Denton Confederate Soldier Monument

Confederate memorial in Denton, Texas, U.S.

33°12′53″N 97°07′59″W / 33.2146°N 97.1331°W / 33.2146; -97.1331

The Denton Confederate Soldier Monument was an outdoor Confederate memorial installed in downtown Denton, Texas, in the United States.^[1]

Description

The statue depicts an armed Confederate soldier standing on an arch with the inscription, "Our Confederate Soldiers".^{[citation needed]}

History

The monument was funded and erected in 1918 by the Katie Daffan Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.^[2]

The courthouse behind where the monument had stood was named a Texas Historic Landmark in 1970, a National Historic Registry landmark in 1977, and a Texas State Archeological Landmark in 1981.^[3]^[4]

Vandalism and removal

One local resident, Willie Hudspeth, has been working to remove the memorial since 2000.^[5]

The monument was vandalized with the words "This Is Racist" in 2015.^[6] On February 1, 2018, Denton County leaders voted 15–0 to keep the statue but add a plaque denouncing slavery and a video kiosk explaining the city's racial history and progress (which was never added or completed).

On June 9, 2020, in the wake of the protests following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Denton County commissioners voted to remove the memorial.^[7]^[8]

On the morning of June 25, 2020, removal of the statue began just before dawn.^[9]

References

^ "Confederate Memorial - Denton Texas - American Civil War Monuments and Memorials on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
^ Little, Carol Morris, A Comprehensive Guide to Outdoor Sculpture in Texas, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1996 p. 196-197
^ "Denton Confederate Soldier Monument Draws Debate". Archived from the original on 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
^ McPhate, Christian (16 August 2017). "Turning 100, a Confederate Soldier Monument in Denton Faces an Uncertain Future". Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
^ Andrea Lucia (16 August 2017). "Denton Man Fights For 17 Years To Have Confederate Monument Removed". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
^ "Video shows pair vandalizing Confederate monument in Denton". 20 July 2015. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
^ "Denton, Tarrant counties vote to remove Confederate monuments". Dallas News. 2020-06-09. Archived from the original on 2020-06-10. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
^ Higgs, Ryan (9 June 2020). "Commissioners approve removal and relocation of Confederate soldier memorial". Denton Record-Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2020-06-10. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
^ "Confederate monument being removed from Square". Denton Record Chronicle. 2020-06-25. Archived from the original on 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2020-06-25.

Monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests

United States

Alabama	Birmingham – Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument; Charles Linn Huntsville – Confederate Soldier Memorial ✻ Mobile – Raphael Semmes
Arkansas	Bentonville – Confederate Monument ✻ Little Rock – Company A, Capitol Guards Pine Bluff – Confederate Monument
California	Carmel-by-the-Sea – Junípero Serra Chula Vista – Christopher Columbus Los Angeles – Junípero Serra Sacramento – Columbus' Last Appeal to Queen Isabella ✻; Junípero Serra; John Sutter San Francisco – Christopher Columbus; Ulysses S. Grant; Francis Scott Key; Junípero Serra Ventura – Junípero Serra ✻
Connecticut	Bridgeport – Christopher Columbus Hartford – Christopher Columbus ✻ Middletown – Christopher Columbus New Haven – Christopher Columbus ✻ New London – Christopher Columbus ✻ Norwalk – Christopher Columbus
Delaware	Dover – Delaware Law Enforcement Memorial Wilmington – Christopher Columbus; Caesar Rodney
District of Columbia	Washington – Albert Pike
Florida	Jacksonville – Confederate Memorial; Florida's Tribute to the Women of the Confederacy ✻ Palatka – Putnam County Confederate Memorial ✻ Quincy – Gadsden Confederate Memorial
Georgia	Athens – Confederate Monument Decatur – DeKalb County Confederate Monument
Indiana	Indianapolis – Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument
Kentucky	Frankfort – Jefferson Davis Louisville – John B. Castleman; Louis XVI
Louisiana	New Orleans – John McDonogh
Massachusetts	Boston – Christopher Columbus; Emancipation Memorial
Michigan	Dearborn – Orville L. Hubbard Detroit – Christopher Columbus
Minnesota	Minneapolis – Calvin Griffith Saint Paul – Christopher Columbus
Missouri	St. Louis – Christopher Columbus
Nevada	Las Vegas – Hey Reb!
New Jersey	Camden – Christopher Columbus Newark – Christopher Columbus West Orange – Christopher Columbus ✻
New Mexico	Albuquerque – Juan de Oñate Alcalde – Juan de Oñate Santa Fe – Diego de Vargas
New York	Albany – Philip Schuyler ✻ Buffalo – Christopher Columbus Hempstead – Thomas Jefferson New York City – Theodore Roosevelt Rochester – Frederick Douglass
North Carolina	Asheville – Vance Monument ✻ Charlotte – Jerry Richardson Raleigh – North Carolina Women of the Confederacy; Josephus Daniels; Henry Lawson Wyatt Rocky Mount – Nash County Confederate Monument ✻ Salisbury – Gloria Victis ✻ Wilmington – Confederate Memorial; George Davis
Ohio	Columbus – Christopher Columbus (City Hall); Christopher Columbus (Columbus State Community College)
Oregon	Eugene – The Pioneer; The Pioneer Mother Portland – Captain William Clark Monument; Thompson Elk Fountain; Thomas Jefferson; Abraham Lincoln; Theodore Roosevelt; Harvey W. Scott; George Washington
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia – Christopher Columbus ✻; Frank Rizzo; George Whitefield
Rhode Island	Providence – Christopher Columbus
South Carolina	Columbia – Christopher Columbus Charleston – John C. Calhoun
Tennessee	Nashville – Edward W. Carmack; Sam Davis ✻
Texas	Beaumont – Our Confederate Soldiers Dallas – Confederate War Memorial; One Riot, One Ranger Denton – Confederate Soldier Monument ✻ Fort Worth – Confederate Monument Houston – Christopher Columbus; Richard W. Dowling ✻; Spirit of the Confederacy
Virginia	Alexandria – Appomattox Fredericksburg – Slave Auction Block Norfolk – Confederate Monument Portsmouth – Confederate Monument Roanoke – Robert E. Lee Richmond – Christopher Columbus; Jefferson Davis; Howitzer Monument ✻; Stonewall Jackson; Robert E. Lee; Matthew Fontaine Maury; Richmond Police Memorial; J. E. B. Stuart; Williams Carter Wickham
Wisconsin	Madison – Forward; Hans Christian Heg

Other countries

Belgium	Antwerp – Leopold II Ghent – Leopold II
New Zealand	Hamilton – John Fane Charles Hamilton
United Kingdom	Bristol – Edward Colston Cambridge – Sir Ronald Fisher window Greater Manchester – Dunham Massey Hall sundial London – John Cass; Robert Clayton ✻; Thomas Guy ✻; Robert Milligan