In an effort to celebrate Farmville's place in American history, a new obelisk was revealed by Longwood President W. Taylor Reveley IV on Friday, Sept. 14.
Reveley said the obelisk will serve as a “elegant and powerful” celebration of Farmville’s place in American history and also is "simple but powerful" at Longwood's Convocation ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 13.
Sitting directly across from the "Our Confederate heroes" civil war monument outside of the Farmville United Methodist Church, questions were raised in regards to whether the monument was a response to the confederate statue in Farmville, per Vice President and Chief of Staff Justin Pope.
“In some ways yes and some ways no," said Pope.
According to Pope, the two statues are independent of each other.
"The confederate statue is certainly a statement about 1900, the period when such statues were built all over the south. Completely independently of that, this statue, this monument will forever be a statement about Farmville in 2018. And it will be the case that the community came together in a divisive time in our country and decided to honor this particular part of our history," said Pope.
The idea for the statue originated in 2016 when the Vice Presidential debate was hosted at Longwood on Oct. 4.
"It emerged in part as a way of saying, ‘How can we do something positive?’...The history is there, the history is important and warrants celebrating and honoring and being something our students see as they walk down High Street, regardless of what else they see or what else is there,” said Pope.
“I think it’s perfect within this community to pay tribute to the freedom fighters that have helped to advance democracy," Moton Museum Managing Director and Longwood University alumnus Cameron Patterson said. "Many folks in our community have worked to do good with Patrick Henry, with the freed slaves of Israel Hill, with Barbara Johns, with Gordon Moss. I think it’s just the perfect way to pay tribute to those in our community that have been on the side of fighting for freedom and equality."
According to Pope, Reveley had reached out to different groups within the community, one of those groups being the Moton Council, to have “general discussions about the monument and its purpose”.
“The response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive," said Pope. "I think it’s tapped into a real desire to see the fullness of Farmville’s history and its consequential place in American history noted and celebrated."
The design and installation of the obelisk was planned as a result of the construction process of the new admissions building opening in 2019, per Pope. The 16-feet-tall limestone monument is being paid for by alumni donations and other philanthropic dollars, according to Pope. The total cost for the monument and surrounding area is totaled at $300,000.
“This statue, this monument will forever be a statement about Farmville in 2018," said Pope. "It will be the case that the community came together in this divisive time in our country and decided to honor this particular part of our history.”
“Farmville has been at the crossroads of many important historic conversations,” Patterson said. “I think this monument will add strength to that.”
The obelisk was revealed by President W. Taylor Reveley IV on Friday, Sept. 14 in hopes to bring positivity to Longwood's campus.
