Equestrian statue of Stonewall Jackson (Charlottesville, Virginia)
United States historic place
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Thomas Jonathan Jackson was a bronze equestrian statue of Confederate general Stonewall Jackson which was located at Courthouse Historic District of Charlottesville, Virginia and installed in 1921.
Thomas Jonathan Jackson | |
The monument in 2014 | |
   | |
| Location | Jackson Park, bounded by High, Jefferson, and 4th Sts., and Albemarle Co. Courthouse, Charlottesville, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°1′54″N 78°28′31″W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1921 |
| Architect | Keck, Charles |
| Architectural style | bronze sculpture |
| MPS | Four Monumental Figurative Outdoor Sculptures in Charlottesville MPS |
| NRHP reference No. | 97000446[1] |
| VLR No. | 104-0251 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 16, 1997 |
| Designated VLR | June 19, 1996[2] |
![](#/media/File:Thomas_J._"Stonewall"_Jackson_Memorial_dedication_1921_from_U_VA_collections.jpg)
The statue was sculpted by Charles Keck and was the third of four works commissioned from members of the National Sculpture Society by philanthropist Paul Goodloe McIntire. It was the second of three statues McIntire donated to the city of Charlottesville, which he did over a period of five years from 1919 to 1924.[3] The statue was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.[1]
In 2021 the statue was sent to Los Angeles, where the artist Kara Walker cut the statue into pieces and made them into a new sculpture presented in the exhibition Monuments.
Controversy and removal
In April 2016, the Charlottesville City Council appointed a special commission, named the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Monuments and Public Spaces, to recommend to city officials how to best handle issues surrounding Confederate statues and monuments in Charlottesville. In February 2017, as part of the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials, the Charlottesville City Council voted 3–2 for the statue's removal, along with the Robert E. Lee Monument; both were vandalized in September 2019, with "1619" graffitied on the Jackson statue, in reference to the date of the arrival of the first Africans in Virginia. It was vandalized again in October 2019. On July 10, 2021, the city council removed the statues of Jackson and Lee.[4]
In December 2021, the City Council voted to transfer ownership of the Jackson statue to the Brick, a Los Angeles-based art nonprofit. The statue was moved to Los Angeles, where the artist Kara Walker cut the statue into pieces and formed a new sculpture out of it, titled Unmanned Drone. Walker completed the new sculpture in 2023 and it was included in the exhibition Monuments at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, which opened in 2025.[5][6]
