Menu Close

Articles on Monuments

Displaying all articles

The North Carolina memorial stands in Gettysburg National Military Park on Aug. 10, 2020. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Gettysburg tells the story of more than a battle − the military park shows what national ‘reconciliation’ looked like for decades after the Civil War

How should opposing armies be commemorated on a battlefield? Gettysburg offers an especially interesting example of today’s debates over Confederate monuments.
A man hangs a protest banner where the Egerton Ryerson statue used to sit at Ryerson University. The statue was toppled in June by those protesting the discovery of graves at Indian Residential Schools. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Suburban monumentalism: How do we change Indigenous-settler relations when there are no statues to destroy?

The suburban-built environment whitewashes the violence and theft on which Canada is built.
Protestors toppled a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald after a demonstration in Montréal on Aug. 29, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)

Education and democracy can help address monuments that are a reminder of racist pasts

Contending with Canada’s history means acknowledging different versions of the truth. Toppling statues won’t resolve the wrongs of the past — education is an important part of democracy and inclusion.
Charlottesville city workers drape a tarp over the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in 2018. Debate over removing the statue continues today. AP Photo/Steve Helber, File

Monuments ‘expire’ – but offensive monuments can become powerful history lessons

Once stripped of their symbolic power, problem monuments offer what educators call ‘teachable moments,’ helping people assess society’s current values and compare them with what mattered in the past.

Top contributors

More