In Nathan Bedford Forrest Monument (Memphis, Tennessee), how is the Relocation discussed?
A 2015 attempt by the Memphis City Council to remove the statue was blocked by the Tennessee Historical Commission in 2016. In September 2017, the Memphis City Council passed an ordinance to remove Confederate statues from public parks, including the Nathan Bedford Forrest Monument and the Jefferson Davis Monument, after October 13, 2017, due in part to increased police expenditure, to control protesters and anti-protesters, since the Unite the Right rally of August.On December 20, 2017, the Memphis City Council unanimously approved the sale of Health Sciences Park to Memphis Greenspace for US$1,000 (equivalent to $1,194 in 2022), allowing Memphis Greenspace to remove the monument. The monument, along with a statue of Jefferson Davis, were removed that evening. In May 2018, the Memphis Flyer reported that Memphis Greenspace plans to sell the Nathan Bedford Forrest Monument and the statue of Davis. Potential buyers must be nonprofit organizations who will agree to maintain the statues and display them in public somewhere outside of Shelby County, Tennessee. The following month, The Daily News revealed that Memphis Greenspace had received numerous offers to take the Forrest and Davis statues, including from Tennessee legislators, sites associated with the American Civil War, the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum, and the city of Savannah, Georgia.
Jefferson Davis Shelby County, Tennessee Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum Unite the Right rally Tennessee legislators Memphis Flyer Tennessee Historical Commission Savannah, Georgia American Civil War The Daily News Nathan Bedford Forrest Memphis Greenspace