Help Save Our Monuments
You might remember that, at the height of the Civil War monuments crisis, we weighed into the fray and fought hard to keep monuments standing. We first fought to keep them in their original locations, but when the unimaginable happened – and localities chose to remove these historic structures – we attempted to negotiate suitable new homes for them. We allowed new monuments to be erected on our property, where historically appropriate. And we protected historic monuments that are in our care against the protests and pressures to bring them down.
Through it all, we have stood firm in our resolve not to play politics with history. I’m not sure if you realize this, but we are currently responsible for the care of 10 monuments, located on our properties from one end of the National Historic District to the other. We’re proud of each and every one of them, and of the historic events and people that they commemorate and honor.
At the peak of the anti-monument movement, when such historic structures were being toppled, torn down, and removed all across the country, one of the most notable was in Charlottesville – the monument that had stood in front of the courthouse in Charlottesville for more than a century. Fortunately, we were able to save it. Now we want to install it on the New Market battlefield, where it will be rededicated as the “Virginia Monument,” honoring those men from the Old Dominion who fought in the Battle of New Market. At the same time, we’ve decided to jump in and take an active role in helping to complete a monument to troops from Ohio on the Third Winchester Battlefield.
To complete these projects we need to raise $60,000. But two donors have come together to pledge $30,000 to match every dollar that we raise! Thanks to their generosity we can double every gift you send.
As always, your gift would be tax deductible. And you can specify by clicking the buttons below which monument, Ohio or Virginia, that you would like your donation to support. Or you can make your gift to the monument fund and it will support both projects.
Please don’t give to this effort if it means you won’t contribute your usual gifts to our battlefield preservation projects. We need that critical land-saving support. But if you can work in an extra contribution this year, I’d really like you to consider helping us get these monuments placed on our battlefields. I think you know how important it is - on so many levels. It’s one more way that you can help preserve the history of this nation.
