Leesburg Confederate Memorial Postcard

Access and use

Location of collection:
Thomas Balch Library
Thomas Balch Library
208 West Market Street
Leesburg, Virginia 20176
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Alexandra S. Gressitt
Phone: (703) 737-7195
Fax: (703) 737-7195

Summary

Extent:
1 item, less than .33 cubic ft.
Creator:
Jane N. Scott, Culpeper, VA
Abstract:
The collection contains one postcard featuring a photograph of four children identified as E. V. White, Jr., Hannah B. McIntosh, Thos. Carruthers, Mary K. Keeler. These individuals unveiled the Leesburg Confederate Memorial on 28 May 1908.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains one postcard featuring a photograph of four children identified as E. V. White, Jr., Hannah B. McIntosh, Thos. Carruthers, Mary K. Keeler. These individuals unveiled the Leesburg Confederate Memorial on 28 May 1908. R. Bruce Cgden published the postcard. The item was gifted to the Thomas Balch Library by Jane N. Scott, whose father, Edward Cole Norman (1907-1998) of Longmoor Farm, was a first cousin of Mary K. Keeler.

Biographical / historical:

The Confederate Monument of Leesburg was unveiled on 28 May 1908. The bronze statue portrays a Confederate soldier wielding a rifle and stands outside the Leesburg Courthouse. The Loudoun Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy funded the project and hired sculptor Frederick William Sievers (1872-1966) to design the statue. Sievers was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, then educated in both Atlanta, Georgia and Richmond, Virginia before studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and the Academie Julian in Paris. After returning to the US in 1902, he was first commissioned for the Confederate Memorial in Elmira, New York in 1906 before undertaking the Leesburg memorial. In 1910, Sievers was chosen to design the Virginia Memorial at Gettysburg. In 1917, he returned to Richmond, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Elijah V. White, Jr. unveiled the statue on 28 May 1908, assisted by Mary H. Keeler, Hannah B. McIntosh, and Thomas F. Carruthers, who represented the Middleburg, Loudoun, and Blue Ridge Chapters of the Daughters of the Confederacy, respectively. White (1899-1965) attended Virginia Military institute and married Mary White. In 1924, Mary K. Keeler (1900-1984) married Edwin C. Reamer, who later became mayor of Middleburg during the 1960s. Hannah B. McIntosh (fl. 1899-1923) married James Gasquet Di Zerega in 1923. Thomas Carruthers (1901-1983) was raised in Mount Gilead, Virginia before being drafted to serve in World War I. After the war, he moved to Charlottesville, where he attended the University of Virginia. He remained in Charlottesville, worked as a business manager, and married Mabel O. Carruthers.

The Confederate Monument became a point of controversy in July of 2015, in response to the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooting in Charleston, SC. The NAACP held a rally on 18 July 2015 to protest the statue.

Acquisition information:
Jane N. Scott, Culpeper, VA
Physical description:
.