City Of Concord To State: Marker For Concord Communist Is Yours, Feel Free To Remove It

CONCORD, NH — The Concord City Council approved a response to a letter from a state official about a controversial memorial marker on Monday, basically telling the state, it is your marker, on your property, feel free to remove it.

The New Hampshire Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation installed a marker for Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, the founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, who was convicted of attempting to overthrow the government while embracing Soviet-style communism at a time when the country was murdering millions of its own people. She was born in Concord in 1890 on Montgomery Street and lived in the city for about the first 10 years of her life.

Four Concord residents and another 26 from outside the city requested the state create a marker for her in Concord in 2019.

In September 2022, Amy Dixon, a community preservation coordinator for the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources, approached the city about having the marker installed for Flynn, noting the marker was part of the Historical Highway Marker Program and the city would have no financial obligation. The city council sent the request to its Heritage Commission, which approved the request, and then the city council approved the commission’s recommendation.

On May 1, the marker was installed on state land next to the Merrimack County Superior Court.

Also Read

• Graham: Mr. Sununu, Tear Down This Marker!
• State Puts Blame For NH Marker Honoring Concord Communist On City
• Despite Claim City Did Not Initiate Marker For Concord Communist: Docs
• Why Did NH Approve A Historic Marker Honoring A Concord Communist?
• Sununu Signs Old Man Bill; Labor Leader Marker in Concord Criticized

But two days later, two Republican members of the executive council, Dave Wheeler of Milford and Joe Kenney of Union, criticized the marker due to Flynn being an active member of the Communist Party. Gov. Chris Sununu, also a Republican, joined Wheeler and Kenney in criticizing the decision to honor Flynn and questioned officials about the process. He also said approval for markers in the future, needed a different process.

Since then, state officials have spent days attempting to deflect criticism from themselves while pinning the blame for the marker on the city of Concord.

Sarah Stewart, the New Hampshire Department of Natural and Cultural Resources commissioner wrote a letter to Concord Mayor Jim Bouley on May 4 informing the city “of the opportunity to reevaluate your approval of this marker,” noting the council and commission had supported the marker.

“If the city council objected to the placement of the marker on city property, the application would have been denied,” she wrote.

Gov. Chris Sununu also doubled down on the issue, stating similar sentiments to the commissioner he appointed in 2018 despite her falsely connecting the Flynn marker to the city of Concord.

On the New Hampshire Today radio show Friday, the governor was questioned by host Chris Ryan about the marker. The governor said he did not understand “why Concord would want this.” He made the bizarre insinuation the city advocated for it — not acknowledging the marker was shuffled through the process, for years, by members of his administration and the city had a limited role in the process.

Bouley did not immediately respond to the letter. Instead, he raised the issue at the council meeting Monday, asking for legal counsel, Jim Kennedy, to join councilors to convey a response to the letter.

“My suggestion for a response was,” Bouley said, “‘Thank you for your correspondence. We did not approve any marker. We don’t have that authority. We don’t approve the text of a marker. We don’t have that authority.’ And, lastly, ‘We have no say in whether or not you remove something from your property, not city property.’”

Kennedy went to look at the sign and its location and confirmed, with the help of a city surveyor, that it was on state property.

“There’s no question,” Kennedy said. “(it’s) located on state of New Hampshire property.”

The city, he said, having the ability to tell the state what kind of sign or the content of the sign “was a curious concept, indeed,” citing prior legal cases that forbid municipalities from regulating content of signs. The city governs placement, time, illumination, “things of that nature,” Kennedy said.

“It seems very odd, to me, that the state would be asking us for permission, located at that location, unless they were just asking for safety regulation … to the extent they are worried about a traffic concern,” Kennedy said. “I can see that coming to a traffic engineer or a certain committee to the city.”

City Manager Tom Aspell noted Dixon’s letter, which only sought approval from the city about the location from a safety perspective.

Jennifer Kretovic, the Ward 3 city councilor, who sits on the Heritage Commission, said the letter was about the location, not the content. She said the commission did discuss the fact she was a member of the Communist Party, and they were grateful it was included in the marker, although that was not its charge. But the commission only approved its location, Kretovic.

“So,” Amanda Grady Sexton, an at large councilor, asked, “am I correct in saying that if the state wants to remove their sign, they can do so?”

“That’s my thought,” Bouley said.

Ward 2 City Councilor Erle Pierce said there was a process on the state’s website for removing signs.

Bouley asked for a motion to have Kennedy respond to Stewart.

Before voting, Zandra Rice Hawkins, the Ward 10 city councilor, said she was supporting the letter but also hoped the state would not remove the marker.

“I think, whitewashing our history, is not a good look for anyone,” she said. “This is a significant historical character who was part of major movements in our country, and I am proud to have a sign in our city displaying that information.”

Kretovic said the Heritage Commission could always take up that request if the state removed it.

Councilors then approved, by voice vote, having Kennedy respond to the state.

Sununu's press office refused emailed requests for comment on Friday and Monday.

Have you got a news tip? Please send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Follow the New Hampshire Patch Politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.