Dublin Core
Title
Allendale Veterans Garden of Honor
Subject
Allendale Veterans Garden of Honor, Confederate Monuments, Emancipation, Veterans
Description
The Allendale Veterans Garden of Honor consists of 9 statues of veterans who served from Allendale who had served in seven conflicts from the Civil War to the Gulf War and a statue to women's veterans.[1] Along with the statues of veterans at the center of a circle formed by the statues sits an obelisk topped with an American eagle. The focus of this entry in the archive is a sculpture including a Union soldier and Confederate soldier standing back to back with an enslaved African American child reaching for a plaque with the words "Freedom for Slaves" written on it and the date Jan 5, 1863, Allendale as pictured in the first image.[2] In 2020 with the rise of the black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in response to the deaths of George Floyd and their African Americans at the hands of police controversy grew around these statues in particular. The Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists (MACRA) and members of BLM sought to have the statue removed due to the racist positioning of the child and the conflation of Confederate soldiers with other American veterans.[3] The Confederate soldier would be tarred and feathered by activists with a cardboard sign with “TRAITOR” written on it hanging from its neck as seen in the third image. However, in June 2021 the townships board voted to keep the statues but have a committee made to consider possible changes to the statue.
For this archive, this entry shows how Confederate monuments are not purely a phenomenon of the South. Of particular interest is how the Confederate soldier is placed in the larger context of a general memorial to veterans placing Confederate soldiers who fought in rebellion against the United States alongside those who fought for the same nation. Underlying this placement is the assumption that Confederate soldiers were equally honorable as these other soldiers even as they fought not only in a rebellion but for the continuation of the institution of slavery. Such ideas being represented in a town in Michigan illustrates how the presentation of the South's role in the Civil War being commendable and worthy of memorials silences the goal of the preservation of slavery ignoring the experiences of enslaved people and the continuing obstacle of institutional racism that their descendants face.
This entry is one of many that expands this archive outside the geographical confines of the South and considers the racial angle these monuments have. As can be seen by examining the archive, monuments to the Confederacy are found throughout the United States and the problem of how the Confederacy is represented and remembered is not purely a Southern issue. Implicit in these monuments is an assumption that the Confederacy fought not for slavery but for states' rights and followed in the footsteps of the Founding Fathers. This monument is obvious in its racial overtones with its placement of an enslaved child. As Kirk Savage has noted, such inclusions of African Americans at the feet of white figures removed the agency of the enslaved and represented them as in need of saving rather than recognizing their autonomy and humanity. As can be seen in this monument inherent in Confederate monuments are ahistorical claims about why secession occurred and the motivations of those who prosecuted it.
For this archive, this entry shows how Confederate monuments are not purely a phenomenon of the South. Of particular interest is how the Confederate soldier is placed in the larger context of a general memorial to veterans placing Confederate soldiers who fought in rebellion against the United States alongside those who fought for the same nation. Underlying this placement is the assumption that Confederate soldiers were equally honorable as these other soldiers even as they fought not only in a rebellion but for the continuation of the institution of slavery. Such ideas being represented in a town in Michigan illustrates how the presentation of the South's role in the Civil War being commendable and worthy of memorials silences the goal of the preservation of slavery ignoring the experiences of enslaved people and the continuing obstacle of institutional racism that their descendants face.
This entry is one of many that expands this archive outside the geographical confines of the South and considers the racial angle these monuments have. As can be seen by examining the archive, monuments to the Confederacy are found throughout the United States and the problem of how the Confederacy is represented and remembered is not purely a Southern issue. Implicit in these monuments is an assumption that the Confederacy fought not for slavery but for states' rights and followed in the footsteps of the Founding Fathers. This monument is obvious in its racial overtones with its placement of an enslaved child. As Kirk Savage has noted, such inclusions of African Americans at the feet of white figures removed the agency of the enslaved and represented them as in need of saving rather than recognizing their autonomy and humanity. As can be seen in this monument inherent in Confederate monuments are ahistorical claims about why secession occurred and the motivations of those who prosecuted it.
Creator
Joyce Sweers
Source
AAA. https://www.aaa.com/travelinfo/michigan/allendale/attractions/veterans-garden-of-honor-511608.html.
Fisher, Jada. “How this Confederate soldier statue became part of a veterans memorial in Michigan.” Mlive (Michigan), July 14, 2020. https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2020/07/how-this-confederate-soldier-statue-became-part-of-a-veterans-memorial-in-michigan.html.
Ambu, Kylie. “Group wants changes made to Allendale Civil War statue.” 13 On Your Side (West Michigan), June 16, 2020. https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/local/civil-war-statue-in-allendale-park-sparks-debate/69-66352a63-d5c5-4476-bad0-40db64b4f1e2.
Allendale For Equality. https://allendaleforequality.org/.
Tunison, John. “Confederate statue in Allendale ‘tarred and feathered’ by groups seeking removal.” Mlive (Michigan), January 8, 2021. https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2021/01/confederate-statue-in-allendale-tarred-and-feathered-by-groups-seeking-removal.html?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true.
Savage, Kirk. Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves: Race, War, and Monument in Nineteenth Century America. New edition. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2018.
Fisher, Jada. “How this Confederate soldier statue became part of a veterans memorial in Michigan.” Mlive (Michigan), July 14, 2020. https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2020/07/how-this-confederate-soldier-statue-became-part-of-a-veterans-memorial-in-michigan.html.
Ambu, Kylie. “Group wants changes made to Allendale Civil War statue.” 13 On Your Side (West Michigan), June 16, 2020. https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/local/civil-war-statue-in-allendale-park-sparks-debate/69-66352a63-d5c5-4476-bad0-40db64b4f1e2.
Allendale For Equality. https://allendaleforequality.org/.
Tunison, John. “Confederate statue in Allendale ‘tarred and feathered’ by groups seeking removal.” Mlive (Michigan), January 8, 2021. https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2021/01/confederate-statue-in-allendale-tarred-and-feathered-by-groups-seeking-removal.html?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true.
Savage, Kirk. Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves: Race, War, and Monument in Nineteenth Century America. New edition. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2018.
Date
1988-1998
Contributor
Samuel McMillan
Language
English
Type
Sculpture
Identifier
HIST 402 2023
Coverage
Allendale, MI