We learned last week that Waite Rawls' plan (as outlined in the internal memo which can be found here: (www.vaflaggers.com/moc2.pdf ) was approved by the Board of Trustees. We suspect he has been perfecting the spin he will put on the situation, and that an announcement will soon be forthcoming, most likely today.
In the memo, Rawls speaks of the "50 year transformation of MOC from shrine to modern, educational institution". No surprise here, as Mr. Rawls has repeatedly made attempts to remove the name "Confederacy" from the Museum, as reported here in 2007..
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/feb/20/20070220-103634-6891r/
He purports that the liquidation is necessary as it "solves ongoing financial problems." and "Pays off debt to White House Endowment, Farmers' Bank, First Union Bank". It seems that the legacy of our Confederate Ancestors has been hocked...and the memory and honor of our Confederate ancestors will be traded for 30 pieces of silver.
He admits that "Appomattox, while a 'mission' success, has not been enough of a financial success to bail out Richmond". One can only wonder how his obstinate, pc-driven refusal to fly a Confederate flag on the grounds, and the serious fall out as a result, factors into this part of the equation.
What the Va Flaggers DO NOT find in this document, is any mention of the MEN...the Confederate Soldiers whose honor and memory the women of the Ladies' Hollywood Memorial Association obtained the White House of the Confederacy and opened a museum there to forever memorialize our Confederate dead...
1892...RICHMOND — the theatre whereupon President Davis - acted his noblest part; Richmond, the head and heart of the Confederacy, the defense of which called forth the most brilliant exploits of Lee and Jackson — is the place of all others in the South where should be collected the records, memorials, and relics of the war.
Here only can be found all that belongs to the history of the Army of Northern Virginia. Here, in the White
House of the Confederacy, the women of Virginia have established a grand Memorial Hall, and they appeal to every man and woman in the South to join them in their efforts to rescue the fragments of individual heroism and endurance, fast floating away to oblivion, to gather in the tattered, rusty mementoes of our Lost Cause, and commit them to the keeping of the Confederate Memorial Literary Society now fully equipped to guard such treasures. Let the faded cap of the Lieutenant,* killed while leading a charge, be laid.
* Lieut. W. J. Sims, Company A, 23d Virginia Infantry. Killed Sharpsburg, September 17, 1862.
- Confederate Memorial Literary Society: historiae et reliquiarum custodia: in memoriam sempiternam
From their website: "The Mission of the Museum and White House of the Confederacy is to serve as the preeminent world center for the display, study, interpretation, commemoration, and preservation of the history and artifacts of the Confederate States of America."
For those of you who may not be aware, the entities listed in the memo (attached) are The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar, The Virginia Historical Society, and the National Park Service.
The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar describes itself as "the nation's first museum to interpret the Civil War from Union, Confederate, and African American perspectives." While we have no issue with any organization interpreting the WBTS however they wish, for their purposes, ALL SOUTHERNERS should have a SERIOUS problem putting the artifacts and treasures that were donated by our Confederate ancestors and their descendants into their hands. OUR history needs to be interpreted by those who honor and respect our veterans, and our treasures protected by those who hold them dear.
These are the same folks who installed the Lincoln statue in Richmond, and refused to accept a Jefferson Davis statue for the grounds.
The Va Flaggers will continue to make a presence at the Museum in Richmond, keep our ears to the ground, and were thrilled to learn that as of TODAY a Confederate Flag is flying just a few feet from the Museum at Appomattox, on the same land where we gathered to protest the grand opening, thanks to Va Flagger Willie Wells and the Mechanized Cavalry.
Grayson Jennings
Va Flaggers
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