Yesterday I tweeted out the following message. I received a number of thoughtful responses, which I did my best to respond to, but I think it might be helpful to share my thoughts here for future reference. It is much more powerful to watch local governments remove monuments than a handful of protesters. — Kevin Read more

Last night I sat in on a Boston Arts Commission meeting about Thomas Ball’s Freedmen’s Memorial located on Park Square. This is a copy of the original that was dedicated in Washington, D.C. in 1876. The memorial is once again in the news after a young Black resident called for its removal a few weeks Read more

If you had asked me not too long ago how to go about dealing with the debate about Confederate monuments I would have said that they need to be contextualized. By that I mean they need to be placed in their proper historical context through the use of wayside markers or some other medium, which Read more

Over the past three weeks we have seen the most sustained push to remove Confederate monuments from public spaces in recent history. We will likely see additional removals throughout the summer. While all eyes are on Richmond and Charlottesville, a host of smaller towns across the country have begun the process to remove their Confederate Read more

One of the most remarkable things taking place on Richmond’s Monument Avenue is the way black Richmonders have appropriated the space around the Robert E. Lee monument. I was not surprised by the tagging of the monuments or even the removal of the Jefferson Davis statue, but the wide range of activities taking place at Read more

It is impossible to keep up with the news coming out of Richmond. I am still having difficulty wrapping my head around the fact that at some point in the near future the Confederate monuments on Monument Avenue will be removed. Until that time I suspect that demonstrators will continue to appropriate the Lee Circle Read more

By now most of you have seen the photographs of the damage/tagging done to Confederate monuments throughout the country in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. In addition to monuments, the headquarters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Richmond also sustained serious damage. This should come as no Read more

This discussion will take place on twitter on May 24 at 8pm. #CWM101 Welcome to the final week of our discussion about Caroline Janney’s book, Remembering the Civil War: Reunion and the Limits of Reconciliation. This week we will discuss chapter 9, which explores some of the most iconic moments in Civil War memory, including Read more

This discussion will take place on Twitter on May 17 at 8pm. #CWM101 We are close to the finish line. Thanks again to all of you who have taken part in this discussion over the past few weeks. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have. United Daughters of the Confederacy This week Read more