The outrage over the city of New Orleans destroying the Lee Monument is still running high.
The destruction of the Lee Monument in New Orleans was done without allowing the people of the State any effective input on the decision. The monument was given to the city by a charitable organization which raised slightly over $30,000.00 to pay for the monument. The current (2019) dollar value would be almost a million dollars!1The monument was given to the city in good faith. Former General P.G.T. Beauregard, CSA,was the original president of the fund-raising group. Post-war Beauregardwas an early advocate of civil rights for the newly freed slaves.2When the monument was presented to the City onFebruary 22, 1884 former CSA President Jefferson Daviswas present as well as General Lee’s two daughters. Prior to the War Davis advocated the “high road to emancipation.”3The benediction was pronounced by Bishop Galleher of the Episcopal Church of Louisiana.
Elected officials who destroy valuable donations are in violation of their fiduciary duty, not only to the present generation, but the duty they owe to past and future generations. They set a terrible precedentthat one day will be used to destroy or distort their legacy. A copy of the December 1897 article about the Lee Circle Monument published in the Confederate Veterancan be found below on next page. The Confederate Veteranhad a circulation of 161,332 in 1896. [Full page copy of the 1897 article on next page]
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City officials are hoping New Orleans will forget this happened. Guess what? They're wrong.
NEW ORLEANS, USA - MAY 7: Activists march to Lee Monument as the Second Line to Bury White Supremacy arrives at Lee Circle in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 7, 2017. The march, organized by Take 'Em Down NOLA, had an estimated 550 people. (Photo by Annie Flanagan for The Washington Post via Getty Images)