Statue of Sam Davis (Montgomery Bell Academy)

Statue of Confederate soldier at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee

36°07′43″N 86°50′12″W / 36.12856°N 86.8366°W / 36.12856; -86.8366OwnerMontgomery Bell Academy

A bronze statue of the Confederate soldier Sam Davis was installed in 1999 at Nashville, Tennessee's Montgomery Bell Academy, in the United States.^[2]^[3] The sculpture was designed by the local artist Alan LeQuire.^[3]^[1] Davis had been an student at the Western Military Institute, a predecessor of the Montgomery Bell Academy.

History

According to the school's headmaster, the statue was originally installed "because of Sam Davis's pre-Civil War connection to one of MBA's predecessor schools and the attributes of loyalty and friendship associated with his life and story".^[4]

Removal

The statue was removed in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests.^[5]^[6] The school's headmaster said, "MBA understands the concerns about the Sam Davis statue, and we will remove the statue from the campus within the week... We recognize the ways in which this story and Sam Davis's association with the Confederacy have become increasingly troubling, particularly as perspectives on the past have shifted. We strive to be an inclusive community, not one that either is or is perceived as racist or supportive of values that demean or marginalize others. In that spirit and with that conviction, we will remove the statue."^[7]

In April 2022, officials submitted a petition to remove a different statue of Sam Davis from Nashville's Centennial Park, pending approval by the Tennessee Historical Commission.^[8]^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b "Tommy Owen". data.nashville.gov. Archived from the original on 2020-06-29. Retrieved 2020-06-26. (in XML format)
^ Smith, Debra West (August 19, 2015). Young Heroes of the Confederacy. Pelican Publishing Company. ISBN 9781455616855. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2020 – via Google Books.
^ ^a ^b "Object record: Sam Davis statue". Archived from the original on 28 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
^ "Tennessee school to remove statue of Confederate soldier". AP NEWS. 2020-06-06. Archived from the original on 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
^ "Nashville school pledges to remove statue of confederate soldier from its campus". The Tennessean. Archived from the original on 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
^ Jorge, Kaylin (June 5, 2020). "Nashville school to remove Confederate soldier Sam Davis statue". WZTV. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
^ "Statue of Confederate soldier to be removed from Montgomery Bell Academy campus". June 5, 2020. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
^ Nashville, Vivian Jones (2022-04-19). "Metro seeks state permission to remove Confederate memorial from Centennial Park". Main Street Nashville. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
^ McFarland, Justin; Jorge, Kaylin (2021-02-04). "Nashville parks seeks state's permission to remove Confederate monument". WZTV. Retrieved 2022-11-18.

Monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests

United States

Alabama	Birmingham – Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument; Charles Linn Huntsville – Confederate Soldier Memorial ✻ Mobile – Raphael Semmes
Arkansas	Bentonville – Confederate Monument ✻ Little Rock – Company A, Capitol Guards Pine Bluff – Confederate Monument
California	Carmel-by-the-Sea – Junípero Serra Chula Vista – Christopher Columbus Los Angeles – Junípero Serra Sacramento – Columbus' Last Appeal to Queen Isabella ✻; Junípero Serra; John Sutter San Francisco – Christopher Columbus; Ulysses S. Grant; Francis Scott Key; Junípero Serra Ventura – Junípero Serra ✻
Connecticut	Bridgeport – Christopher Columbus Hartford – Christopher Columbus ✻ Middletown – Christopher Columbus New Haven – Christopher Columbus ✻ New London – Christopher Columbus ✻ Norwalk – Christopher Columbus
Delaware	Dover – Delaware Law Enforcement Memorial Wilmington – Christopher Columbus; Caesar Rodney
District of Columbia	Washington – Albert Pike
Florida	Jacksonville – Confederate Memorial; Florida's Tribute to the Women of the Confederacy ✻ Palatka – Putnam County Confederate Memorial ✻ Quincy – Gadsden Confederate Memorial
Georgia	Athens – Confederate Monument Decatur – DeKalb County Confederate Monument
Indiana	Indianapolis – Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument
Kentucky	Frankfort – Jefferson Davis Louisville – John B. Castleman; Louis XVI
Louisiana	New Orleans – John McDonogh
Massachusetts	Boston – Christopher Columbus; Emancipation Memorial
Michigan	Dearborn – Orville L. Hubbard Detroit – Christopher Columbus
Minnesota	Minneapolis – Calvin Griffith Saint Paul – Christopher Columbus
Missouri	St. Louis – Christopher Columbus
Nevada	Las Vegas – Hey Reb!
New Jersey	Camden – Christopher Columbus Newark – Christopher Columbus West Orange – Christopher Columbus ✻
New Mexico	Albuquerque – Juan de Oñate Alcalde – Juan de Oñate Santa Fe – Diego de Vargas
New York	Albany – Philip Schuyler ✻ Buffalo – Christopher Columbus Hempstead – Thomas Jefferson New York City – Theodore Roosevelt Rochester – Frederick Douglass
North Carolina	Asheville – Vance Monument ✻ Charlotte – Jerry Richardson Raleigh – North Carolina Women of the Confederacy; Josephus Daniels; Henry Lawson Wyatt Rocky Mount – Nash County Confederate Monument ✻ Salisbury – Gloria Victis ✻ Wilmington – Confederate Memorial; George Davis
Ohio	Columbus – Christopher Columbus (City Hall); Christopher Columbus (Columbus State Community College)
Oregon	Eugene – The Pioneer; The Pioneer Mother Portland – Captain William Clark Monument; Thompson Elk Fountain; Thomas Jefferson; Abraham Lincoln; Theodore Roosevelt; Harvey W. Scott; George Washington
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia – Christopher Columbus ✻; Frank Rizzo; George Whitefield
Rhode Island	Providence – Christopher Columbus
South Carolina	Columbia – Christopher Columbus Charleston – John C. Calhoun
Tennessee	Nashville – Edward W. Carmack; Sam Davis ✻
Texas	Beaumont – Our Confederate Soldiers Dallas – Confederate War Memorial; One Riot, One Ranger Denton – Confederate Soldier Monument ✻ Fort Worth – Confederate Monument Houston – Christopher Columbus; Richard W. Dowling ✻; Spirit of the Confederacy
Virginia	Alexandria – Appomattox Fredericksburg – Slave Auction Block Norfolk – Confederate Monument Portsmouth – Confederate Monument Roanoke – Robert E. Lee Richmond – Christopher Columbus; Jefferson Davis; Howitzer Monument ✻; Stonewall Jackson; Robert E. Lee; Matthew Fontaine Maury; Richmond Police Memorial; J. E. B. Stuart; Williams Carter Wickham
Wisconsin	Madison – Forward; Hans Christian Heg

Other countries

Belgium	Antwerp – Leopold II Ghent – Leopold II
New Zealand	Hamilton – John Fane Charles Hamilton
United Kingdom	Bristol – Edward Colston Cambridge – Sir Ronald Fisher window Greater Manchester – Dunham Massey Hall sundial London – John Cass; Robert Clayton ✻; Thomas Guy ✻; Robert Milligan