Bartow Historical Commission Votes To Move Civil War Monument

BARTOW, FL — The Polk County Historical Commission voted Tuesday to relocate a Confederate memorial from in front of the old Polk County Courthouse in Bartow to a nearby cemetery. The vote had not been on the meeting's agenda, WFTS Tampa Bay reported.

The 5-foot-tall memorial has been in place at 100 E. Main St. for nearly 40 years. According to the Historical Marker Database, honors the 79 militia men from the Company E 7th Florida Infantry Regiment South Florida Bulldogs, killed fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Maggie Macaulay, whose great-grandfather is one of the men recognized on the marker, is the one who advocated for the monument's relocation, WFTS reported.

"The Confederacy was about slavery. There's no question it was about slavery, and that has always been against my internal justice system," said Macaulay, who said she had been at the monument's unveiling in 1982.

At an earlier meeting of the Polk County Historical Commission, Macauley had suggested the monument be moved to Oak Hill Cemetery, where her relatives are buried, according to WFLA.

At the time, the commissioners discussed covering up the Confederate flag symbol on the monument and then commissioning a second monument commemorating Black history.

But in an unexpected vote Tuesday, the commissioners voted 4-1 to relocate the monument from its current location, which is now the site of the Polk County History Center, to the cemetery. This still must be approved by the city of Bartow, which owns the cemetery

"It really is right there in front of your face and once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It was always going to be offensive to people," said Bill Braswell, a Polk County commissioner, who told WFLA that he did not know what the monument commemorated until a few months ago.

George Lindsey was the only commissioner who voted against the motion to relocate the marker, instead supporting the idea of covering up the Confederate flag and adding a second monument, WFLA reported.

According to WFTS, some commissioners were concerned about what a second monument would cost taxpayers, and that it might lead to requests for other monuments on the old courthouse lawn.

Leo Longworth, a Bartow city commissioner, told WFLA that Tuesday's vote took him by surprise and should have been on the meeting agenda, which would have given members of the public a chance to give their input.

"That to me, kind of makes it even controversial," Longworth said. "Is there any hidden agenda? What's the rationale to having brought it up and not talk about it?"

Terry Coney, the president of the Lakeland chapter of the NAACP, agreed there should have been more of a discussion about the monument's relocation, according to WFTS.

"I was surprised," Coney said. "I'm not opposed to them moving it, but according to Florida Sunshine Law and municipal law, normally they give the public an opportunity to express their opinion."