Who Else Belongs on Monument Avenue? Your Suggestions

Send your suggestions to markr@richmag.com.

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Mayor Dwight C. Jones weighed in last week on whether Richmond should remove Confederate statues from Monument Avenue. Rather than tear the statues down, the mayor recommended the city erect more to better tell the full story of Richmond’s history.  

It got us thinking: who else belongs on Monument Avenue? We asked for your suggestions on Facebook and Twitter, and several of you emailed us your recommendations. We want more: send your suggestions on who else belongs on Monument Avenue to markr@richmag.com, post them here in the comments, tweet them to us (@RichmondMag), or post on our Facebook page. We'll share your responses here.

From Facebook:

Laura Parish suggested: Oliver Hill

Frances Gilman Cook suggested: Maggie L. Walker

Terra Haggard suggested: Betsy Ross

Hollister J. Lindley suggested: Maggie L. Walker

Jules Gibbs suggested: A monument to service dogs

Mike Jay suggested: Dave Brockie of GWAR

MP Schairbaumo suggested: Henry Gonner (in a Model T), A Sailor Sandwich, Samuel Davies, Henry Marsh, Douglas Wilder, Ralph White, Frank J. Sprague, and Harry Kollatz, Jr.

Robin Laurie Stewart suggested: Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Edgar Allen Poe, John Marshall and L. Douglas Wilder

Rebecca Higden suggested: Edgar Allen Poe

Korri Garrett Williams suggested: Dr. Zenobia Gilpin, Maggie Walker, John Mitchell, Gabriel Prosser, Edgar Allen Poe, Rosa Bowser, Dr. Lucille Brown, Virginia Randolph

Mary Beth Blakey suggested: Oliver Hill, Maggie Walker, and Gabriel

Phyllis Hornbuckle suggested: Douglas Wilder

Dustin Richardson suggested: Donnie "Dirtwoman" Corker

Teresa Fallen suggested: Pocahontas

Judi Nowak Hendrick suggested: Pocahontas

Taminator Harrison suggested: Jonathan Austin

Lucas Hall suggested: Maggie Walker, Samuel L. Gravely, Oliver Hill, John Marshall, Edgar Allan Poe, Elizabeth Van Lew, Gabriel, John Harvie, Maggie Walker, Powhatan, Booker T Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Henry 'box' Brown, Samuel Davies

Cookie Hawkins suggested: Newton Hopper Ancarrow

From Twitter:

@Jeb_Hoge suggested: Tim Reid

@RDanielConte suggested: The American Dream

@lightningsgirl suggested: Maggie Walker

Emailed Suggestions:

Colin Rooney: "Move the current Richmond Police Officer Memorial to Monument Avenue."

Laura Waite: Mary Tyler Freeman Cheek McClenahan

William Traynham: "I suggest putting the statue of the fallen Police officers of Richmond Monument from downtown, or even adding space for all fallen Police officers both human, Equestrian and K-9 from the region or even the State of Virginia itself."

Robin Russ: "I think there should be a monument to the 'Craftsmen of RVA' who have, and continue to, make this one of America's most unique cities."

Lee Blackburn: "Thomas Cannon, the 'poor man's philanthropist.'"

Douglas Kellner: "Wilford E Cutshaw, Charles Gillette, Mary Elizabeth Bowser"

Linda Bell: "John F.Kennedy, Maggie Walker, POCAHONTAS or her father Chief Powhatan, John Smith, John Rolfe, Thomas Jefferson, Earl Hammner, any of the presidents born in Virginia."

Marcia: "Maggie Walker"

John Ferguson: "James Branch Cabell, Ellen Glasgow, Douglas Southall Freeman, and Edgar Allan Poe."

Downy Roberts-Gabay: "Oliver Hill, Sr. deserves a statue on Monument Avenue."

Rosemary Vieira: "Maggie Walker. She was a leader and contributed a lot to the Richmond community, despite being black and a woman at a time when both were definite liabilities."

Jan Belote: "Maggie Walker."

Lou Webber: "The avenue is a great tourist attraction as it is.  None of the suggestions I have seen so far need to be there.  Let's spend our money on Richmond's infrastructure, long neglected."

Pam Janney: "Absolutely, without a doubt, Maggie Walker and for the following reasons: Richmond native, first female (of any race/ethnicity) bank president ever in the US, outstanding leadership skills – cofounded Richmond NAACP chapter, etc., focus on education, especially for girls and young women."

Drury Wellford: "Gabriel Prosser and Nat Turner."

Judy Duarte: "I believe that there should be a statue of Eleanor P. Sheppard, Richmond's first female Mayor!"

Robert Sullivan: "To replace Jeb Stuart, George Thomas, a Virginia-born Union general during the Civil War, called the "Rock of Chickamauga." To replace Stonewall Jackson, George Marshall (another good VMI boy), one of the most consequential Americans of the WWII & Cold War eras. To replace Jefferson Davis, Maggie Walker."

Betty Burrell: "Maggie L. Walker, A. Linwood Holton, Jr., Spottswood W. Robinson, III, Oliver W. Hill, Sr."

Kathy Talley: "Top of my list is Maggie Walker. In general, need women added to the mix."

Patty Kruszewski: "Elizabeth Van Lew -  A clever, courageous abolitionist and Union spy, she deserves a place of honor after being ostracized in her native Richmond following the war.  Maggie L.  Walker -  She overcame dual barriers of being female and African-American to become a successful entrepreneur in an era of white-male-dominated business and finance -- as well as the first woman in the U.S. to charter a bank."

Keep your suggestions coming! Read Monument Avenue addition suggestions from city leaders and well-known Richmond personalities here.