Ellie Waltman, Managing Editor
Sal Orlando, News Editor
The Department of General Services removed three Confederate statues from Richmond’s Capitol Square on Aug. 28 following the passing of a budget item by the General Assembly.
The monuments were built to honor Confederate leaders Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, William ”Extra Billy” Smith, and Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire, according to AP News. The memorial had been displayed in the public park and civic campus for more than 100 years.
Former Virginia Sen. Adam Ebbin patroned Senate Bill 636, directing the removal in the 2026 General Assembly session. The bill failed in the House Appropriations Committee.
The monuments will relocate to battlefield sites within the Shenandoah Valley, where they were gifted to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation to “preserve and interpret Virginia’s historic landscapes and cultural resources.”
Keven Walker, CEO of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, shared the following statement with 8News:
“Preservation is more about the future than the past, and ensuring the preservation of the Capitol Square monuments is a part of that clear vision,” Walker said. “At the core of all we do is the belief that our shared history can unite the people of our nation, that there is strength and inspiration for our own times to be found in the struggles of the past.”