Lee-Jackson monument should stay

As a former museum registrar of collections for 14 years, seven of them at the Baltimore Museum of Art and four at the Maryland Historical Society, I believe that removing the magnificent sculpture of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson would be an egregious artistic and historical mistake (“Take the statues down,” Jan. 19).

This sculpture is a magnificent work of art. Its placement in a park right opposite the Baltimore Museum of Art is an attractive location for those who love monumental sculpture. Lee and Jackson were not honored as proponents of slavery, an institution with which they personally disagreed, but as generals.

The history of our Civil War is a complex one, and as Martin K. Van Horn explained in his recent letter (“Removing statues is divisive,” Jan. 18), Lee and Jackson were two complex men who deserve better than being dishonored under the pretense of fighting racism. Their memorial has a wonderful potential to illuminate this complexity.

The raising of the Confederate battle flag over the capital of South Carolina was a deliberate taunt that deserved to be removed. This is not the case with the Lee/Jackson sculpture. Baltimore should be able to fight racism, not by removing objects that have artistic and historical merit, but rather in meaningful ways that illuminate understanding and change lives.

Diana C. Schramm, Baltimore

Baltimore and ‘1984’

As the great granddaughter of a Civil War veteran, I’m sorry to see Baltimore miss an opportunity to teach history. Every Confederate statue in Baltimore could be a wonderful way to teach about our nation’s past. Sadly, that was not acceptable (‘Panel: Remove pair of statues,” Jan. 15).

I study Civil War poetry and respect America’s past, both good and bad. I feel nothing but contempt for those who want to sweep our history under the rug. That’s right out of George Orwell’s novel, “1984.”

Rosalind Heid, Baltimore