Monument

The statue Sons of St. Augustine imagines a warm encounter between Alexander Darnes, a physician, and Edmund Kirby Smith, the Confederate general who had enslaved him.

The Doctor and the Confederate

A historian’s journey into the relationship between Alexander Darnes and Edmund Kirby Smith starts with a surprising eulogy

In July 1827, residents of Boonsboro, Maryland, built the majority of the Washington Monument in just one day.

Untold Stories of American History

The Little-Known Story of the First Washington Monument

A stone tower in western Maryland, the structure predates the obelisk on the National Mall by more than two decades

A section of the megasculpture called Complex One

After 50 Years, Michael Heizer’s 'City' Opens in Nevada Desert

The American artist has spent most of his life building a megasculpture that earns comparisons to ancient ruins and abandoned highways

Screenshot of news coverage of the demolition of Georgia Guidestones

The Georgia Landmark Known as 'America's Stonehenge' Is Destroyed in an Explosive Attack

The mysterious granite monoliths have been the source of conspiracy theories for almost half a century

According to author Christopher A. Thomas, the dedication "was a microcosm of the strained race relations of its day, marked by the rhetoric of good intentions and the behavior of bigotry."

A Century Ago, the Lincoln Memorial's Dedication Underscored the Nation's Racial Divide

Seating was segregated, and the ceremony's only Black speaker was forced to drastically revise his speech to avoid spreading "propaganda"

The massive sculpture by Sabin Howard consists of five tableaux about a U.S. soldier. This is “Battle Scene.”

World War I: 100 Years Later

An Exclusive Preview of the New World War I Memorial

One sculptor and his team of artists take on the epic project of conveying the century-old conflict through a massive bronze installation

Michelle Browder's Mothers of Gynecology monument in Montgomery

Untold Stories of American History

Subjected to Painful Experiments and Forgotten, Enslaved 'Mothers of Gynecology' Are Honored With New Monument

The statues acknowledge the suffering of bondswomen overshadowed by the white doctor who operated on them without their consent

The facade of Talbot County Courthouse in Easton, Maryland, as pictured in 2010

History of Now

Maryland Removes Its Last Confederate Monument on Public Land

Workers removed the Talbot Boys Statue on Monday after years of pressure from the local community

Protesters led by Bad River Anishinaabe activist Mike Forcia toppled this statue of Christopher Columbus on June 10, 2020.

Meet the Indigenous Activist Who Toppled Minnesota's Christopher Columbus Statue

The unauthorized removal of the monument took place during the racial justice protests of summer 2020

No images of Licoricia of Winchester survive, so sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley based the statue's features on his daughter and grandson, both of whom are Jewish.

Meet the 'Most Important' Jewish Woman in Medieval England

A new statue honors Licoricia of Winchester, a 13th-century moneylender whose life illuminates the challenges faced by Jews at the time

Johannes Adam Simon Oertel's 1852–53 depiction of the George III's statue toppling features several ahistorical elements, including the presence of Alexander Hamilton and a fictionalized Native American family.

A Toppled Statue of George III Illuminates the Ongoing Debate Over America's Monuments

In July 1776, colonists destroyed a sculpture of the English king. A new exhibit explores this iconoclasm's legacy—and its implications for today

The Cecil Williams South Carolina Civil Rights Museum preserves photographs and artifacts from the civil rights movement.

New Funding Will Help Highlight Five Black History Sites in the American South

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s $50,000 grants will support civil rights museums, a monument to victims of an industrial disaster and other organizations

Richmond took down its statue of Robert E. Lee in September 2021.

Richmond's Robert E. Lee Statue Is Headed to a Black History Museum

Officials have tentatively agreed to transfer ownership of removed Confederate monuments to a pair of museums in the Virginia city

Virignia Governor Ralph Northam (center) looks on as conservators Kate Ridgway (left) and Sue Donovon (right) remove the time capsule's contents.

Cool Finds

A Time Capsule Found Beneath Richmond’s Robert E. Lee Monument Confounds Historians

An almanac, a silver coin and a cloth envelope were among the intriguing artifacts found in the box

Workers removed the sculpture from the University of Hong Kong's campus under the cover of night.

Hong Kong Removes 'Pillar of Shame' Honoring Tiananmen Square Victims

The move arrives amid continuing crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters in the Asian city

Crews removed the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from its perch in Charlottesville, Virginia, in July 2021. Controversy over the statue's fate sparked the violent "Unite the Right" rally in 2017.

History of Now

Charlottesville's Robert E. Lee Statue Will Be Melted Down, Transformed Into New Art

Officials in the Virginia city approved a bold plan for the future of the Confederate monument

New memorials provide a bare outline of the lives of two Black victims killed during the Holocaust.

New Memorials in Berlin Honor the Holocaust's Overlooked Black Victims

Two brass "stumbling stones" are among the first to memorialize the Afro-German people murdered by the Nazis

Neolithic people may have cooked predecessors of modern mince pies on stones heated in a fire's embers.

Stonehenge's Builders May Have Feasted on Sweet Treats

Excavations near the iconic English monument revealed traces of fruits and nuts

Researchers at the University of Virginia analyzed county-by-county data on Confederate memorials and lynchings in 11 Southern states between 1832 and 1950.

Survey Identifies Correlation Between Confederate Monuments and Lynchings

Counties with higher numbers of statues honoring the Confederacy recorded more racially motivated killings of Black Americans

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the audit found that the majority of America's monuments commemorate white, male historical figures.

History of Now

Scholars Spent a Year Scrutinizing America's Monuments. Here's What They Learned

A major audit of nearly 50,000 monuments reveals the historical figures, themes and myths that dominate the nation's commemorative landscape

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