Women of the Sixties, (sculpture).

Women of the Sixties, (sculpture).

Unknown (Italian), sculptor.

Rivers, Lucie Boyd, designer.

McNeel Marble Works, fabricator.

Women of the Sixties, (sculpture).

McDuffie Monument, (sculpture).

McDuffie County Monument to Southern Women, (sculpture).

Sculpture: Italian marble; Base: Georgia marble.

Sculpture: approx. 8 ft. x 17 ft. 6 in. x 1 ft.; Base: approx. 16 ft. x 8 ft. 6 in. x 7 ft. 6 in.

(On front of base, incised lettering:) IN MEMORY OF/THE WOMEN/OF THE SIXTIES/AND THE/CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS/ERECTED/BY/THE VETERANS/THE U.D.C./AND/THE WOMAN'S CLUB/OF/THOMSON (On lower left side of base:) Company F 10th Georgia Regiment - Bryants Brigade (list of veterans) (On upper left side of base:) Ramsey volunteers (list of veterans) (On lower right side of base:) Hamilton Rangers (list of veterans) (On upper right side of base:) Ramsey Volunteers (list of veterans) (On rear of base:) Other Companies (list of veterans) unsigned

At the top of a tall square base a woman wearing a simple homespun dress stands holding the Confederate flag in front of her. The woman stands facing the South and represents the women of the South who stayed home during the Civil War and gave their support to the Southern cause. At the bottom of the base there are two seats that angle forward creating a small seating alcove. A drinking fountain once was installed on the front of the base, but now only the fountain basin remains. Globed lights once accented the sides of each seat, but these, too, have been removed. The back of the monument is flanked by two curved benches.

History -- United States -- Civil War

Figure female -- Full length

Occupation -- Domestic

Object -- Other -- Flag

Outdoor Sculpture -- Georgia -- Thomson

Administered by City of Thomson, Street and Sanitation Department, 309 Main Street, Thomson, Georgia 30824

Located Corner of Main & Railroad Streets, Thomson, Georgia

The sculpture honors southern women who loyally supported the Confederate nation during the Civil War. The homespun dress worn by the female figure was a garment worn by many southern women during the Civil War and is a symbol of the hardships endured by them.

The idea for the monument was originally put forward in 1911 by the George McDuffie Camp of the United Confederate Veterans. They were assisted by the Thomson Woman's Club, the Ida Evans Eve Chapter of United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Board of Trade of Thomson. The model for the monument was sketched by Mrs. Lucy Boyd Rivers of Thomson and the sketch was sent by the McNeel Marble Works to be carved in Florence, Italy. The base was fabricated by McNeel Marble Works.

IAS files contain an excerpt from Frank M. McKenney's "The Standing Army," Alpharetta, GA: W. H. Wolfe Associates, 1993, pg. 136; Mrs. W. C. McCommons' and Clara Stovall's "History of McDuffie County, Georgia," Tignall, GA: Boyd Publishing Company, 1988, pg. 196-197; and Isabell Smith Buzzett's "Confederate Monuments of Georgia," Atlanta: Atlanta Chapter No. 18, United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1984, pg. 46 and 51. The image in McKenney's "The Standing Army" includes the globe lights and the drinking fountain that have now been removed from the monument.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Georgia survey, 1994.

McKenney, Frank M., "The Standing Army," Alpharetta, GA: W. H. Wolfe Associates, 1993, pg. 138.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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