Jackson Park: Difference between revisions

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[[image: Stonewall-jackson-statue.jpg|right|thumb|Stonewall Jackson statue]]
#REDIRECT [[Court Square Park]]
'''Jackson Park''' is a Charlottesville park located north of the [[Downtown Mall]].  The park consists of 0.4 acres and includes all of the property bordered by Jefferson Street, Fourth Street N.E., High Street and the Albemarle County Court Building. A large equestrian monument of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson mounted on his horse Little Sorrel, by Charles Keck, is the focal point of the park.  The statue is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref>National Register of Historic Places id #64500682, Four Monumental Figurative Outdoor Sculptures in Charlottesville</ref> The park also contains well-maintained flower beds and a number of benches.
 
==History of park and statue donation==
The park's land was originally known as McKee block.<ref name=K> Rourke. Kristen. "Marking History in Charlottesville." np. City Council Chambers, Charlottesville, VA. 30 May 2012. presentation. </ref>  The buildings on the property were torn down in 1918 and a school for white children was supposed to be built in their place.<ref name=K/>
 
Instead, in 1919  philanthropist Paul Goodloe McIntire, as part of his program of endowing Charlottesville with fine works of art, bought the land to donate to the city specifically to display a sculpture representing General Jackson.<ref name=  Register> National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service Form 10-900-a, 1996, Section 8 page 3, on deposit Albemarle County Historical Society “Monuments“ file</ref><ref>Mrs. J Rawlings Thompson, History of the Jackson Statue, Charlottesville Daily Progress, November 16, 1966, on deposit Albemalrle County Historical Society “Monuments“ file.</ref> McIntire's deed requires that the land "will never be used other than for a park and that no other monument except Jackson’s would ever occupy it.”<ref name=  Register/> McIntire himself had chosen the site and position of the statue, rejecting a suggestion that it face north rather than south.<ref name=  Register/> A 1966 proposal to move the statue to one corner of the park was defeated, because "to be shown to best advantage the statue should remain in the open and elevated position it now occupies.”<ref name=  Register/>
 
Sculptor Charles Keck designed the work, using McIntire's favorite mount as the model for Jackson’s horse Sorrel. The granite pedestal was finished two years in advance of the statue, due to World War I bronze shortages.<ref name=  Register/> On first viewing the finished work installed in the park in 1922, the sculptor called it "the best work I have ever done.”<ref name=  Register/> That assessment is shared by contemporary art critics  according to Charlottesville Heritage: Keck’s sculpture of Jackson is now ranked as one of the three best equestrian statues in the world.<ref>”One of the World’s Finest,” Charlottesville Heritage, March 3, 1972, on deposit Albemalrle County Historical Society, Monuments file</ref>
 
The landscaped area around the base, including park benches and a brick terrace, were originally the result of private philanthropic donations in the late 1960's by Mary Frazier Cash and an organization called Friends of the Charlottesville Statues.  In 1973 the Charlottesville Civic League and then Mayor Francis Fife in turn dedicated a memorial in Jackson Park in gratitude to Ms. Cash, who had died in 1971.<ref>Charlottesville Civic League, Rededication Slated for Sunday, October 9, 1973 ( pamphlet, on deposit, Albemarle Historlcal Society, Monuments file</ref>
 
==Controversy over moving historic war memorials==
At the 2012 [[Virginia Festival of the Book]], City Councilor [[Kristin Szakos]] raised questions over whether Confederate statues should be removed out of a concern they celebrate the state's Confederate past. <ref>{{cite-progress|title=Historian talks Civil War as councilor wonders if statues should be torn down|url=http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/2012/mar/22/historian-talks-civil-war-councilor-wonders-if-sta-ar-1787271/|author=Ted Strong|pageno=|printdate=March 23, 2012|publishdate=March 22, 2012|accessdate=March 29, 2012|cturl=}}</ref> The proposal was met with considerable backlash from the community, who view the statue as an important part of history.<ref>{{cite-progress|title=Szakos decries response to statue comments|url=http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/2012/apr/02/szakos-decries-response-statue-comments-ar-1813702/|author=Graham Moomaw|pageno=|printdate=April 2, 2012|publishdate=|accessdate=August 22, 2012|cturl=}}</ref><ref>{{cite-progress|title=City's Civil War statues remind us of our past|url=http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/2012/mar/27/citys-civil-war-statues-remind-us-our-past-ar-1795886/|author=Daily Progress|pageno=|printdate=|publishdate=March 27, 2012|accessdate=August 22, 2012|cturl=}}</ref>  More recently, in March 2016 the issue of moving Confederate statues was revived.<ref>{{cite-progress|title=Debate over role of Charlottesville's Confederate statues reignites|url=http://Debate%20over%20role%20of%20Charlottesville's%20Confederate%20statues%20reignites%20-%20The%20Daily%20Progress_%20Local.html|author= Bryan McKenzie|pageno=|printdate=July 15, 2015|accessdate=March 22, 2016|cturl=}}</ref><ref>{{cite-progress|title=Movement afoot to remove Lee statue in Charlottesville|url=http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/movement-afoot-to-remove-lee-statue-in-charlottesville/article_7d5ab060-efc2-11e5-99e8-a7d1233a899b.html
|author=Chris Suarez|pageno=|printdate=March 21, 2016|publishdate=March 22, 2016|accessdate=March 29, 2012|cturl=}}</ref>
 
==Local Voices, Local History==
{|
|{{#widget:YouTube|id=bSgSIY-eaBg}}
|-
| '''VIDEO CREDITS''': Narrated by [[Ashlin Smith]];<br> Graphic design: Jen Fleischer; Project Manager: Kristin Rourke.
|}
 
==References==
<references/>
 
==See also==
[[List of statues, monuments, and war memorials]]
 
==External links==
[http://www.charlottesville.org/Index.aspx?page=339 Jackson Park on City's website]
 
[http://audiotourcville.org/about/ Audiotour website: Source of video]
 
[[Category: Charlottesville Parks]]
[[Category: North Downtown]]

Latest revision as of 15:26, 9 September 2018

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