As a young Marine stationed at Quantico, I visited Arlington many times. I did not know the history or actual context of the creation of this section and the raising of this monument. Your post today prompted me to do some reading about it. Your writings in this forum give a bit of context to the following quotes, but I'm looking forward to your book for a fuller picture.
"A uniformed black slave, following his master to war, is depicted among the six figures on the southeast. The slave is not a soldier, although the image is often referred to as a "black soldier". It is, as the UDC pointed out in 1914, "a faithful Negro body-servant following his young master". This particular image was inspired by Thomas Nelson Page's 1887 Lost Cause story, Marse Chan: A Tale of Old Virginia."
"The inclusion of the "faithful black servants" was purposeful. Sculptor Moses Ezekiel included them because he wanted to undermine what he called the "lies" told about the South and slavery in Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin and wished to rewrite history "correctly" (his word) to depict black slaves' support for the Confederate cause."
Kevin, are you aware of any academic books or articles that do a good job covering the Wilson administration's segregation of the federal government? I did a quick search, but could not really find anything that focuses just on that topic.
Wilson was also resisting women suffragists for most of his presidency; keeping/putting various people on what he thought were their places kept him busy.
Thanks for covering the Confederate monument - when I first saw it, I mistook the "mammy" figure as the wife, not the "property", of the soldier kissing the child she holds.
OTOH, he did switch to supporting the 19th Amendment by 1918 (he supported New Jerseys referendum on woman's suffrage before then) and actively pressed the Senate to pass it. His adult daughters lobbied him pretty heavily in favor.
Not to mention the bad publicity from the jailing and torture of the suffragists who picketed the White House during World War I. Good for Wilson's daughters, however. The movie "Iron-jawed angels" shows the militant struggle from 1913 up through the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920. Very informative, even the horrific bits.
My wife and I were there last year and I was struck by the "record scratch" of a Confederate monument at Arlington. It is so out of place there. No other groups that fought against the US have such representation at Arlington. Thanks for highlighting it.
The Arena Stage in D.C. has a play named American Prophet, based on letters/writings of Frederick Douglass. It was very good. Maybe you could squeeze the time in ...... (smiling).
I am not attacking you. You are incapable of reading anything I have written except through your narrow and self serving agenda. I have gone above and beyond in clarifying my own evolving views over the years. You clearly believe that you have all the answers and that only your point-of-view is valid.
Sorry, but I have no use for such an approach to this subject. The only thing I've learned from you is that you believe that Confederate monuments should be removed.
This post has nothing to do with the issue of removal and yet you continue to insist that every discussion be prefaced or conclude with a call to remove monuments in places where YOU believe they should be removed.
My goal in this post was simply to offer readers some context and insight into how I attempted to interpret it for my group.
You are free to tie yourself to the base of this monument in protest or call for the removal of monuments on your own site, but I am tired of your continuous attempts to hijack every single post I write about this subject for your own purposes.
Do it somewhere else. Understand that I am not going to allow this to continue here.
As a young Marine stationed at Quantico, I visited Arlington many times. I did not know the history or actual context of the creation of this section and the raising of this monument. Your post today prompted me to do some reading about it. Your writings in this forum give a bit of context to the following quotes, but I'm looking forward to your book for a fuller picture.
"A uniformed black slave, following his master to war, is depicted among the six figures on the southeast. The slave is not a soldier, although the image is often referred to as a "black soldier". It is, as the UDC pointed out in 1914, "a faithful Negro body-servant following his young master". This particular image was inspired by Thomas Nelson Page's 1887 Lost Cause story, Marse Chan: A Tale of Old Virginia."
"The inclusion of the "faithful black servants" was purposeful. Sculptor Moses Ezekiel included them because he wanted to undermine what he called the "lies" told about the South and slavery in Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin and wished to rewrite history "correctly" (his word) to depict black slaves' support for the Confederate cause."
Kevin, are you aware of any academic books or articles that do a good job covering the Wilson administration's segregation of the federal government? I did a quick search, but could not really find anything that focuses just on that topic.
Yes. I highly recommend the book Chocolate City by Chris Myers Asch and George Derek Musgrove.
Welcome to DC in summer, over 90 degrees and humid. Whew.
Wilson was also resisting women suffragists for most of his presidency; keeping/putting various people on what he thought were their places kept him busy.
Thanks for covering the Confederate monument - when I first saw it, I mistook the "mammy" figure as the wife, not the "property", of the soldier kissing the child she holds.
OTOH, he did switch to supporting the 19th Amendment by 1918 (he supported New Jerseys referendum on woman's suffrage before then) and actively pressed the Senate to pass it. His adult daughters lobbied him pretty heavily in favor.
Not to mention the bad publicity from the jailing and torture of the suffragists who picketed the White House during World War I. Good for Wilson's daughters, however. The movie "Iron-jawed angels" shows the militant struggle from 1913 up through the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920. Very informative, even the horrific bits.
Good movie. Parts of it work really well with students alongside other primary sources.
Indeed. I had been reading about the militants, and was struck by the movie using a number of direct quotes.
I think many people are just dumbfounded when they first confront this particular memorial.
My wife and I were there last year and I was struck by the "record scratch" of a Confederate monument at Arlington. It is so out of place there. No other groups that fought against the US have such representation at Arlington. Thanks for highlighting it.
You are absolutely right.
The Arena Stage in D.C. has a play named American Prophet, based on letters/writings of Frederick Douglass. It was very good. Maybe you could squeeze the time in ...... (smiling).
A number of our teachers are attending. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to fit into my schedule. It looks great.
I don’t claim to be an authority on the extent to which people think about or engage monuments. You appear to have all the answer.
I am not attacking you. You are incapable of reading anything I have written except through your narrow and self serving agenda. I have gone above and beyond in clarifying my own evolving views over the years. You clearly believe that you have all the answers and that only your point-of-view is valid.
Sorry, but I have no use for such an approach to this subject. The only thing I've learned from you is that you believe that Confederate monuments should be removed.
You are a broken record.
This post has nothing to do with the issue of removal and yet you continue to insist that every discussion be prefaced or conclude with a call to remove monuments in places where YOU believe they should be removed.
My goal in this post was simply to offer readers some context and insight into how I attempted to interpret it for my group.
You are free to tie yourself to the base of this monument in protest or call for the removal of monuments on your own site, but I am tired of your continuous attempts to hijack every single post I write about this subject for your own purposes.
Do it somewhere else. Understand that I am not going to allow this to continue here.