Emancipation Park (Charlottesville, Virginia)

Emancipation Park (Charlottesville, Virginia)

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This article is about the park in Charlottesville, Virginia. For other uses, see Emancipation Park.

Emancipation Park
The Robert E. Lee statue in front of the First United Methodist Church in 2008
Location	Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Coordinates	38.0318°N 78.4806°WCoordinates: 38.0318°N 78.4806°W

Emancipation Park, formerly known as Lee Park, is a public park in Charlottesville, Virginia.^[1][2]

Contents

 [hide] 

• 1 History
• 2 Description
• 3 References
• 4 External links

History[edit]

The land for the park was purchased in 1917 by Paul Goodloe McIntire to be the setting for a bronze equestrian statue of Robert E. Lee and his horse Traveller that McIntire had commissioned. The park and statue were donated to the city of Charlottesville by McIntire.^[3] The statue, although commissioned in 1917, was not cast until 1924 and it was finally placed in the park on Saturday, May 3, of that year.^[1]

In February 2017, the City Council voted to remove the Robert E. Lee statue from the park. However, a lawsuit opposing the removal was filed in March 2017 and the statue remains, pending the outcome of the lawsuit.^[4]

On June 5, 2017, the City Council, led by Mayor Michael Signer, voted unanimously to change the park's name to Emancipation Park.^[2]

The renaming of the park and the proposed removal of the Robert Edward Lee Sculpture on the site by the Charlottesville city council was the catalyst for the 2017 Unite the Right rally and a focus of controversy between those who want it removed and those who want it to remain.^[4]

The tarp covering the Robert E. Lee statue at Emancipation Park following the events of the Unite the Right rally.

Description[edit]

Emancipation Park is bordered on the north by Jefferson Street, on the south by Market Street, on the west by First Street N.E., and on the east by Second Street N.E.^[1]