Confederate Monument Slated For Removal In Arlington National Cemetery

ARLINGTON, VA — The U.S. Army is seeking public input as it plans to remove and relocate parts of the Confederate Monument located in Arlington National Cemetery.

Due to a federal mandate requiring all Confederate memorials to be removed or renamed, officials announced plans in March to remove the 110-year-old from Section 16 of the cemetery. On Aug. 4, the U.S. Army started a 30-day "public scoping period" where officials will seek public input on the statue's proposed removal.

The Army also plans to welcome suggestions regarding alternatives that would "avoid, minimize, or mitigate the adverse effects of the monument’s removal," officials said.

A virtual public meeting is scheduled for Aug. 23. Federal, tribal, state and local agencies, and members of the public are welcome to participate, officials said.

Unveiled in 1914, the Confederate Memorial was designed by American sculptor Moses Jacob Ezekiel, a Confederate veteran and graduate of Virginia Military Institute. The monument features 32 figures depicting mythical gods alongside Confederate soldiers and civilians. Two figures are Black, depicting an enslaved woman holding the infant of a white officer and an enslaved man following his owner to war.

Two of the figures are Black: One an enslaved woman holding the infant child of a white officer, and the other an enslaved man following his owner to war.

"The elaborately designed monument offers a nostalgic, mythologized vision of the Confederacy, including highly sanitized depictions of slavery," the cemetery's website states.

The process of removing the memorial began after a Congressional committee directed the Department of Defense to remove or rename any items from federal-owned land depicting any person who voluntarily served the Confederacy. The Confederate Monument at Arlington National Cemetery was among those items, officials said.

The secretary of defense agreed with the committee's recommendations, and the directive became law in December 2022.