History of the Confederate Monument in Huntsville

The Statue was Relocated to Maple Hill Cemetery Early Friday Morning

This year.

The relocation of the confederate monument was not a quick process by any means.

It was something that has been called for over the years, but got a lot of focus throughout the summer and fall this year.

We wanted to take a closer look at how we got here and what may be next in the saga of this monument.

The confederate monument now sits in its new home at maple hill cemetery.

The relocation of general john hunt morgan's statue was something that community activists called for over several months.

It became a focal point of numerous protests following the police killing of george floyd in may.

Both the huntsville city council and the madison county commission signed resolutions calling for the monument to be moved.

Both said they wanted it done legally.

That legal hurdle was the 2017 memorial preservation act.

It states that "no architecturally significant building, memorial building, memorial street, or monument which is located on public property and has been so situated for 40 or more years may be relocated, removed, altered, renamed, or otherwise disturbed."

The original monument was erected by the old madison county courthouse back in 1905.

It was built the a year after a mob of more than two thousand people lynched a black man named horace maples.

When the now current madison county courthouse was being built in the mid-60s -- the general morgan part of the statue was damaged and a replica was put in its place.

Fast forward to 2020 and calls to "move the monument" gained new life.

The madison county commission reached out to the committee on alabama monument protection on june 30 asking for a waiver to relocate the monument and a date was set for july 9 to hear the request.

But the committee said the request was "...outside the scope of the committee's authority..."

And directed commission chairman dale strong to discuss it further with the alabama attorney general's office."

Waay 31 reached out to the a-g's office numerous times following that email -- and was told each time that the office had not been contacted by the madison county commission.

But since initial waiver request was never heard in an official meeting -- commissioner jeshenry malone said that triggered a loophole in the law.

The 2017 statute states: if the committee fails to act on a completed application for a waiver within 90 days after the application is submitted to the committee, the waiver shall be deemed granted.

That justification was enough for the commission to move forward and bring the statue of general morgan to its new home -- among the tombstones of the confederate soldiers.

++++++++ the alabama attorney general's office tells us it is reviewing the relocation process now.

A spokesperson said they will quote "determine if the action is in violation of the alabama memorial preservation act.

We intend to pursue enforcement of the