The Final Days of the Confederate Monument in Arlington National Cemetery

(Source: ARLNow)

In a matter of weeks the Confederate monument in Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 16 will be removed. Its removal is part of the Naming Commission’s work to identify military assets that honor the Confederacy, including the names of military bases. The work of removing these assets is now well under way.

Arlington National Cemetery has been ordered to remove the monument by January 1, 2024. As it stands, the plan is to remove the bronze elements, but leave the granite base or plinth in place. Surveys of this section have determined that removing the plinth may end up disturbing a few of the graves.

But what are the implications of leaving the plinth intact? This issue came up in a recent meeting of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which was tasked with advising Arlington on the removal process.

James McCrery, one of the commission members, raised some potential problems of maintaining the plinth intact. He believes that it would confuse visitors by raising the question of what once stood there and why it was removed. In other words, the base evokes the “presence of absence.”

I haven’t given this problem much thought. The city of Richmond removed both the Robert E. Lee statue and the huge base and is now in the process of creating a beautiful new garden.

In New Orleans and a few other places, local artists are using the bases of Confederate monuments for new works of art, but this is simply not possible in a place like Arlington National Cemetery.

Another commission member noted that the plinth alone dwarfs the hundreds of headstones that surround it. There is no question that it will be a conspicuous reminder of a very large monument that once occupied the space.

I am coming to believe that Arlington authorities and the U.S. military are going to need to find a way to remove the plinth at some point.

This leaves the question of what, if anything, should replace it.

I like McCrery’s suggestion of planting a tree at the center without any form of dedication. It’s a simple solution that will maintain the beauty of the cemetery and eventually provide a bit more shade for those visitors who choose to visit this specific section.

There are still plans to do a little interpretation on site, likely through the placement of a couple wayside markers, which I think is appropriate.

What do you think? What would you like to see replace the plinth, assuming it is removed?

Finally, it is still unclear as to what will happen to the bronze elements of the monument. For now, it will be placed in storage and I suspect it will remain there for some time before the military decides to wade in to consider anything further. From what I’ve heard, the military just wants to turn the page on this controversy.

Contrary to recent reports, there are no plans to hand over any element of the monument to an outside agency or institution.

I have not heard anything specific as to when the monument will be removed, but I suspect we will wake up one morning and learn that it has been quietly removed.