Talbot County has filed its application seeking approval from the Easton Historic District Commission to relocate the Confederate monument from the county courthouse grounds.
The county’s application for a certificate of appropriateness was filed Monday, Sept. 27, the deadline for applications to be on the historic district commission’s Oct. 11 meeting agenda.
In its application, the county said a council majority had adopted an administrative resolution to relocate the statue to the Cross Keys Battlefield in Harrisonburg, Va.
The town’s historic district guidelines allow the historic district commission to “approve the moving of historic resources if it finds ‘that it is not in the best interests of the Town or a majority of its citizens to withhold approval,'” according to the county’s narrative in support of removal.
“For profound reasons, it is not in the best interests of the Town of Easton (the ‘Town]) or a presumed majority of its citizens to withhold approval of the County’s’ removal of the Statue from the County Courthouse grounds,” Talbot County said in its narrative. “The Statue, dedicated in 1916, is a Confederate monument on the County Courthouse grounds that commemorates individuals from Talbot County who served in the Confederacy during the Civil War.
“As is well known and highly publicized, the Statue’s presence on the County Courthouse grounds has generated significant controversy and division among many citizens of the County, including citizens of the Town,” according to the narrative. “By way of example, the County is currently defending litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland filed by certain individuals, governmental agencies, and entities who seek to have the Statue removed. Thus, the County Council seeks to relocate the Statue from the County Courthouse grounds.”
The county said its intent is for the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation “to take possession of the Statue where it can be displayed on the Cross Keys Battlefield on the ridge where Maryland troops fought, including troops from Talbot County.
“The Statue can then be repurposed as a monument to all Maryland troops engaged at the battle of Cross Keys with additional interpretation added,” according to the narrative. “The Cross Keys Battlefield is private property; however, it is open to the public year round. Thus, the Statue can be preserved and viewed in a better historical context along with other monuments commemorating the Civil War.”
The county also said moving the statue “to another location outside the Town’s Historic District will not change the general character of the County Courthouse or the Town’s Historic District as a whole. The historic character of the County Courthouse will remain intact, and the Statue’s relocation does not affect any other historic sites, buildings, or other structures in the Town’s Historic District.”
Historic District Application Packet (relocation of Talbot Boys Statue)While the county is working through the administrative process to relocate the Confederate monument from the courthouse lawn, opponents of its removal are asking the county council to change its mind or accept a Talbot County site for the monument.
Lynn Mielke, David Montgomery, and Clive Ewing, longtime advocates for keeping the statue at its current location, have petitioned the council to rescind the administrative resolution calling for the statue’s relocation to Virginia. The petition for rescission is on the council’s agenda for tonight’s meeting.
Members of Preserve Talbot History, meanwhile, are looking for a suitable site for the monument in Talbot County and have asked the county council for greater transparency on the matter.
In a Sept. 23 press release, the group said the county council needs to answer these questions:
1. Has the cost of moving the memorial been estimated, and on what basis?
2. Is there a written commitment from some individual or organization to pay that cost?
3. What is the basis for claim that no one in Talbot County would accept the memorial?
4. Was any request for proposals to take the memorial ever posted?
Mary Margaret Revell Goodwin says
I am wondering if MHT (Maryland Historic Trust) needs to be consulted as well. They have responsibility for maintaining all public statues, etc. under a special commission, and it is State funds that they allocate to those statues most in need of care, and I believe at one of their last meetings it was determined that the Talbot statue was not in immediate need of cleaning or special care. Their meetings are filed publicly. So I am wondering if they need to be consulted, or if they were and gave their thoughts.
Henry Herr says
I think it’s time the Talbot Spy stops sharing PTH’s thoughts and opinions on this matter. A recent article shared by PTH includes such language as:
“On September 14, 2021, the Talbot County council voted 3-to-2 to remove the Talbot Boys monument and relocate it at private expense to the Cross Keys Battlefield in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Wealthy donors are apparently operating in the shadows here, as in the strange case of the Bad Boulder on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. Mulatto Republican Corey Pack and fake Republican Frank Divilio voted with the one Democrat on the council,”
and
“(The preponderance of Jews in this effort is a matter of anthropological interest. It is remarkable that people whose ancestors were not even in this country during the War of Northern Aggression should bear such hatred toward the losing side.)”
It is quite clear that those who want this monument to stay do not have the county’s best interest in mind and are now sharing blatantly offensive and racist articles to drum up support to protest removal.
It is despicable and hateful. This group’s opinions should not be given further traffic. Individuals who want the monument to stay deserve their thoughts to be shared, this hateful group does not deserve as such.
darrell parsons says
Yes. Despicable and hateful – both that it was said, and that it was shared by PTH.
Paul Callahan says
Absolutely! Anyone that steps outside of the official party line of speach or thought should be banned from all form of public expression. If they continue their subversive activity imprisonment would be required to protect society from their unlawful subversive activities. Re-education camps could be useful to reconstruct all who do not think appropriately so we can move forward as a united society.
Henry Herr says
A little bit extreme of a reaction considering I stated that I believe people deserve the right to voice their opinions. I’m just not sure why the Talbot Spy continues to give a group such press when it promotes such hate speech to local Talbot Countians.
It should be noted even PTH has noticed it was promoting hate speech as it now has a disclaimer on that article. It seems to have showed up after my comment here.
Do you think it’s right for the Spy to report group’s opinions that promote hate speech? Should the Spy check in with the Maryland KKK chapter to get their thoughts? Are they just stepping out of the official party line of speech?
Paul Callahan says
The concept that any group can decide what speech will be tolerated and which would be banned is far more intolerable to our liberties than the actual speech itself.
You have called for a ban of others speech because you personally don’t like it. You are making a statement that you do not believe in the freedoms and liberties on which our Nation was founded.
How can you be for diversity, equity and inclusion when you want to exclude the thoughts and expressions of those you disagree with?
Jess Haberman says
I don’t know who PTH is and was not aware of those comments but they are disgusting and hateful. I find it hard to believe that the Talbot Spy published them. If true it needs to reconsider its standards and explain why it allowed those comments to be published.
Henry Herr says
David Montgomery and Paul Callahan are both members of Preserve Talbot History (PTH). It’s hard to understand why the Talbot Spy reports their comments, when the other comments they promote are so hateful.
PTH is welcome to promote whatever they want, I’m just not sure why the Spy needs to print their organization’s opinions at this point.