+++
showonlyimage = true
draft = false
image = "img/confederate-soldier-farmville-va.jpg"
date = "2020-06-18T19:00:00-04:00"
title = "Confederate solider, Farmville, VA, U.S.A."
photo_credits = "Alexa Massey"
photo_source_url = "https://www.farmvilleherald.com/2020/06/confederate-statue-removed-after-farmville-town-council-approval/"
categories = ["confederates"]
tags = ["municipal-action"]
weight = 1
+++

A statue of a Confederate soldier was removed from an intersection in Farmville, VA, following action by the local government.

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The Farmville Town Council voted unanimously at its continued council meeting on June 18, 2020 to remove the Confederate statue located at the intersection of High and Randolph streets in Farmville, VA, U.S.A.[^1]. The continued meeting was scheduled to begin at 7pm; the removal of the statue with a crane was underway by 7:30pm [^1]. A local newspaper reported that the audience for the removal consisted of "police officers, town council members and a crowd of around 50 onlookers"[^1]. “The statue will be secured off-site and preserved until further conversation with various community groups and the citizens of Farmville about its relocation and the appropriate disposition of the monument base,” officials stated in a press release[^1]. The statue consisted of a seven-foot-tall bronze soldier at the top of the 19-foot pedestal made of Virginia gray granite; only the statue portion was removed by truck, leaving the pedestal in place[^1]. 

The statue was put into place in October of 1900 by Confederate Veterans and Daughters of the Confederacy at a cost of $3,000, on property owned by the town, in front of the Farmville United Methodist Church and across from Longwood University[^1].

Items memorializing the statue's racist history were added by unknown persons to the empty pedestal after the statue's removal, but these items had been removed by the following Saturday morning (June 20, 2020)[^2]. The town manager stated that the town did not remove the items, and that the police and commonwealth attorney decided "there is no crime in taking items that were left on public property and not belonging to the town”[^2].

Additional photos of the removal:

{{< figure src="../../img/confederate-soldier-farmville-va2.jpg" title="photo by Alexa Massey">}}

{{< figure src="../../img/confederate-soldier-farmville-va3.jpg" title="photo by Sam Chase Photography">}}

{{< figure src="../../img/confederate-soldier-farmville-va4.jpg" title="photo by Alexa Massey">}}

{{< figure src="../../img/confederate-soldier-farmville-va5.jpg" title="photo by Alexa Massey">}}  

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#### Notes

The removal time listed on this item (19:00-23:59) was determined by a news article stating that the statue removal occurred on the evening of this date and was under way by 7:30pm ET[^1]. Please update that time if you have sources indicating a more exact timeframe.

#### References
[^1]: ["Confederate statue removed after Farmville Town Council approval" news article](https://www.farmvilleherald.com/2020/06/confederate-statue-removed-after-farmville-town-council-approval/) in _The Farmville Herald_, accessed on June 24, 2020 at 10:40am ET  
[^2]: ["Memorial items disappear" news article](https://www.farmvilleherald.com/2020/06/memorial-items-disappear/) in _The Farmville Herald_, accessed on June 24, 2020 at 10:59am ET