Monuments to the Lost Cause

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writes examines "Monuments to the Lost Cause--Women, Arts and the Landscapes of Southern Memory" which consists of a series of fourteen scholarly essays regarding commemorative Civil War monuments. The writer discusses the authors' interest in historians giving a multifaceted perspective to the monuments, including a history of their creation, why women so often lead the charge for commemoration and the African-American response to the statues. The writer concludes that the book persuasively suggests that through collective associations such as The Daughters of the Confederacy, women found a voice in the public discourse, albeit one that was socially acceptable because it was in the name of a dead cause.

From the Paper:

"Of course, one of the reasons for the devotion of artistic critiques to Northern sculptures is that many of the most important sculptors were working primarily in the North following the war, because the North was the winning side and had the greater financial resources. However, Simpson and Mills note that the South still has abundant public commemorative sculptures despite this. The authors suggest that perhaps, as a chronicle of the losing side, these sculptures not only pose features of interest, but perhaps even of greater interest, as they help the gazer understand the appeal of the Confederate cause amongst many Southern whites today. Diversity and speculation are thus the themes of the book, rather than drawing a singular conclusion."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Mills, Cynthia & Pamela H. Simpson. Monuments to the Lost Cause--Women, arts and the landscapes of Southern memory. Memphis: University of Tennessee Press 2003.

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