Before first light Dec. 27, construction crews began the process of removing a Confederate statue in Springfield Park that has long been the subject of debate in Jacksonville.
Following a similar process undertaken in 2020 to remove a Confederate statue from what was then known as Hemming Park outside City Hall, crews staged overnight and before sunrise began the work of taking down the monument.
During Mayor Donna Deegan’s candidacy, she said she would support the removal of Confederate monuments. On Dec. 27, she released a statement about the Springfield Park monument’s removal:
“This is not in any way an attempt to erase history but to show that we’ve learned from it — that when we know better, we do better by and for each other,” Deegan said. “My prayer today is for our beautiful city to continue embracing unity and bending the arc of history toward justice. Let’s keep lifting as we climb.”
The statement from the mayor’s office said the Springfield Park memorial was erected during the peak of early 20th-century Confederate monument-building, part of a widespread campaign to promote and justify Jim Crow laws in the South and intimidate African Americans.
“Symbols matter. They tell the world what we stand for and what we aspire to be,” Deegan said in the statement. “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.”
Previously called Confederate Park, Springfield Park was renamed in 2020, not long after the Confederate statue was removed overnight from what was then Hemming Park outside City Hall. That park has since been renamed James Weldon Johnson Park.
The pedestal for the monument in James Weldon Johnson Park wasn’t removed until May of this year, and the monument was recently returned to the Hemming family, as the city promised when it was taken down.
It’s unclear what will be done with the Springfield Park monument after it is removed.
Cost of removal
Deegan explained that the large statue within the monument and the smaller statue on top are being removed with funding made available through a grant that the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and anonymous donors made to 904WARD. The plaque is also being removed and engravings of the pedestal will be covered with temporary plaques.
The cost of this work is $187,000 in an agreement between 904WARD and ACON Construction, the Mayor’s Office said.
Jessie Ball duPont Fund President Mari Kuraishi also released a statement about their part in funding the monument’s removal:
“Great cities are anchored by inclusive public spaces that welcome all. The Jessie Ball duPont Fund helped fund the removal of the Springfield Park Confederate statue so that our public spaces might be more welcoming and inclusive for all Jaxsons. Removing – but not erasing – statues that commemorate the Confederacy from public lands is critical to creating communities where everyone feels they belong.
“We applaud Mayor Donna Deegan’s bold action and clarity of vision. We are grateful to nonprofit partners like 904ward who are leading equity work in our city.
“Funding this work continues our engagement on the issue of monuments and commemoration, which dates back more than five years, starting with hosting a series of community conversations about what to do with our Confederate monuments, and the longstanding offer from two years ago to pay for and facilitate additional public conversations in response to City Council interest. What we do next as a city now that the statue has been removed is just as important as the removal itself, and we look forward to continued conversations.”
Because city money was not used or requested for the removal work, the Office of General Counsel found that City Council approval was not necessary and that the mayor could order the removal by executive authority.
In 2021, while Mayor Lenny Curry was still in office, the City Council said the price tag to remove the Women of the Southern Confederacy monument in Springfield Park would be around $1.29 million, and in June 2022, the City Council opted not to immediately remove the monument.
Opposition to removal
Local activist groups in favor of removing the monuments have been focused heavily on the Springfield Park monument since the one outside City Hall was removed. But supporters of keeping Confederate monuments have argued just as strongly to leave it where it is.
Pat Geer told News4JAX on Dec. 27 that watching the removal made him angry.
“In Tallahassee, there’s legislation going through there, and I hope they’re going to put that thing back because they’re not supposed to take them down and there will be Florida legislation to stop that in the future,” Geer said. “You haven’t heard the last of the other side, even though I’m the minority here. I felt compelled — I needed to come out here and be a part of this.”
Geer was referring to a proposal in the Florida Legislature that would punish lawmakers who vote to take down these monuments. It has not been passed.
It’s unclear whether the looming prospect of that legislation affected the timeline for the removal of the monument in Springfield Park.
‘We don’t need racist iconography’
Council member Jimmy Peluso was among the crowd that gathered outside the park before daylight, many of them celebrating the monument’s removal.
“This was a campaign promise that I made, so I’m incredibly excited to see this,” Peluso said. “I love the amount of folks that are out here this morning. Today is a day for healing. This city needs this big step to be taking place. We don’t need racist iconography in our city anymore.”
Peluso said before Wednesday’s early morning activity, he told the mayor’s office he planned to file legislation about getting the monument removed, but they asked him to hold off.
“I was not made aware (of the removal plans),” Peluso said. “I believe that the administration was kind of holding this close to the chest, but I was in constant conversations with them, asking, ‘Hey, when is this thing coming down?’”
As the monument was being removed, Northside Coalition of Jacksonville President Kelly Frazier released this statement:
“We hope this is truly the end for that hateful monstrosity in Springfield Park that glorifies the Confederacy. When it is gone, there will be another ray of hope for a brand new day in Jacksonville.”
News4Jax is a Jacksonville Daily Record news partner.