Civil War Monuments and the beauty of their flexibility in interpretation

There’s been lots discussed lately about the need to keep Civil War monuments standing, and I wholeheartedly agree. Despite what some say, they should not come down. They serve a purpose, and there are unique qualities in each… not only from an art perspective, but also for the fact that some provide interpretation (or make a statement suitable to the time at which they were erected) and some, without any verbiage, leave us to ponder… and interpret. I might interpret a monument differently than someone else.

Of course, there are examples where flexibility truly knows no bounds…

I added the clip, sort of tongue-in-cheek, but… kinda seriously, as well. When we consider various Civil War monuments, just how distorted can interpretation get from the actual meaning of a monument or marker… even without language barriers.

Which reminds me… I have one monument that merits discussion at this time. I’ll have to get to that later.

I know, I know… I promise… I’ll get back to my discussion of the Frederick County Society of the American Colonization Society, later today… promise. Believe me… there’s some good stuff in my next installment on this topic.

Tagged: Civil War Monuments, Confederate monuments, interpreting monuments, Red Dawn, satire

Posted in: Civil War Memory - General, CW "forgetfulness", Hearing history, historical interpretation, Visualizing History