the vast majority of commemorative statues in this country have no significance on their own and have no sense of place relationship to where they stand.
The Christopher Columbus statue that was at the Minnesota State Capitol? I don't believe Columbus ever envisioned the concept of Minnesota, much less visited here.
The various Confederate statues dotting the south, ranging from generals to unnamed soldiers? Not only do they generally bear no relationship to the place that they stand, but they are not even contemporaneous; most of them were put up in the Civil Rights era, as a not-so-subtle hint as to the sympathies of the (white) residents of the area. (For an excellent discussion of this, see this Florida Law Review article).
And besides, who commemorates the losers of a war that tore apart this country? Or of such a short time in history? Remember, the confederacy lasted less than 5 years; here's a partial list of things that lasted as long or longer and that in my opinion are equally or more worth of commemoration:
1. the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series
2. Pokemon Go
3. Clearly Canadian
4. The Sopranos
5. a bottle of Bushmill's Original
6. Grumpy Cat
7. Hamilton's Broadway run
8. my husband's dog Winston
9. the slime trend among elementary school kids
Well, for one thing, statues are not automatically considered historic structures in the same way buildings are. The National Register Criteria for Evaluation lists 4 main criteria:
The criteria specifically state that "properties primarily commemorative in nature...shall not be considered eligible for the National Register."
- That are associated with events that have made a significant contribu- tion to the broad patterns of our history; or
- That are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
- That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
- That have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
Whereas there are some memorials and statues that have achieved historic significance in their own right (such as the Lincoln Memorial), the vast majority of commemorative statues in this country have no significance on their own and have no sense of place relationship to where they stand.
The Christopher Columbus statue that was at the Minnesota State Capitol? I don't believe Columbus ever envisioned the concept of Minnesota, much less visited here.
The various Confederate statues dotting the south, ranging from generals to unnamed soldiers? Not only do they generally bear no relationship to the place that they stand, but they are not even contemporaneous; most of them were put up in the Civil Rights era, as a not-so-subtle hint as to the sympathies of the (white) residents of the area. (For an excellent discussion of this, see this Florida Law Review article).
And besides, who commemorates the losers of a war that tore apart this country? Or of such a short time in history? Remember, the confederacy lasted less than 5 years; here's a partial list of things that lasted as long or longer and that in my opinion are equally or more worth of commemoration:
1. the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series
2. Pokemon Go
3. Clearly Canadian
4. The Sopranos
5. a bottle of Bushmill's Original
6. Grumpy Cat
7. Hamilton's Broadway run
8. my husband's dog Winston
9. the slime trend among elementary school kids
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