Richmond's Last Publicly Owned Confederate-Era Statute Removed

The last publicly owned Confederate memorial in Richmond, Virginia, was removed by crews Monday, representing the conclusion of the city's two-year process to purge any historical statues which might have glorified slavery and/or the Confederacy.

The removed statue bore the likeness of A.P. Hill, a Confederate general in the Northern Virginia army who was a valuable associate of Gen. Robert E. Lee — the most decorated Confederate general of the Civil War era.

According to reports, the Hill statue will be relocated to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia.

Prior to Monday, the Hill memorial had towered over a busy intersection in Richmond.

The Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) applauded Richmond's decision to remove the Hill statue.

In a tweet, the ACLU wrote: "Let's not forget: Removing symbols of racism is only one of the first steps to dismantling racist systems."

Some have argued the statue was a part of Richmond's heritage and evolution.

The Hill statue might have been removed earlier by city officials, but a legal fight delayed that process.

According to reports, four indirect descendants of Hill — who was killed in the final days of the Civil War (1865) — had previously claimed ownership of the memorial.

Also, Hill's descendants reportedly wanted the statue moved to a battlefield site, instead of the museum.

A Richmond circuit court judge ultimately ruled in favor of the city.

Richmond and the descendants agreed to move Gen. Hill's remains to a cemetery in Culpepper, Virginia.

Richmond, the capital city of the Confederacy, has also supervised the removal of Gens. Lee and Stonewall Jackson statues from Monument Avenue.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the City of Richmond spent at least $1.8 million to remove the Confederate statues.

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