Construction of expanded Forrest monument halted

Published 11:16pm Thursday, August 23, 2012

An impromptu meeting at Selma City Hall may very well have pressed the pause button on the heated debate involving the construction of an expanded monument area dedicated to Confederate soldiers and Confederate General Nathan B. Forrest in Selma’s Live Oak Cemetery.

Selma Mayor George Evans confirmed Thursday night that he, State Sen. Hank Sanders, Selma City Attorney Jimmy Nunn and an attorney representing the group constructing the monument met earlier in the day to discuss the escalating protests and rhetoric involving the monument dedicated to Forrest.

“Both sides have agreed to let the issue of who owns the property the monument is being built to be decided in court,” Evans said. “I think this is the best possible solution and allows everyone to stand down for the moment.”

Thursday morning, citizens protesting the monument’s expansion reportedly disrupted construction efforts, resulting in the Selma Police Department being called to the scene to help restore order.

Forrest, who was commanding officer of the Confederate troops defending Selma during the latter stages of the Civil War, is also known as one of the original leaders of the Ku Klux Klan, which is one of the reasons protestors want the monument removed.

But, at the heart of the debate is whether the property the monument to Forrest and a monument to Confederate soldiers rests on is public property or private property owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

The City of Selma has been able to confirm that during an April 17, 1877 city council meeting, the city donated an acre of land “in the central part of the addition lately purchased to [Live Oak Cemetery] upon which to erect a monument to the memory of the Confederate dead” to the Confederate Memorial Association, which in later years became the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

According to the meeting’s minutes, members of the council approved the donation, but it appears now that no deed was ever prepared nor transferred to the Association.

Today, an organization called the Friends of Forrest is in the midst of an extensive upgrade to the memorials and the construction of an elevated pedestal to house the Forrest monument.

All of this construction — which includes fencing and other security measures — stems from a theft earlier this year of the monument’s bronze bust of Forrest. The bust has not been recovered and police continue to investigate its theft.

Since then, the Friends of Forrest have arranged for a new bust to be cast and the new pedestal area to be constructed.

It is that construction and expansion that is being protested.

“Their supposed ownership of the property is something that [United Daughters of the Confederacy] will now have to prove in court,” Sanders said. “I would not say that an agreement was reached, but I will say that it is good that construction has been halted.”

Now that construction has been halted, Sanders believes those protesting the monument will leave the cemetery.

“In the end, I am glad that everyone was able to find a way — together — to come to this decision; that everyone will let the court’s decide who owns this property,” Evans said. “

The Times-Journal was unable to reach the attorney who reportedly represented the Friends of Forrest in Thursday’s meeting.

Email Comments

D-man

Here’s my take on it.

Fighting is bad. The negativity is bad.

Both men are dead (mlk and forest) so fighting over statues is pretty lame, but the important thing to remember is that both statues play an important part in history, in that they are history themselves.

As far as I am concerned, I wish they would open a museum, maybe call it Selma, from Civil War to Voting Rights and Beyond” or something like that.

In the museum, put the bust of forest and the bust of MLK right next to each other. Both are history. Publically breast feeding next to a statue of a dead guy and telling reporters it’s the “milk of freedom” seems sort of…wierd to me… something just doesn’t set right…

and in the museum, I’d like to see a statue of Cecil Williamson sitting across a table from Rose Sanders, both with notebooks in their hands sharing ideas (positive ideas) on how to move Selma forward. Forgive, move on, and make Selma into a great little city for “all”, not just one group of the other.

Well, it would be pretty symbolic (the statues).. but will it happen.. probably not… but I still think a museum as such would be a nice place for “all”, not just some… show the pre-civil war stuff on one side (slavery etc), show the civil war artifacts in the middle, show the post civil war artifacts and stories more towards the middle also, show the “struggle” or voting rights pictures, stories and artifacts more towards the right and show modern day pictures of people of all colors working together on the right.

That to me, would be great progress… and at the same time, would attract a lot of tourism…

popdukes12

Any attempt to put NBF and MLK on the same plain would be an injustice to MLK. The yankees weren’t shooting at MLK when he left town, and there is a polar opposite contribution to the people of America and to History. As long as you have people (even myself) that lived under Jim Crowe laws and remember the injustices, this will be too touchy a subject to bring up and at the same time, Selma trying to profit through tourism from it. It is a self destructive situation. pops

D-man

there is absolutely no poetry in you at all pops… both of the men are dead. the statues together would symbolize both sides working together…

i didn’t participate in jim crow.. did you?

e1948eab74

You are right as many people think he was a Communist,
whoremonger , and on and on. They have their opinions just like Ole Hank. I don’t recall anyone ever damaging or throwing trash on MLK statue down at the Church either.

But, they are owed the World and all this crap is another reason Selma will never improve. Especially with what liars and thieves like Perkins, Leashore etc. did to the Waterworks and we just pay more for 18 years and they keep the money.
Bama12345

If the Bedford statue cant go up then its only fair that the MLK statue comes down. Lets see how that sits with some people.

popdukes12

It is on private property, and even Rose said that if the NBF monument is shown to be on private property, that she couldn’t do anything about it. pops

e1948eab74

Mayor Evans has and will do what he thinks is fair and honest whether he gets a vote or not. A good man………
and a Great Mayor.

All of this crap was by Old Hank and other Perkins nuts to try to get him into a mess at Election time and it failed their real agenda.
popdukes12

I was sure the current city administration would want to keep this going until after the election to make the mayoral election a referendum on keeping the monument. That would help bring out the neo-confederate block vote for him. pops