A conversation that took place on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, July, 2021
19th century American sculpture architecture and photography
Dedicated in 1890; removed in 2021
Defeated, heroized, dismantled: Richmond’s Robert E. Lee ...
The University of Alabama, Civil War, and slavery; examining the role of architecture as historical marker
Little Round House
A miracle on Bleecker Street, ornament, invention, and one of the great early skyscrapers
Soaring upward, Louis Sullivan and the invention ...
At the Alamo, the representation of patriotic heroism and brave sacrifice eclipses Spain’s earlier colonial presence and the history of the site’s ruination, reconstruction, and reframing.
The Alamo (& Mission San Antonio de ...
This jug is one of the earliest known alkaline-glazed stoneware face vessels made by slaves or their descendants in the Edgefield District of South Carolina.
Cultures and slavery in the American south: ...
Though at first glance this nude seems plucked from classical antiquity, it actually alludes to modern politics.
Hiram Powers, The Greek Slave
The gun that "won the West" also transformed American manufacturing and marketing.
Inventing America, Colt’s Experimental Pocket Pistol
The makers of this ostentatious ceramic jug used images from popular satire to poke fun at the Civil War politics.
Anna Pottery, Snake jug
This eclectic assortment of carved objects speaks to the experience of a formerly-enslaved man in the post-Civil War South.
William Howard (attributed), Writing desk
Two countries honor their love of democracy with a huge statue of a woman! Neither let women vote, though.
The light of democracy — examining the ...
This remarkable work honors those who fought for their own freedom, but acknowledges that the struggle goes on.
John Quincy Adams Ward, The Freedman
The creation of a beloved landmark destroyed a thriving community of African Americans and Irish immigrants.
Seneca Village: the lost history of African ...
This fancy chair was made for outrageously rich Americans, but its modern style owes much to Japanese design.
Herter Brothers, Mark Hopkins House Side Chair
Visitors are welcomed into this monumental temple of knowledge by two lions named Patience and Fortitude.
Carrère & Hastings, The New York Public ...
Shrady’s sneaky self-portrait within this sculpture took on tragic connotations after the monument claimed his life.
Shrady and Casey, Ulysses S. Grant Memorial
Unlike the other monuments on the Mall, this monument tells us virtually nothing about the man it commemorates.
Robert Mills and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lincoln ...
To bring “polite sociability” to the city, designers blended nature’s greatest hits into one ambitious park.
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