MONUMENT AVENUE

The city, capital of the Confederate States of America throughout the Civil War, wanted to pay an imposing tribute to its great southern heroes. It was Robert E. Lee, whose keen sense of military tactics aroused fear in the enemy ranks, who was given an imposing equestrian statue built in 1890.

Other great figures of the confederacy were elected in the following years, Generals J. E. B. Stuart and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, as well as the former President of the Confederation Jefferson Davis.

Later on the avenue was lined up two monuments dedicated to great native figures of the region: Matthew Fontaine Maury, "Father of Modern Oceanography and Marine Meteorology", and more recently Arthur Ashe, great African-American tennis champion, winner in his career of 73 singles tournaments and involved on the political field. The unloading across the country of several statues of General Lee, considered as the symbol of a slave-loving and racist society, and the tragic tragedy of August 2017 in the neighbouring town of Charlottesville, following the announcement of the withdrawal of his statue in Emancipation Park, have of course raised the issue on Monument Avenue. In 2017, a commission was created to solicit the public on the future of the site's statues. In the course of 2018, this committee voted in favour of the withdrawal of the statue of President Jefferson Davis, a withdrawal that has not yet been scheduled.