BEFORE & AFTER the Stonewall Jackson statue was removed/relocated from Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Virginia to New Market Battlefield
BEFORE & AFTER the Stonewall Jackson statue was removed/relocated against the overwhelming majority of people from Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Virginia to New Market Battlefield. His name was also sandblasted off the arch in the background. BEFORE photo: 2018. AFTER: 2023 The Stonewall Jackson statue at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Virginia, was a bronze monument dedicated in 1912, sculpted by Moses Ezekiel, a VMI alumnus and Confederate veteran. It stood in front of the cadet barracks on the main parade field, symbolizing Jackson’s role as a former VMI professor of natural philosophy and artillery tactics from 1851 to 1861. Jackson, a Confederate general was a significant figure in VMI’s history, and the statue was a focal point of campus tradition, with first-year cadets once required to salute it (years ago). Following unfounded allegations (akin to Jussie Smollett) of systemic racism at VMI, the VMI Board of Visitors voted to remo...