How It Started and How It Ended on Richmond’s Monument Avenue

Yesterday I tweeted out two photographs of the Robert E. Lee monument, one from 1890 and the other from just this past week. The photographs were tagged around the heading: “How It Started and How It Ended.”

Earlier today I was asked if I am ‘more of a How It Started or How It Ended kind of guy.’ I responded that I am a historian and that as a historian it’s my job to understand both to the best of my ability and everything in between. As I stared at the dedication photo next to what amounts to a pile of rubble I couldn’t help but think that the two would work well as part of a classroom lesson on the changing perceptions of Confederate monuments.

First, here are the two photographs.

Dedication of the Robert E. Lee Monument in Richmond, Virginia (May 28, 1890)

Robert E Lee Monument in Richmond, Virginia (December 2021) [photograph: Steve Helber, AP]

The two photographs placed side-by-side raise a number of questions that students can explore to better understand history and controversy surrounding many monuments. Here are just a few:

  • Who came out for the dedication of the Lee Monument in 1890 v. those who gathered around it to protest in 2020-21?
  • What was said at the 1890 dedication v. the protests in 2020-21? How has the meaning of the monument evolved ?
  • How has the urban landscape around the Lee monument changed over the years?
  • How have journalistic practices changed between 1890 and 2020-21? How have the dedication and removal of the monument been reported in Richmond and elsewhere?
  • How has the racial profile of Richmond city government and the state of Virginia changed over the years?
  • How has the demography of the city of Richmond changed over the years.

These are just a few of the questions that the photographs raise, but of course, part of teaching history is asking your students to come up with their own.

Here are a few resources that you might want share with your students. The American Civil War Museum’s short online reader offers a helpful selection of primary sources to better understand changing perceptions of Monument Avenue. Many of you are no doubt already familiar with it, but if not I highly recommend Chronicling America for news coverage in Richmond and across the United States. For some background on how the neighborhood around the Lee Monument evolved you can read a piece I wrote for The Atlantic a couple years ago. On Richmond’s demographics check out the Mapping Inequality project out of the University of Richmond.

This is really just a sketch of a lesson plan. My hope is that you might be able to integrate it in some way into an already existing lesson. Let me know if you have any questions or need guidance re: any aspect of this topic.

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2 comments… add one
  • Reggie Bartlett Dec 28, 2021 @ 11:06

    Class, then trash.

    Degradation and degenerate behavior for all the latter.

    • Kevin Levin Dec 28, 2021 @ 12:59

      Thanks for the comment, Reggie. Happy New Year.

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