Confederate monument abruptly removed from Jacksonville park

Image via Drew Dixon

An overcast and brisk Jacksonville morning turned into a jovial occasion Wednesday as the city began taking down one of its most controversial Confederate monuments.

Construction crews gathered before sunrise at Springfield Park in Jacksonville, formerly known as Confederate Park, and began work to disassemble the Confederate statue that was placed in the park in 1915 as “Florida’s Tribute to the Women of The Confederacy.” As dawn turned to daylight, a crowd of about three dozen people gathered outside the park to cheer its removal.

Just after 9 a.m. Wednesday, crews used a crane to pull the statue from its base, located just east of Main Street in Jacksonville in the small urban park.

“Nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, good bye,” the crowd chanted as the statue was removed from its pedestal and hoisted into the air, eventually placed on a wooden pallet so it could be transported out of the public park.

Kelly Frazier, president of Jacksonville’s Northside Coalition, which has been advocating for years to remove Confederate monuments in the city, said Wednesday’s removal of the statue from the park was emotional.

“This moment is bigger than words. It is a huge win for not only the residents of Jacksonville, but everyone who supported getting rid of this racist monstrosity of a statue here in Springfield Park,” Frazier said.

Frazier is the daughter of Ben Frazier, the coalition’s founder and a civil rights activist in Jacksonville until he passed away in June.

“I’m sad that my father couldn’t actually be here,” Kelly Frazier said. “But my heart is full knowing that he is here in spirit with us … What a great and wonderful occasion this is.”

The removal of the Confederate monument was ordered by Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, a Democrat who campaigned on removing the monument in the run-up to her election in May.

“This is not in any way an attempt to erase history but to show that we’ve learned from it,” Deegan said in a prepared statement. “That when we know better, we do better by and for each other. My prayer today is for our beautiful city to continue embracing unity and bending the arc of history towards justice. Let’s keep lifting as we climb.

“By removing the confederate monument from Springfield Park, we signal a belief in our shared humanity. That we are all created equal. The same flesh and bones. The same blood running through our veins. The same heart and soul,” Deegan said.

The removal mimicked the approach previous Mayor Lenny Curry, a Republican, took in 2020 when he removed a Confederate monument in what was then known as Hemming Plaza, across the street from Jacksonville City Hall. That was removed by crews overnight.

That came in the same year Confederate Park, which is less than a mile north of City Hall, was renamed Springfield Park. It’s one of Jacksonville’s oldest neighborhoods. Curry also said he wanted the Springfield Park monument removed but disputes over costs and lack of consensus among the Jacksonville City Council stalled those efforts.

Jacksonville City Council member Jimmy Peluso, who holds the council seat representing Springfield, was in the crowd Wednesday morning and said the removal of the monument from the park is a relief.

“It’s definitely a big deal,” Peluso said. “I campaigned on it in 2019 when I (unsuccessfully) ran and I campaigned on it this year and luckily we had a Mayor who did as well. I’m very supportive… this is a great day for our city … This should have never been erected. The Union army won the war.”

The timing of Deegan’s move comes as Florida Rep. Dean Black has proposed state legislation that would add a provision allowing the Florida Governor to remove any elected lawmakers in the state who harm “historical monuments.”

Black also criticized the removal of the Springfield monument as “a stunning abuse of power” on his X social media account, formerly known as Twitter.

That measure, which also proposes fines could be considered by state lawmakers in 2024.

“Clearly, I’m opposed to it. I think It’s unconstitutional. I think it’s a dog whistle and I think it’s B.S. and frankly, I don’t see it passing,” Peluso said.

But Peluso’s colleague on the Jacksonville City Council, Nick Howland disagreed.

“Deegan is our Mayor, not our monarch,” Howland posted on his X social media account Wednesday. “Waiting until nightfall before taking a backhoe to the Women of the South monument is blatant overreach … This was council’s decision to make.“

One of the main points of contention between the City Council and the Mayor’s office under both Deegan and Curry was the expense of removing the monument from Springfield Park.

Deegan said the cost of Wednesday’s removal amounted to $187,000, which fell well short of some estimates that put the work at more than $1 million, according to some city estimates. The contract for the work was awarded to 904WARD and ACON Construction, according to a news release from City Hall.

The funding came from a grant from the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund, a nonprofit organization, and anonymous donors. Jacksonville General Counsel Michael Fackler said since no city money was used, Deegan had the executive authority to move forward with the monument removal.

“We have worked closely with procurement, public works, and parks on the approval scope of work in accordance with municipal code in how we contract for and complete these services,” Fackler said.

It is not clear where the main statue that stood under a columned pavilion will be placed or stored along with a smaller statue that was also removed that was on top of a domed roof over the pavilion.

Editor’s note: Drew Dixon’s spouse is an employee in the administration of Mayor Donna Deegan.