Birth of Monument Avenue

"The Infantryman," by William Ludwell Sheppard (ACWM)

"The Cavalryman," by William Ludwell Sheppard (ACWM)

The Jefferson Davis Memorial Association and the Confederate Memorial Literary Society hosted a "Confederate Bazaar" in 1903. Delegates from across the country came to Richmond to sell crafts, food, and books, while visitors danced, attended a "soap-bubble party," and were entertained by a sleight-of-hand artist. The Bazaar raised $23,013.38. Richmond Times Dispatch, April 16, 1863. (Newspapers.com)

In addition to soliciting funds from the Virginia General Assembly and the City of Richmond, the Jackson Monument Corporation issued successful public fundraising appeals to the "People of the South," to the "Teachers and Students of Virginia," and to "the Admirers of Stonewall Jackson Everywhere." (ACWM)

As part of the continuing fundraising campaign for the Jackson statue, the Monument Corporation declared May 1, 1914 “Jackson Monument Flag Day” and sold small Confederate battle flag pins. (ACWM)

Badge worn at the unveiling of the Stonewall Jackson monument. (ACWM)

The campaign to erect a statue of J.E.B. Stuart that began in 1891 resurrected -- and exploited -- a promise that the Richmond City Council made to Stuart's widow days after Stuart's death. (ACWM)

Circular announcing the fundraising committee for the JEB Stuart monument. (ACWM)

In 1878, Toronto-based sculptor Gilbert R. Frith submitted this heroic-scaled proposal for a Lee equestrian monument to be erected on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol. (ACWM)

Gilbert Frith was so incensed at the decision to award the Lee monument commission to Frenchman Jean Antonin Mercié that he published a critical history of the competition. (ACWM)

Richmond sculptor Edward V. Valentine was one of three artists who submitted models for the first Lee monument design competition in 1877. All were rejected. (VAL)

Silver albumen print of sculptor Frederick Ernst Triebel’s model (not selected) for the J.E.B. Stuart statue. (ACWM)

Chromolithograph printed for the 1896 UCV reunion in Richmond featuring the Jefferson Davis monument, for which the cornerstone was laid in Monroe Park. It was never built. (ACWM)

Louis Gudebrod's winning design for a memorial arch to be built at 12th and Broad streets, ca. 1902. The Jefferson Davis Monument Association abandoned the design after Davis's widow publicly opposed it. (ACWM)

Unattributed design for a Jefferson Davis Monument on Richmond's Franklin St. (later Monument Ave.), possibly dating to 1902-1903. (ACWM)

Female members of the Stonewall Jackson Monument Corporation's board objected to the inscription, "Killed at Chancellorsville" as "untrue to history." (ACWM)

Others defended the proposed inscription. (ACWM)

The controversy became public. (ACWM)

Frederick William Sievers's plaster model, 1919, for his bronze statue on Monument Avenue of Confederate general Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. (VHS)

Components of the monument to Matthew Fontaine Maury in the studio of artist Frederick William Sievers. Sievers’ design emphasized Maury's fame as a national oceanographer over his service to the Confederate Navy. (VMHC)

The globe installed above and behind Maury. (VMHC)

From the cornerstone laying in October 1887 to the unveiling on May 29, 1890, the rise of the massive Lee equestrian statue attracted enormous public interest and participation. (VAL)

Unveiling the Lee Memorial, May 29, 1890. (VAL)

Invitation from R. E. Lee Camp, Confederate Veterans, to unveiling of Lee monument. (ACWM)

Conclusion of Archer Anderson's keynote address. (ACWM)

Veterans of Corse's brigade of Pickett's Division marched in the parade preceding the Lee monument unveiling, accompanied by the painted silk company flag of the Caroline Greys they used during the war. (ACWM)

A selection of the wide variety of medals, ribbons, and badges produced to mark the cornerstone laying and the unveiling of the Lee monument. (ACWM)

Souvenirs from the rope used to pull the statue from the railroad depot on May 7, 1890 and from the veil used during the dedication of the completed monument on May 29, 1890. (ACWM)

Although its pedestal bears the presentation date of 1906, the Stuart equestrian statue was unveiled before a large crowd during the United Confederate Veterans national reunion on May 30, 1907. (VAL)

Fragment of the veil that Virginia Stuart Waller drew from the statue of her father, J.E.B. Stuart on May 30, 1907. Found in family Bible of Nannie Woolfolk Samuel Jackson. (ACWM)

Note on the rear of Virginia Stuart Waller's card. (ACWM)

One of three pieces of a rope used by the children of Richmond to draw the monument erected in memory of President Jefferson Davis on June 3, 1907. (ACWM)

The unveiling of the Jefferson Davis statue on June 3, 1907 may have been the largest public celebration of the Confederacy during the “Lost Cause” era, with an estimated 80-200,000 in attendance. (VAL)

Orders for the parade marking the delivery of the completed Davis monument to the city on Davis's centennial birthday, June 3, 1908. (ACWM)

Facing north because all his campaigns were north or west of the city, “Stonewall” Jackson’s statue was unveiled at Monument Avenue and the Boulevard on October 11, 1919. (VAL)

Invitation to the unveiling of the Matthew Fontaine Maury monument. Unlike other monuments on the avenue, Maury's was unveiled a day not on the “Lost Cause” calendar, but on Armistice Day. (VHS)

Program for the unveiling ceremony of the Matthew Fontaine Maury monument. (VHS)

The dwindling number of black elected officials voted against local funding for the statues. While on the Richmond City Council, Mitchell voted against the use of local funds for the statues. He also registered his disapproval of the Lee monument in his weekly newspaper: “The South may revere the memory of its chieftains. It takes the wrong steps in doing so, and proceeds to go too far in every similar celebration. It serves to retard the progress in the country and forges heavier chains with which to be bound. All is over.” Richmond Planet, June 7, 1890. (LVA)