Confederate leaders carving will stay in Stone Mountain Park, but will get exhibit to ‘tell the truth’
A carving of Confederate leaders will stay at Stone Mountain Park, but the Confederate flags will be moved away from a popular walking path.
The changes, approved Monday, are “intended to begin the process of balancing Stone Mountain Park’s historic mission as a Confederate Memorial, with today’s broader realities of it being metro Atlanta’s largest green space and Georgia’s most visited tourism destination,” according to the association board.
“I know folks have been waiting for some time to see changes at this beloved state park,” the Rev. Abraham Mosley, chair of Stone Mountain Memorial Association, said in a statement.
“Additions and changes are coming, but we are on a journey, and we want to get this right.”
The carving of Gen. Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson was installed in the mountain’s northern face in 1972, measuring 190 feet across and 90 feet tall. Like most Confederate artwork, the carving has faced criticism in recent years from local activists.
While that’s staying put for now, the association will add an exhibit, with the help of “credible and well-established historians,” to tell “the whole story,” “the warts and all history of the Stone Mountain carving.”
The Confederate flags will be moved down the mountain to to Valor Park, where other Civil War tributes are housed.