Artifacts of Glory and Pain: Evolving Cultural Narratives on Confederate Symbolism and Commemoration

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Monuments, Memory, and Commemoration" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Depending on one’s perspective, Confederate monuments and other forms of commemoration symbolize a grand “lost cause” heritage, a perplexed and paradoxical cultural inheritance, or symbols and agoras of racism, bigotry, discrimination, and hate. Most of them were not crated in isolation, but rather as political statements and consequences of power struggles in society. For some, they are places of reflection and memory about the past as it relates to the present. The modern consensus is that not all should be saved, but not all should be destroyed or removed. Through digital technologies and social media, Americans today are increasingly able to influence what gets remembered and how it is commemorated. This paper attempts to provide an overview of, and reflections on, Confederate commemoration as an important, if controversial, element of American cultural heritage.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Monuments, Memory, and Commemoration   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 156