Confederate Memorial, (sculpture).

Confederate Memorial, (sculpture).

Zolnay, George Julian, 1863-1949, sculptor.

Trueblood, Wilbur T., d. 1937, architect.

Bonsack, Frederick C., architect.

Rosebrough, Charles Axtell, contractor.

Haley, Matt, contractor.

Roman Bronze Works, founder.

E. L. Smith & Company, contractor.

Confederate Memorial, (sculpture).

1914. Dedicated Dec. 5, 1914. Removed June 2017.

Relief: bronze with golden brown patina; Pylon: Barre granite; Base: granite.

Pylon: approx. 23 ft. 8 in. x 9 ft. 5 in. x 8 ft. 10 in.; Base: approx. 6 ft. 4 in. x 14 ft. 3 in. x 12 ft. 3 1/2 in.

(On proper left side of bronze plinth:) G. J. ZOLNAY 1914 (On proper right side of bronze plinth:) ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N-Y- (On north face of granite pylon:) TO THE MEMORY/OF THE/SOLDIERS AND SAILORS/OF THE/SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY,/WHO FOUGHT TO UPHOLD/THE RIGHT DECLARED BY/THE PEN OF JEFFERSON/AND ACHIEVED BY THE/SWORD OF WASHINGTON./WITH SUBLIME SELF SACRIFICE,/THEY/BATTLED TO PRESERVE/THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE STATES/WHICH WAS WON FROM/GREAT BRITAIN,/AND/TO PERPETUATE THE/CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT/WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED BY THE/FATHERS./ACTUATED BY THE PUREST/PATRIOTISM/THEY PERFORMED DEEDS/OF PROWESS SUCH AS/THRILLED THE HEART OF/MANKIND WITH ADMIRATION./"FULL IN THE FRONT OF WAR THEY STOOD."/AND DISPLAYED A COURAGE/SO SUPERB/THAT IT GAVE A NEW AND/BRIGHTER LUSTER TO THE/ANNALS OF VALOR./HISTORY/CONTAINS NO CHRONICLE/MORE ILLUSTRIOUS THAN/THE SOTRY OF THEIR/ACHIEVEMENTS;/AND ALTHOUGH,/WORN OUT BY/CEASELESS CONFLICT/AND/OVERWHELMED BY NUMBERS,/THEY WERE FINALLY/FORCED TO YIELD./THEIR GLORY, "ON BRIGHTEST PAGES/PENNED BY POETS AND BY SAGES,/SHALL GO SOUNDING DOWN THE AGES."/"WE HAD SACRED PRINCIPLES TO MAINTAIN AND RIGHTS/TO DEFEND FOR WHICH WE WERE DUTY BOUND TO DO/OUR BEST, EVEN IF WE PERISHED IN THE ENDEAVOR."/ROBERT E. LEE (On south face of granite base:) ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF/THE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS/OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES/BY THE UNITED DAUGHTERS/OF THE CONFEDERACY OF/SAINT LOUIS (On east face, on granite plinth:) GEORGE JULIAN ZOLNAY . SCULPTOR/WILBUR TYSON TRUEBLOOD . ARCHITECT/FREDERICK CHARLES BONSACK .CONSULTING ARCHITECT/CHARLES AXTELL ROSEBROUGH . BUILDER signed Founder's mark appears.

"The monument is comprised of a large granite pylon with a bronze high relief panel set into the south face of the pylon. The top of the pylon is decorated with acroteria, and molding with a Grecian motif. The bronze relief depicts a young man flanked by two women, with a child holding a large flag standing in front, to the proper right, of the male figure. There is a low relief carving of a large angel in the granite pylon above the bronze. Lengthy inscriptions are carved in the north and south faces of the pylon and base."

History -- United States -- Civil War

Figure group -- Family

Occupation -- Military

Religion -- Angel

History -- United States -- Flag

Missouri Civil War Museum, 222 Worth Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63125

Formerly administered by City of St. Louis, Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry, 5600 Clayton Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110

Formerly located Forest Park, Confederate Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 1914-2017.

Gift of the Ladies' Confederate Monument Association. Cost: $23,000. IAS files contain copy from 1969 unpublished mayor's report, "Public Art - St. Louis," and copy of article from Confederate Veteran (Jan. 1915). Both of these sources, as well as McCue's "Sculpture City: St. Louis," identify the bronze relief figure group as a southern family about to send a young man off to war, and the granite relief angel as the spirit of the confederacy. The article from Confederate Veteran also details the dedication ceremony and the fund raisers. McCue's "Sculpture City: St. Louis," also discusses the controversy over the competition in which Zolnay was chosen to create the monument.

When the statue was removed from Forest Park in June 2017, the original owners of the statue, the United Daughters of the Confederacy transferred ownership to the Missouri Civil War Museum. Records obtained from the United Daughters of the Confederacy contained information about a time capsule removed from the concrete base during demolition.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, MO5021, 1989.

McCue, George, "Sculpture City: St. Louis," New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1988.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Missouri, St. Louis survey, 1992.

Monumental News (June 1920).

Monumental News (Aug. 1914).

Confederate Veteran (Jan. 1915).

McCue, George, "Sculpture City: St. Louis," New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1988, pg. 38.

Monumental News (June 1920): cover.

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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