Event

Thinking On My Feet: A Virtual Tour of Charlottesville’s Johnny Reb Statue

Aug 5

7:00 pm - 8:15 pm

Zoom Webinar

Since 1909, a statue of the Johnny Reb Confederate soldier has stood “At Ready” outside the Albemarle County Courthouse in Downtown Charlottesville. This personification of the common soldier-as-hero, along with nearby monuments dedicated to Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson, have helped perpetuate the myth of the Lost Cause for more than a hundred years. On Thursday, August 6, Albemarle County officials will vote on whether or not to remove the statue from Courthouse Square.

Join UVA Professor Jalane Schmidt on a virtual tour of Charlottesville’s Johnny Reb monument to learn about the role it has played in our local and national narratives about religion, race, and democracy.


Photo: Jessica Gabbay

 

Jalane Schmidt is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, where she teaches courses on race, religion, and social change movements. A scholar-activist in Charlottesville, Virginia, she sits on the city’s Historic Resources Committee, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center Advisory Committee, and plans and leads public history events which focus on local African American history. She and other racial justice activists organized to increase the #MoveTheStatue constituency turnout for Charlottesville’s 2016 Blue Ribbon Commission meetings on the disposition of Confederate monuments, and she cofounded the 2019-2020 Monumental Justice Virginia campaign which successfully overturned a century-old state law which had prohibited localities from removing Confederate statues. Schmidt cofounded the local chapter of Black Lives Matter during the 2017 Summer of Hate and continues community engagement for racial justice.

 

Schmidt leading a walking tour of Charlottesville's Confederate monuments with Andrea Douglas (r), Executive Director of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. Photo: Ashley Duffalo

Schmidt leading a walking tour of Charlottesville's Confederate monuments with Andrea Douglas (r), Executive Director of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. Photo: Ashley Duffalo

Statue of Johnny Reb in front of the Albemarle County courthouse. Photo by Kathy Randolph. RG 107-06 | Law School Foundation, CCBY Image Courtesy of University of Virginia Law Library

Statue of Johnny Reb in front of the Albemarle County courthouse. Photo by Kathy Randolph. RG 107-06 | Law School Foundation, CCBY Image Courtesy of University of Virginia Law Library

Photo by Ézé Amos.

Photo by Ézé Amos.

Photo by Ézé Amos.

Photo by Ézé Amos.

Photo by Ézé Amos.

Photo by Ézé Amos.

Photo by Ézé Amos.

Photo by Ézé Amos.

Photo by Ézé Amos.

Photo by Ézé Amos.

Photo by Ézé Amos.

Photo by Ézé Amos.

Additional Resources:

Natanson, Hannah. “Two women lead a free tour of Charlottesville’s Confederate monuments each month. A new website lets everyone listen.” Washington Post, August 20, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/08/20/two-women-lead-free-tour-charlottesvilles-confederate-monuments-each-month-new-website-lets-everyone-listen/.

Schmidt, Jalane. “What You Need to Know about Charlottesville’s Courthouse Confederate Soldier.” Medium.com. https://medium.com/@JalaneSchmidt/what-you-need-to-know-about-charlottesvilles-courthouse-confederate-soldier-f6f5e2cee5d4.

WTJU 91.1 FM, “Marked by These Monuments.” thesemonuments.org.

Sacred & Profane, Season 2, Episode 11

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Photo by Ézé Amos