A bronze statue of the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

soldier

Sam Davis Sam Davis (October 6, 1842 – November 27, 1863) was a Confederate soldier executed by Union forces in Pulaski, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. He is popularly known as the ''Boy Hero of the Confederacy'', although he was 21 when he ...

was installed in 1999 at

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

Montgomery Bell Academy Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) is a preparatory day school for boys in grades 7 through 12 in Nashville, Tennessee. History MBA was established in 1867 in the aftermath of the American Civil War. It is the successor to two schools: the Western Mi ...

, in the United States. The sculpture was designed by the local artist

Alan LeQuire Alan LeQuire (born 1955) is an American sculptor from Nashville, Tennessee. Many of his sculptures are installed in the city. Early life Alan LeQuire was born in 1955. His father, Virgil, was a physician and researcher on the faculty of Vanderbi ...

. (in XML format) Davis had been an student at the

Western Military Institute The Western Military Institute was a preparatory school and college located first in Kentucky, then in Tennessee. It was founded in 1847 in Georgetown, Kentucky, and it later moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where it merged with Montgomery Bell Academ ...

, a predecessor of the Montgomery Bell Academy.

History

According to the school's headmaster, the statue was originally installed "because of Sam Davis's pre-Civil War connection to one of MBA's predecessor schools and the attributes of loyalty and friendship associated with his life and story".

Removal

The statue was removed in 2020 following the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

and subsequent protests. The school's headmaster said, "MBA understands the concerns about the Sam Davis statue, and we will remove the statue from the campus within the week... We recognize the ways in which this story and Sam Davis's association with the Confederacy have become increasingly troubling, particularly as perspectives on the past have shifted. We strive to be an inclusive community, not one that either is or is perceived as racist or supportive of values that demean or marginalize others. In that spirit and with that conviction, we will remove the statue." In April 2022, officials submitted a petition to remove a different statue of Sam Davis from Nashville's Centennial Park, pending approval by the Tennessee Historical Commission.

References

2020 disestablishments in Tennessee Monuments and memorials in the United States removed during the George Floyd protests Buildings and structures in Nashville, Tennessee Outdoor sculptures in Tennessee Sculptures of men in Tennessee Statues in Tennessee Statues removed in 2020 {{AmericanCivilWar-stub

History

Removal

See also

References