Abstract
From South Africa to Southern Mississippi, controversial statues dot the campuses of universities across the globe. The 2010s saw waves of discussion and protest centered around such monuments, a process that has only intensified during Covid-19 pandemic and in response to recent police shootings in America. In response to similar national tragedies, the University of Texas removed Confederate statues in 2015 and 2017, relocating them to museum and archival settings on campus. The story of these monuments—and the institutional reaction to them over time—offers a helpful case study for any organization grappling with similar issues today. My study offers both a recent history of the statues—the institutional, community and media interactions around them—and also a longer look back on their turbulent and surprising past. The more recent story is one of protests and vandalism, student government and university administration, media relations and exhibit design. The wider history — found in the archival papers of those who commissioned and designed the statues, as well as the records of the university itself—stretches from the twilight of the Lost Cause through to the dawn of the Black Lives Matter movement. A surprising story emerges—for example, the statues were greeted with mockery and suspicion in the 1920s but largely ignored by students and activists during the Civil Rights Era. Primarily a local history of American symbols, the history of UT’s confederate statues is ultimately one of institutional progress over the long and short term, a history characterized by both glacial and precipitous change.
Presenters
Benjamin WrightAssociate Director for Communication, Historical Research, Archives and Special Collections, UT Austin's Briscoe Center for American History, Texas, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
The Value of Culture and the Demand of Change
KEYWORDS
History, Communications, Controversy, Monuments
Digital Media
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