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Monument

A crew in Richmond, Virginia, removes a statue of Confederate naval officer Matthew Fontaine Maury on July 2, 2020.

The U.S. Removed Over 160 Confederate Symbols in 2020—but Hundreds Remain

Following mass protests against racial injustice, watchdog group records new push to remove racist monuments from public spaces

The bust depicts York, an enslaved member of the 1804 Lewis and Clark expedition.

Anonymous Artist Installs Bust of York, Enslaved Explorer Who Accompanied Lewis and Clark, in Portland Park

The monument replaces a statue of conservative editor Harvey Scott that was toppled last October

Researchers recorded striking similarities between Stonehenge and a razed stone circle at the Waun Mawn archaeological site in Wales.

Cool Finds

How a Stone Circle in Wales Paved the Way for Stonehenge

New research suggests early Britons used megaliths from a dismantled Welsh monument to construct the iconic ring of standing stones

Artist Simon Berger created the portrait by strategically hammering cracks into a pane of glass.

Kamala Harris Portrait Draws Inspiration From the Glass Ceiling She Shattered

Artist Simon Berger created the unconventional likeness of the vice president in just one day

Local commissioners approved a resolution calling for the memorial's creation on January 26.

Memorial to Civil Rights Icon John Lewis Will Replace Confederate Monument in Georgia

A tribute to the congressman and activist will stand in a DeKalb County square once occupied by a Confederate obelisk

Last June, protesters threw a statue of British slave trader Edward Colston into Bristol Harbor. A salvage team recovered the sculpture the following day.

Proposed Legislation Seeks to ‘Protect’ the U.K.’s Controversial Monuments

If passed, the new measure would make it more difficult for local councils to remove statues of polarizing historical figures

A rendering of by Hank Willis Thomas' The Embrace, a public memorial set to be unveiled in the Boston Commons in October 2022

Monument to Coretta Scott and MLK Is Coming to Boston, City Where They Met

Hank Willis Thomas’ sculpture of intertwined arms will memorialize the civil rights leaders and their fight for racial equality

Activists toppled and defaced Edward Valentine's statue of Jefferson Davis during Black Lives Matter protests in Richmond last summer.

Why a Virginia Museum Wants to Display a Defaced Sculpture of Jefferson Davis

“Actually bringing that statue back to the spot where it was created has a unique power to it,” says the Valentine’s director

The sculpture has stood in Boston's Park Square since 1879.

Boston Removes Controversial Statue of Lincoln With Kneeling Freed Man

The sculpture, installed in 1879, is based on one still standing in Washington, D.C.

As of Monday morning, a statue of Confederate commander Robert E. Lee no longer stands in the U.S. Capitol's Crypt.

Statue of Civil Rights Activist Barbara Rose Johns Will Replace U.S. Capitol’s Likeness of Robert E. Lee

Johns, whose efforts helped desegregate public schools, is set to represent Virginia in place of the Confederate general

The statue of Hannah Dunston has been vandalized with red paint in recent months

Why Just ‘Adding Context’ to Controversial Monuments May Not Change Minds

Research shows that visitors often ignore information that conflicts with what they already believe about history

This summer, activists in Richmond transformed a monument to Robert E. Lee (right) into a work of protest art (left).

Virginia Museum Will Lead Efforts to Reimagine Richmond Avenue Once Lined With Confederate Monuments

Governor Ralph Northam’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year earmarks $11 million for the project

A Stonewall Jackson statue is loaded on a truck after being removed from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, on July 1.

Mellon Foundation Pledges $250 Million to Reinvent America’s Monuments

The organization’s five-year campaign will support the creation of new public works and the reimagining of ones already standing

A replica statue of Atlas at the Temple of Zeus in Agrigento, Sicily

A Colossal Statue of Atlas Will Rise Again

Sicily’s Temple of Zeus once featured 38 giant likenesses of the mythological Titan. Now, a reassembled version is set to go on view

City officials removed the stone, which commemorates a site where enslavers sold African Americans into slavery, on June 5, 2020.

Fredericksburg’s Slave Auction Block Will Be Moved to a Museum

Curators plan on preserving graffiti added by Black Lives Matter protesters

The United Daughters of the Confederacy presented the granite monument to the city of Charlotte in 1948.

Charlotte’s Monument to a Jewish Confederate Was Hated Even Before It Was Built

For more than seven decades, the North Carolina memorial has courted controversy in unexpected forms

Towers of the Stadtkirsche rise above Wittenberg, Germany. Much of the church was demolished and replaced in 1522, but the “Judensau” has remained despite controversy.

Germany May Have Banished Nazism, but Its Medieval Anti-Semitism Is Still in Plain Sight

In the city where Martin Luther revolutionized Christianity, a vile, 700-year-old sculpture openly denigrates Jews. Why is it still there?

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial's formal dedication is slated to take place on Thursday, September 17.

Controversial, Long-Delayed Eisenhower Memorial Finally Makes Its Debut

Celebrating Ike’s political, military accomplishments required compromise between the architect and the president’s family

The museum's CEO emeritus, John Guess Jr., stands in front of the newly installed Spirit of the Confederacy sculpture.

Why the Houston Museum of African American Culture Is Displaying a Confederate Statue

The institution describes the move, which arrives amid a reckoning on the U.S.’ history of systemic racism, as “part of healing”

The statues have stood outside of the Shelbourne Hotel since 1867.

Dublin Hotel Controversially Removes Four Statues of African Women

City officials say the Shelbourne, which moved the sculptures because it believed they depicted enslaved women, failed to follow proper procedures

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