Site where Robert E. Lee statue stood given to Richmond
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has agreed to take down the 40-foot granite pedestal that once supported the titanic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and became the heart of last year’s social justice protests.
Once the iconic, graffiti-covered plinth is gone — which is expected by the end of the month — the state will transfer ownership of the surrounding traffic circle to the city of Richmond, officials said Sunday.
The deal takes the circle out of the state’s hands a few short weeks before Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, takes office Jan. 15. A spokesman for Youngkin has said he supported the statue’s removal but lamented the graffiti on the stone pedestal.
The pedestal will be preserved and put into storage by the state until a more permanent destination can be worked out, said Alena Yarmosky, a spokeswoman for Northam, a Democrat.
“Obviously the pedestal means a lot to a lot of people,” Yarmosky said. “The commonwealth is going to work with different folks — likely historians, the Department of Historic Resources — to figure out where it’s going to be put.”
Northam’s administration announced the agreement Sunday afternoon following negotiations with the city. The
Lee circle was the only public property on Richmond’s Monument Avenue that belonged to the state.
Richmond city government issued a statement saying that it intends to accept the deed once the pedestal is removed.
“The future of the circle, like that of all Monument Avenue, will be determined through a thoughtful and community-rooted planning process,” the city said in a statement through Mayor Levar Stoney’s office.
The bronze equestrian figure of Lee had stood since 1890 until cranes brought it down on Sept. 8. Northam ordered its removal in June 2020 amid nationwide protests over racial inequity triggered by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who has since been convicted of murder.
A small group of local residents filed suit to block the statue’s removal and took the case to the Supreme Court of Virginia, which ruled in Northam’s favor at the beginning of September.
In the meantime, the Lee statue — the grandest tribute to the Lost Cause on a boulevard lined with statues to rebel generals — served as the focus of protests in Richmond and a national symbol of the social justice movement.
The broad circle around it morphed into a round-the-clock civic forum, with speeches, gospel choirs, a vegetable garden, voter registration tents and even pickup basketball games at hoops hauled onto the grass. At night, though, the vibe often changed, with armed protesters sometimes engaging in conflict with Confederate legacy defenders. Residents reported hearing regular gunshots, but there were few injuries.
Protesters pulled down a statue of former Confederate President Jefferson Davis a few blocks away, and Mayor Stoney ordered the removal of about a dozen other memorials on Monument Avenue and around the city. But the Lee circle was state property. Even security around the monument was the responsibility of the Capitol Police, who otherwise concentrated on Capitol Square about two miles to the east.