Confederate Statues: Gov. Hogan Seeks Roger Taney Memorial Removal (Update)

(Updated 3:55 p.m. Tuesday) BALTIMORE, MD — Following the fatal Nazi-flavored white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left three people dead last weekend, political leaders revived efforts to remove Confederate monuments in Maryland. On Tuesday, Gov. Larry Hogan joined the movement, saying it is time to remove the Justice Roger B. Taney statue on the grounds of the Maryland State House.

Taney was a Supreme Court justice who authored the decision that declared slaves were property and couldn't be freed if they moved to a free state. His opinion in the Dred Scott case helped escalate the Civil War, some historians argue.

"While we cannot hide from our history – nor should we – the time has come to make clear the difference between properly acknowledging our past and glorifying the darkest chapters of our history," Hogan said in a statement Tuesday. "With that in mind, I believe removing the Justice Roger B. Taney statue from the State House grounds is the right thing to do, and we will ask the State House Trust to take that action immediately."

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Earlier, Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh has renewed efforts to remove four Confederate monuments in Baltimore, according to reports. And the Maryland Speaker of the House says a monument to Taney should be removed from the state house.

The violent clashes in Charlottesville grew out of the city's decision to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, an issue that cities and states across former slave-holding areas continue to grapple with more than 150 years after the end of the Civil War.

“It’s my intention to move forward with the removal of the statues,” Mayor Pugh said in a statement Monday.

Maryland House Speaker Michael E. Busch said Monday he believes the state should remove the statue of Taney, The Baltimore Sun reports. Busch said if the monument was left standing at the statehouse, it would "send a message that we condone what took place, that slavery is alright.”

Busch is one of four members of the Maryland State House Trust, a group which decides how property is used. A vote would be needed to decide on the removal of the statue.

Pugh said she is looking into removing all four Confederate-era monuments in Baltimore, including: The Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument on W. Mount Royal Avenue; the Confederate Women's Monument in Bishop Square Park, N.; the Roger B. Taney Monument on Mount Vernon Place and the Robert E. Lee and Thomas. J. “Stonewall” Jackson Monument in Wyman Park.

Pugh said she read a 34-page report created by a task force under former Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Pugh plans to identify legal requirements for removal, negotiate agreements with potential recipients, procure funding and receive approval from the Maryland Historical Trust Easement Committee to move the Lee Jackson Monument.

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She said she will appoint a "working group" to lead the removal process. Pugh has identified cemeteries where confederate soldiers have been buried in Maryland and is researching the option of moving the monuments to these sites.

“Among the identified cemeteries are the Washington Confederate Cemetery in Hagerstown, Maryland and the Point Lookout Confederate Commentary in Scotland, Maryland," Pugh said in a statement. "We will inquire as to their willingness to accept the monuments and prepare agreements for the transfer.”

In her statement, Pugh said she met with New Orleans Mayor Mitchen Landrieu to discuss the monuments there. Landrieu told her it would cost about $2.1 million to remove four monuments in New Orleans.

A Confederate soldier statue in Rockville was relocated from its box in the front of the Red Brick Courthouse to a private property at White’s Ferry in Dickerson in northwestern Montgomery County in July.

After over a year of trying to find a spot, the statue was relocated Tuesday morning to White's Ferry, which transports vehicles from Montgomery County across the Potomac River to the Leesburg, Virginia area. The County issued an Invitation for Bid to move the 16-foot tall, 25,000 pound statue, and covered the cost of relocating to White’s Ferry recreation area.

Photo Credit: "Roger B. Taney" Art Inventory Files: Smithsonian American Art Museum Inventory