| Henry W. Grady statue | |
|---|---|
 Henry W. Grady statue (2007). | |
| Artist | Alexander Doyle |
| Completion date | 1891 |
| Subject | Henry W. Grady |
| Location | Henry Grady Square (intersection ofMarietta Street and Forsyth Street),Atlanta,Georgia |
| Coordinates | 33°45′20.2788″N84°23′28.662″W / 33.755633000°N 84.39129500°W /33.755633000; -84.39129500 |
TheHenry W. Grady statue is amonumental statue ofHenry W. Grady inAtlanta,Georgia,United States. Built byAlexander Doyle in 1891, the statue lies at the intersection ofMarietta Street and Forsyth Street indowntown Atlanta and was unveiled shortly after Grady's death in 1889. The statue has recently been the subject of controversy, as several groups have called for itsremoval due to Grady's support ofwhite supremacy.
Henry W. Grady was a celebrated orator and newspaper editor during the late 1800s. As editor of theAtlanta Constitution, Grady coined the term "New South" to describe his idea for theSouthern United States to develop a more mixed and industrialized economy in the post-Civil War world. He died in 1889 at the age of 39.[1]
On December 24, 1889 (the day after Grady's death) a group of prominentAtlanta men met to discuss the creation of amonument honoring Grady.[2] Within a month, the committee had raised over $20,000 via donations from across the country. Notable donators includedIsadore Strauss,Andrew Carnegie,Tammany Hall, and theSinger Sewing Machine Company.[3] On March 1, 1890, an advertisement was put out calling for monument proposals, with American sculptorAlexander Doyle being selected.[3] Doyle completed the casting in 1890,[4] with thebronze statue cast at theAmes Manufacturing Company foundry inChicopee, Massachusetts.[3] The pedestal was made fromgranite quarried from nearbyConstitution, Georgia.[3]
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The location for the monument was selected as the intersection ofMarietta Street and Forsyth Street, a location sometimes referred to as "Grady Square".[5] The statue was located adjacent to theU.S. Post Office and Customs House, which for a time would serve asAtlanta City Hall.[6]Ground was broken on September 7, 1891.[3] On October 21, 1891, the statue was officially unveiled to the public, attracting a crowd of approximately 25,000 spectators.[3][7] The statue was unveiled by Grady's daughter, withNew York GovernorDavid B. Hill serving as the speaker of the event.[8]
In December 2019, aneditorial inThe Signal, thestudent newspaper forGeorgia State University, called forAtlanta mayorKeisha Lance Bottoms to remove the statue from its position of prominence and relocate the statue to the grounds of theAtlanta History Center.[5][9] The editorial was signed by Georgia State'sstudent government association, theYoung Democrats, and the Black Student Alliance.[5] In the editorial, the writers point out Grady's support ofwhite supremacy, including racist headlines and stories published during his editorship of theAtlanta Constitution, his support for allegedKu Klux Klan leaderJohn Brown Gordon asGovernor of Georgia, and his stance againstsuffrage forAfrican Americans.[5] While state law forbids the relocation or removal of monuments, the students urged Bottoms to appeal this law and suggested a plaque offering context of Grady be attached to the pedestal of the statue.[5] This came several years after students at theHenry W. Grady High School in Atlanta called for the school to be renamed, citing similar concerns regarding Grady's politics.[10] The school was renamed asMidtown High School.
Media related toHenry W. Grady statue at Wikimedia Commons