Equestrian statue of John Brown Gordon

The equestrian statue of John Brown Gordon is a monument on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The monument, an equestrian statue, honors John Brown Gordon, a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War who later become a politician in post-Reconstruction era Georgia. Designed by Solon Borglum, the statue was dedicated in 1907 to large fanfare. The statue has recently become a figure of controversy over Gordon's racist views and associations with the Confederacy, with some calling for its removal.

John Brown Gordon statue
The statue in 2005
33°44′59″N 84°23′18″W
LocationGeorgia State Capitol, Atlanta, Georgia
DesignerSolon Borglum
Alexander Campbell Bruce (pedestal)
BuilderMcNeel Marble Works (pedestal)
TypeEquestrian statue
MaterialBronze
Granite (pedestal)
Length10 feet (3.0 m)
Width4 feet (1.2 m)
Height23 feet (7.0 m)
Dedicated dateMay 25, 1907
Dedicated toJohn Brown Gordon

History

Background and creation

John Brown Gordon was a noted Confederate general during the American Civil War who served multiple terms as a Senator from Georgia and as Governor of Georgia in the post-Reconstruction era. He was also generally recognized as the leader of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia and supported both the institution of slavery as well as the Lost Cause of the Confederacy.[1] Following his death on January 9, 1904, multiple civic leaders in Atlanta began to plan a monument in his honor.[2] On January 19, 1904 (Robert E. Lee Day), a meeting at the Georgia State Capitol of groups including the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the United Confederate Veterans was held where Clement A. Evans proposed creating a statue to honor Gordon. The John B. Gordon Monument Association was formed for this purpose, led by William Lowndes Calhoun as its president. While the association was successful in fundraising, a total of $25,000 had to be secured from the state government in order to complete the project.[3] Solon Borglum (whose brother Gutzon Borglum was the first sculptor to work on the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial)[4] was commissioned to design an equestrian statue of Gordon,[5] which would rest on a pedestal designed by Alexander Campbell Bruce and supplied by the McNeel Marble Works.[3]

The statue, Atlanta's only equestrian statue,[4][6] was dedicated on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol on May 25, 1907.[5] Evans served as the main orator for the unveiling,[4] while two daughters of Gordon's did the unveiling.[7] During the dedication, Governor Joseph M. Terrell and another speaker called for the erection of additional monuments on the Capitol grounds for Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, and the "common soldier", but budgetary issues prevented these plans from coming to fruition.[2] The statue's unveiling attracted many onlookers, and contemporary accounts mention a choir singing "Dixie" to loud cheers during the ceremony. The event took place less than a year after the Atlanta Massacre of 1906.[1] In April 1908, a plaster model of the statue was displayed at an art exhibition held by the National Sculpture Society in Baltimore.[8]

Calls for removal
See also: Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials and List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
Georgia National Guard near the statue on May 31, 2020

Recently, the statue has come under criticism due to Gordon's stance on race. Following the Charleston church shooting in 2015, a state senator proposed a law forbidding the official recognition of Confederate symbols, including icons such as the Gordon statue. Around the same time, American historian Kenneth W. Noe, speaking with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, spoke directly about the Gordon statue and others on the Capitol grounds as symbols of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy.[1] In 2019, the government of Georgia passed a law barring the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials.[9]

In 2020, during the George Floyd protests in Atlanta, many protesters called for the removal of the statue, prompting a trending hashtag on Twitter, #TEARDOWNGORDON.[10] On June 8, Bob Trammell, the minority leader in the Georgia House of Representatives, sent a letter to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp asking him to remove the statue of Gordon, saying, "the statue's nexus to hate in our state is overwhelming" and "its presence is both divisive and offensive."[11] Protests regarding the statue and others prompted a barricade to be erected around the Capitol grounds.[12] On June 11, a protester was arrested for vandalizing the statue, writing "tear down" with chalk on the monument.[13][14] Following these events, 44 descendants of Gordon sent an open letter to Governor Kemp calling for the removal of the statue from the Capitol grounds, stating that "the primary purpose of the statue was to celebrate and mythologize the white supremacists of the Confederacy".[9][15]

Design

The monument consists of a bronze equestrian statue of Gordon resting on a granite pedestal inscribed with his last name on its front.[7] The horse is modeled after Marye, Gordon's warhorse during the Civil War.[5] Gordon is dressed in his Confederate uniform, but is depicted as an elderly man.[2] Attached to both sides of the pedestal are plaques depicting Gordon. One shows Gordon on horseback during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, while the other plaque is a standing portrait of Gordon inscribed with the words "GOVERNOR PATRIOT SENATOR" beneath him. A plaque affixed to the rear of the pedestal is inscribed with a history of Gordon's life, from his birth through his military and political career to his death in 1904.[16]

The base of the monument measures approximately 8 feet (2.4 m) long, 4 feet (1.2 m) wide, and 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, while the statue measures approximately 10 feet (3.0 m) long, 3 feet (0.91 m) wide, and 11 feet (3.4 m) tall.[17]

See also

References
  1. Joyner, Chris (September 5, 2015). "Georgia Capitol heavy with Confederate symbols". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cox Enterprises. Archived from the original on July 16, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  2. Davis, Ren; Davis, Helen (2012). Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery: An Illustrated History and Guide. University of Georgia Press. pp. xxiv. ISBN 978-0-8203-4313-6 – via Google Books.
  3. Garrett, Franklin M. (1969). Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events, 1880s-1930s. Vol. II. University of Georgia Press. p. 508. ISBN 978-0-8203-3905-4.
  4. Blair, Ruth (October 1940). "Atlanta's Monuments". Atlanta Historical Bulletin. Atlanta Historical Society. V (23): 274 – via Atlanta History Center.
  5. "This Day in Georgia History - John B. Gordon Statue Unveiled". Georgia Library Learning Online. University System of Georgia. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  6. Davis, Ren; Davis, Helen (2011). Atlanta Walks: A Comprehensive Guide to Walking, Running, And Bicycling the Area's Scenic and Historic Locales (4th ed.). Peachtree Publishers. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-56145-644-4 – via Google Books.
  7. Knight, Lucian Lamar (1917). A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians. Vol. II. Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 1073–1074 – via Google Books.
  8. Mechlin, Leila (July 1908). "The National Sculpture Society's Exhibition at Baltimore". The International Studio. XXXV (137): iii – via Google Books.
  9. Joyner, Chris (July 11, 2020). "As monuments tumble, are we 'erasing' history? Historians say no". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cox Enterprises. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  10. Bluestein, Greg; Boone, Christian (June 8, 2020). "Inside the standoff over a Rebel statue at Georgia's Capitol". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cox Enterprises. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  11. "Georgia lawmaker calls on removal of Confederate general statue from Capitol grounds". WAGA-TV. June 8, 2020. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  12. Nolin, Jill (June 9, 2020). "Calls grow to remove Confederate statue from state Capitol's front lawn". Georgia Recorder. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  13. Amy, Jeff (June 12, 2020). "Woman Charged With Felony for Tagging Statue With Chalk". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  14. Prince, Chelsea (June 12, 2020). "Woman arrested after Confederate statue outside Georgia Capitol defaced". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cox Enterprises. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  15. Mitchell, Tia; Bluestein, Greg (June 22, 2020). "The Jolt: John B. Gordon's descendants plead for his state Capitol statue's removal". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cox Enterprises. Archived from the original on December 16, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  16. Fletcher, Brandon (August 8, 2015). "John Brown Gordon". Historical Marker Database. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  17. "General John Brown Gordon, (sculpture)". Smithsonian Institution Research Information System. Retrieved March 10, 2021.

Further reading
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