Belle Montgomery
2nd Lieutenant
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2017
- Location
- 44022
For a guy who’s been dead 125 years, Edmund Kirby Smith has sure stirred up a lot of trouble in Lake County, a place he never stepped foot in but where his likeness might stand in perpetuity.
Over vehement objections, the curator for the Lake County Historical Museum is forging ahead with plans to bring a 9-foot-tall statue of the obscure Confederate general to Tavares in 2020 when Smith’s bronze figure is booted from its prestigious perch in the National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol to make room for a sculpture of African-American educator Mary McLeod Bethune.
To some whites here, the St. Augustine-born Smith is a heroic figure worthy of honor — a West Point-educated military commander who stayed true to his home state’s values, fighting fiercely in the Civil War, though on the losing side. But to others, especially blacks, Smith was a slave-owning traitor who reneged on his U.S. military oath and fought to preserve Southern life and slavery.
Seeking compromise, Lake County Commissioner Leslie Campione proposed an alternative approach this week to resolving the conflict that would let the statue come to Lake County but require each side to “give a little in the name of respect, education, empathy and forgiveness.”
Interesting video top of article:
REST OF ARTICLE: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/lake/os-lake-county-confederate-statue-20180913-story.html
Over vehement objections, the curator for the Lake County Historical Museum is forging ahead with plans to bring a 9-foot-tall statue of the obscure Confederate general to Tavares in 2020 when Smith’s bronze figure is booted from its prestigious perch in the National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol to make room for a sculpture of African-American educator Mary McLeod Bethune.
To some whites here, the St. Augustine-born Smith is a heroic figure worthy of honor — a West Point-educated military commander who stayed true to his home state’s values, fighting fiercely in the Civil War, though on the losing side. But to others, especially blacks, Smith was a slave-owning traitor who reneged on his U.S. military oath and fought to preserve Southern life and slavery.
Seeking compromise, Lake County Commissioner Leslie Campione proposed an alternative approach this week to resolving the conflict that would let the statue come to Lake County but require each side to “give a little in the name of respect, education, empathy and forgiveness.”
Interesting video top of article:
REST OF ARTICLE: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/lake/os-lake-county-confederate-statue-20180913-story.html