UM Confederate Statue to be Moved ‘as Quickly as Possible’

By Alyssa Schnugg
News editor
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

With the decision Thursday by the IHL to approve the University of Mississippi’s request to move the Confederate monument on campus to the Confederate Cemetery, the next question many are asking is “When?”

According to the University’s FAQ about the statue, “The university will move as quickly as possible to get this work done.”

The University submitted its plan to the IHL that depicts what the new home for the statue will look like once it is moved to the cemetery that is located on campus.

Read the entire plan submitted to the IHL here.

The University of Mississippi was founded in 1848, and the Confederate soldier statue was put up in 1906.

The monument is 29 feet tall and weighs 40,000 pounds.

The combined cost for relocating the monument, completing the enhancements to the cemetery and creating a memorial to the black soldiers in the Civil War is estimated to cost between $900,000 and $1.2 million. All costs related to moving the monument and all related work will be covered with private funds.

The cemetery is marked with a single headstone for Confederate soldiers who died after the battle of Shiloh in 1862. At one time the cemetery had individual markers but a groundskeeper removed them to mow and forgot where they belonged, according to Visit Oxford’s website.