TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Civil War Monument Troubles Plant City

ADVERTISEMENT

By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 15, 2007

PLANT CITY - Plans to put a memorial to a Confederate Civil War unit on city property has drawn the objections of the only black city commissioner.

Mary Yvette Thomas Mathis said her "heart is very troubled" about what the bronze artwork depicts.

"This is a Confederate soldier we're putting on city property," Mathis said. "I don't feel good about it."

The other commissioners did not necessarily object to the content of the memorial, but they said the East Hillsborough Historical Society should have asked city permission before agreeing to the monument at the 1914 Plant City High School Community Center.

The historical society is caretaker for takes care of the building at 605 N. Collins St. and has its archives there.

Commissioners voted at a Tuesday night meeting for City Manager David Sollenberger to see if whether the city can lease or transfer ownership of the property to the historical society.

The monument, on a granite base, will be topped with a bronze depiction of a rifle-toting member of the Civil War-era Cow Cavalry, 1st Battalion Florida, Special Cavalry, standing guard in front of a horse and cattle.

The Cow Cavalry protected cattle from Union soldiers and helped supply Confederate troops with beef. The memorial will be dedicated during Saturday's 30th annual Pioneer Heritage Day celebration at the community center.

Shelby Bender, the president of the historical society, said members of the local United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter took great pains in deciding what the memorial would look like. She described the character depicted in the monument as a cowboy.

"This is not anything anybody took a split-second to figure out," Bender said Wednesday. "The greatest amount of consideration was given to it so it wouldn't be offensive to anybody.," Bender said Wednesday.

The Daughters of the Confederacy spent 10 years raising money for the project, Bender said. Martha Sue Skinner, a Plant City resident who oversees the development of monuments and memorials for the chapter, couldn't be reached for comment.

Skinner's husband, Richard, said he attended the commission's Tuesday meeting and could not understand the furor over the memorial designed by artist Mike Bethune because he feels it carries no racist overtones.

"This is just preserving history," Richard Skinner said.

The memorial, which will be unveiled at 11 a.m. Saturday, will be located in the northeast corner of the community center property.

The historical society has called the one-time high school home for 30 years. The school district transferred ownership of the picturesque red brick building to the city in 1977. That same year, commissioners made a verbal agreement to allow the society to become caretakers of the property.

The agreement has remained in place for three decades. The Cow Cavalry monument, though, changed the commission's commissioners' minds Tuesday night.

"I've taken an about-face on this," Mayor Rick Lott said. "We do not have a policy, a lease agreement, between us and the East Hillsborough Historical Society. It puts us in an awkward position."

Two options are on the table, Lott said. One would be to transfer ownership of the community center from the city to the society, and the other is to enter a formal lease agreement with the non-profit. The city is expected to reach its A decision is expected within 90 days, Lott said.

Lott said he had no issue with what the memorial represents but rather the nature of the city's relationship with the historical society.: "Typically, anything on city property needs the city's approval. Obviously, the Cow Cavalry is a part of our history and the monument is stating that fact."

Mathis agreed with the commission needing to should be informed but was still remained uneasy about the memorial's content.

"Something we put on city property should represent all citizens," she said.

THE COW CAVALRY MEMORIAL

The project will have its official unveiling at 11 a.m. Saturday during the Pioneer Heritage Day Festival at the 1914 Plant City High School Community Center, 605 N. Collins St.

To get a sneak peek of the memorial, go to the Plant City United Daughters of the Confederacy's Web site at www.plantcityudc.comÖ and click on the "Cow Cavalry" links.

Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 865-4433 or rreyes@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT