A statue of Albert Pike, a Confederate general, has been restored to Judiciary Square. The statue was removed in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter protests.
The National Park Service announced the statue’s restoration in August. At the time, the NPS described the statue as being in “secure storage since its removal and is currently undergoing restoration by the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center.”
The restoration aligns with President Trump’s March executive order, which says that Americans have “witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”
The order directs the Secretary of the Interior to “take action to reinstate the pre-existing monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties” in compliance with federal code and so ensure that the monuments “do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times), and instead focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape.”
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) condemned the statue’s restoration, calling it “morally objectionable” and an “affront to the mostly Black and Brown residents of the District of Columbia and offensive to members of the military who serve honorably.”
“Pike himself served dishonorably. He took up arms against the United States, misappropriated funds, and was ultimately captured and imprisoned by his own troops,” Norton said. “He resigned in disgrace after committing a war crime and dishonoring even his own Confederate military service. Confederate statues should be placed in museums as historical artifacts, not remain in parks or other locations that imply honor. Pike represents the worst of the Confederacy and has no claim to be memorialized in the Nation’s capital.”
