Takeaways from Confederate statue coming down
Mayor Greg Fischer and University of Louisville President James Ramsey announced Friday they are removing the 121-year-old Confederate monument on the Belknap campus.
The two gathered at the monument that's located across from the Speed Art Museum on Third Street.
Here's what you should know:
1. The monument has been a source of controversy on the campus for decades. Most recently, Ricky L. Jones, professor and chair of Pan-African Studies, blasted the statue's continued presence and called on Fischer to yank the monument down.
2. The monument will be moved to a new location, which has yet to be determined. In the meantime, the statue will be put in storage, where it will be disassembled, cleaned and repaired.
3. The statue was dedicated to honor the "rank and file of the armies of the South" and to "our Confederate dead," according to U of L's website. The monument sits on city-owned property along Third Street and was erected in 1895 by the Kentucky Women’s Confederate Monument Association.
Live updates | Confederate statue to be removed
4. In 2002, after student protests, the University of Louisville Board of Trustees unanimously approved a plan to spend about $2 million to convert the area around the Confederate statue into Freedom Park as a tribute to Louisville civil rights leaders.
5. Some historians, such as Metro Councilman Tom Owen, have said efforts to remove the Confederate statue are nothing more than attempts to "scrub" history.
6. In the statue's place, a new lane of Third Street will be added to improve access to the Speed Art Museum.
Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at (502) 582-4475 or pbailey@courier-journal.com.
