Boulder memorializing Confederate soldiers from The University of Alabama
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- Legacies Classification
- Memorial Type
- Memorial Context
- Memorialized Subject
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- Physical Description
- Memorial Inscription
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- Location: Institution, City, State
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Memorial Object
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Plaque/Marker
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Soldiers from The University of Alabama who fought for the Confederacy during the United States Civil War.
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Boulder memorializing Confederate soldiers from The University of Alabama
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The United Daughters of the Confederacy Rock was a Confederate monument commissioned by the Alabama Division of The United Daughters of the Confederacy on The University of Alabama’s campus. The rock housed a plaque honoring soldiers who fought in the Civil War. The monument was erected on May 13, 1914, and stood at the center of the University Quadrangle between Gorgas Library and Denny Chimes. For over 100 years, this memorial served to commemorate University of Alabama students who served in the Confederate Army and others involved with defending the campus during the Civil War. The rock was removed on June 15, 2020, when the Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama System authorized the removal of three plaques from their current locations on the university campus, including one on the Rock. The removal of the monument was not considered until other Confederate monuments in Birmingham, Alabama, were vandalized and removed in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement following George Floyd’s brutal death in 2020. The United Daughters of the Confederacy Rock now remains plaqueless and forgotten in an overgrown brick lot on the UA facilities campus. It can barely be seen from the road, and any passerby would need to know both the context and location of this rock for it to hold any significance. The exact location for the Rock's original plaque, removed on June 15, 2020, remains unknown. However, it is known they were placed in a more appropriate historical setting on the recommendation of university president Dr. Stuart Bell.
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The United Daughters of the Confederacy Rock is a raw, un-cut stone measuring 7’ x 6 ½’ x 5 ½’. Today it stands around 10’ tall, including a 3’ cobblestone base, which once sat into the ground. The rock also has a 2’ x 2 ½’ rectangular relief where the was once plaque once attached.
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1861-1865
The University of Alabama gave to the Confederacy – 7 General Officers, 25 Colonels, 14 Lieutenant–Colonels, 21 Majors, 125 Captains, 273 staff and other commissioned officers, 66 non-commissioned officers and 294 Private Soldiers. Recognizing obedience to state, they loyally and uncomplainingly met the call of duty, in numberless instances sealing their devotion by their life blood.
And on April 3, 1865, the cadet corps, composed wholly of boys, went bravely forth to repel a veteran federal invading foe, of many times their number. In a vain effort to save their Alma Mater, its buildings, library and laboratories from destruction by fire, which it met at the hands of the enemy of the day following.
To Commemorate this heroic record this memorial stone is erected by The Alabama Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy.
University of Alabama
May 13, 1914
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13 May 1914
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15 June 2020
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The Alabama Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy
Position: 88 (27 views)