I am a former curator of history at Stone Mountain Park. I also grew up in the Stone Mountain area and it was a huge part of my childhood. Comparing it to an ancient Buddha is... I can't even find words to express how wrong that is. To be clear, the UDC did not fully fund the carving on Stone Mountain. Helen Plane and the UDC did raise funds and the first carving was a complete failure due to lack of funding and carving was stopped in 1925 and again in 1928. Decades later, as a statement against segregation, The state of Georgia took over the project and the land.Until 1960 the KKK had the legal right to hold rallies on the property in perpetuity. They still held rallies well into the 1980's. At that point the surrounding area demographics shifted. From Wikipedia: "Fundraising for the monument resumed in 1923. In October of that year, Venable granted the Klan easement with perpetual right to hold celebrations as they desired.[29] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain#cite_note-29> The influence of the UDC continued, in support of Mrs. Plane's vision of a carving explicitly for the purpose of creating a Confederate memorial. She suggested in a letter to the first sculptor, Gutzon Borglum: I feel it is due to the Klan[,] which saved us from Negro dominations [sic] and carpetbag <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpetbagger> rule, that it be immortalized on Stone Mountain. Why not represent a small group of them in their nightly uniform approaching in the distance?[6] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain#cite_note-McKinney-6>:21[20] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain#cite_note-Encycl-20> The UDC established the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial Association (SMCMA) for fundraising and on-site supervision of the project. Venable and Borglum, who were both closely associated with the Klan, arranged to pack the SMCMA with Klan members.[30] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain#cite_note-ngeorgia.com-30> The SMCMA, along with the United Daughters of the Confederacy, continued fundraising efforts. Of the $250,000 raised, part came from the federal government, which in 1925 issued special fifty-cent coins <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Commemorative_Coin> with the soldiers Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson on them." "In response to Brown v. Board of Education <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education> of 1954 and the birth of the Civil Rights Movement <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Movement>, in 1958, at the urging of segregationist Governor Marvin Griffin <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Griffin>,[6] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain#cite_note-McKinney-6>:21 the Georgia legislature approved a measure to purchase Stone Mountain at a price of $1.125 million. In 1963 Walker Hancock <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walker_Hancock> was selected to complete the carving, and work began in 1964. The carving was completed by Roy Faulkner <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roy_Faulkner_(sculptor)&action=edit&redlink=1>, who in 1985 opened the Stone Mountain Carving Museum (now closed) on nearby Memorial Drive commemorating the carving's history.[21] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain#cite_note-21> The carving was completed on March 3, 1972.[22] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain#cite_note-SMHistory-22> An extensive archival collection related to the project is now at Emory University <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emory_University>, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1915 to 1930; the finding aid <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finding_aid> provides a history of the project, and an index of the papers contained in the collection.[18] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain#cite_note-Emory-18> Stone Mountain Park officially opened on April 14, 1965 – 100 years to the day after Lincoln's assassination <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Abraham_Lincoln>.[6] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain#cite_note-McKinney-6> Four flags of the Confederacy <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America> are flown.[23] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain#cite_note-23> The Stone Mountain Memorial Lawn "contains...thirteen terraces — one for each Confederate state.... Each terrace flies the flag that the state flew as member of the Confederacy."[24 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain#cite_note-Myajc-24>" The land the park is on is now an independent organization called the Stone MOuntain Memorial Association that is self funded through parking fees. The attractions are managed through Herschend Entertainment. It was 100% started to celebrate not just the Confederacy but also the KKK. People who are promoting removal do not seem to understand how large it is. It is larger than Mount Rushmore. I do not promote removal but it should be interpreted honestly. Its entire creation was racist. On Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 11:18 PM Randy Little <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Let just go with Teddy for a second from your last sentence. So from what > you said. you clearly got what actually happened in history. We conquered > the native people of the landmass. AND TO THIS DAY mistreat them. OBAMA > violated codified treaties. Please never mention him again because of this > if you approve of the removal of Teddy R. . oye. Many of the Southern > statues were originally paid for and build by PRIVATE FUNDS originally on > private land. Stone Mountain by the D.O.C. So it clearly shows how those > people felt at a point in history when they RAISED THE FUNDS AND CARVED THE > STATUE. I bet your brain melts when you look at an east Asian map and see > the markers for Buddhist temples. Even though that is the symbol used for > nearly 1500 years in japan alone. > Oh just curious when do we give back Hawaii since we very clearly stole > the entire island chain. > > My wife is asking when you are planning to remove all the FDR statues from > public display. She has an issue with him TAKING the property of Americans. > Holding them in camps in such wonderful locations such as Tulle Lake CA. > and then giving them $25 when released to return to none of their property > existing or having been sold and claimed by others. > > I'm going to guess you have never moved around very much. > > Ok now that we have rehashed the same arguments made by the RED GUARD > again. I'm guessing that you somehow see your point of view as more > justified then theirs. It is not. Hey Mikey watch this video turn on > subtitles and I can promise you that it is the sentiment of most Japanese. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLrpa1ojeKs&pp=wgIECgIIAQ%3D%3D > > > Randy S. Little > http://www.rslittle.com/ > *http://www.imdb.me/randylittle <http://www.imdb.me/randylittle>* > > > > > On Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 6:11 PM Michael Rebman <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> Greetings, >> >> There has been debate for decades about most of these statues in >> question. There have been public debates and lawsuits. Various southern >> states passed state-level laws within the past twenty years either >> protecting statues (like North Carolina) or revoking protections for >> statues (like Virginia). The calls for taking down the statues and name >> dedications of Oñate started in the 1990s and earlier. This is not a >> sudden debate that has appeared overnight, and I do not think anybody in >> the Museum-L listserv has endorsed vandalism or destruction of property. >> >> Museum exhibits are also different from public art in that an exhibit >> reflects the views of the exhibit designers, while public art serves as a >> public endorsement of the subject matter by the local government and by >> taxpayers. Or if it is on private property, it acts as an endorsement by >> the owners of the private property. Someone who looks at a statue of Jonas >> Salk would not gain knowledge of modern medicine, and someone who looks at >> a statue of James Fennimore Cooper would not gain knowledge of early >> American prose, but those viewers would know that the localities endorse >> the subjects of the statues, and the viewers might be inclined to >> subsequently learn more about the subjects. A plaque at the foot or >> pedestal of the statue would not be able to contain suitable and nuanced >> information, just a short summary of why the subject is revered by the >> town. A person unfamiliar with James Fennimore Cooper would see the >> statue, read the plaque, and simply understand that a guy lived in that >> town a few hundred years ago and wrote books, and the town is glad that the >> author lived there. That is the entire purpose of non-artistic and >> non-religious statuary, to revere and celebrate the subject of the statue. >> The viewers are not learning about the subjects themselves, but about >> attitudes held about the subjects. >> >> Thus, someone viewing a statue of Roosevelt on horseback in an attempt at >> a Rough Rider uniform, in front of a partially-naked African man and a >> slightly more clothed Native American man, both of whom are carrying >> Roosevelt's gear, would come to the conclusion that the institution that >> holds such a statue on public display outside would be fine with the >> attitudes on colonialism and the White Man's Burden that the statue >> conveys. Had it been a statue of Roosevelt hiking through the forest with >> a walking stick, that would be a different matter. Had it been a statue of >> Roosevelt standing between the Tsar of Russia and the Emperor of Japan, >> forcing them to shake hands, that would also be a different matter. >> However, statues even with plaques do not convey educational information >> and nuance about subject matters, just the overall sense of what attitude >> people should have about the subject matters. A display of statues in a >> museum could have text panels, videos, and docents to provide details. A >> statue in a park, in a public square, or at the front door of a courthouse >> or city hall would simply send the message that the people of that >> particular town consider the subject to be worthy of veneration, leaving it >> up to the viewer to find out why. That is why Black people have spent the >> past few decades trying to relocate or store away the statues of Lee and >> Forrest, and why Native Americans have been trying for decades to remove >> statues of Oñate and Jackson. Because those statues represent people who >> engaged in oppressive acts against minorities, from treason in furtherance >> of protecting slavery to slave trading to massacres to ethnic cleansing and >> genocide. >> >> The overall problem is not that the statues represent long-dead people >> who might be disliked by some living people. And it is also not that the >> statues represent good people who might have slipped up once or twice. It >> is that the statues in question celebrate people as they were doing things >> that run against American ideals, and are posed and dressed to represent >> those very specific terrible things. The statues of Lee and Forrest always >> show them in Confederate uniforms, not in civilian clothes while delivering >> turkeys to poor people on Christmas. The statues of Oñate show him in >> armor scouting around and fighting in New Mexico, not sitting around a >> fireplace telling stories to his children. The crowning achievements of >> Lee and Forrest were their battlefield victories in their war against the >> United States, while Oñate's crowning achievement was massacring hundreds >> of Native Americans and chopping off the feet of survivors, and Jackson's >> crowning achievement was the ethnic cleansing of the southeast and the >> deaths of thousands of Native Americans. These are not simply "flaws", but >> reprehensible acts that run contrary to the values of liberty, equality, >> and justice. The Apollo astronauts had flaws, but statues of astronauts >> would celebrate space exploration and not whatever flaws they had. The >> same goes for Martin Luther King Jr., Sally Ride, Mary Golda Ross, and >> Doris Miller, and their extraordinary achievements as common people. A >> statue of a Confederate general on horseback in uniform inherently >> celebrates a reprehensible flaw. >> >> That is why people have been calling for statue removal for decades. The >> statues represent a very visual message about the towns that have those >> statues, and the statues present a very strong message to people who view >> them. The statues of Lee and Forrest tell viewers, especially Black >> viewers, that "this town believes in slavery and the oppression of Black >> people and wishes the south had won". The statues of Oñate and Grant >> boldly state to Native Americans that "you have been conquered". The >> American Museum of Natural History saw the message conveyed by that >> particular statue of Roosevelt, and decided to cease displaying it in a >> public square. >> >> Thank you, >> >> Michael R. <[log in to unmask]> >> >> >> On Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 12:56 PM Markusen, Bruce < >> [log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >>> How would you like it if citizens came into your Museum and simply tore >>> down an exhibit they considered offensive, without debate, without >>> argument, without any other consideration? >>> >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: >> https://HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 >> > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: > https://HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . 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