Some Richmonders have been calling for the removal of the Confederate statues on Monument Avenue. No, says Gov. Terry McAuliffe. No, says Mayor Dwight C. Jones, who argued in June that the city needs to balance its historical landscape with more statues. That raised the question: Who else belongs on Monument Avenue? Our readers weighed in on Facebook, Twitter and via email. The taller the statue, the greater number of votes.
Here's an artist rendering of who belongs on Monument Avenue, according to our readers. From left: L. Douglas Wilder, Oliver Hill, Maggie L. Walker, Edgar Allan Poe, Gabriel (Prosser). (Illustration by Shawn Yu)
Most Creative Suggestions:
The Sailor Sandwich – We’re cool with this, but only if #RVAdine is inscribed on it.
Donnie “Dirt Woman” Corker – Eighties nightwalker Dirt Woman? Or present-day City Council goad Dirt Woman?
D’Angelo – Honoring the R&B icon would be fine, unless his monument inexplicably disappears for a decade after it’s erected.
Harry Kollatz Jr – Instead of a monument to our longtime history columnist, might we suggest a monument to his hat?
Secretariat – Foaled north of Richmond, the thoroughbred’s Triple Crown in 1973 makes him one of our most accomplished athletes.
