The third stop on my road trip today with the oldest of the three monuments. The Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument (Spirit of the Confederacy) was dedicate in September of 1903. It was wholly funded by the nascent United Daughters of the Confederacy. The designer, F. Wellington Ruckstuhl, was a sculptor resident in New York City.
At the time of its erection, it held a rather prominently place on Mount Royal Boulevard. It was clear to me that the city of Baltimore grew away from the statue drastically fading its public prominence. Today it sits on a strip of garden sandwiched between a main residential street and a service street. The Maryland Institute College of Art sits across the main street and row houses flank the front.
Pictures from today's visit:
Today the pedestal still bears the evidence of red paint, signs from a protest that proceeded its removal in 2017.
There are texts on three of the four sides of the pedestal.
The south side's text reads: GLORIA VICTIS (Glory to the Vanquished) TO THE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF MARYLAND IN THE SERVICE OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA 1861-1865
The west side's text reads: FATII MASCHII, PAROLE FEMINE (Manly actions, womanly words)
The east side's text reads: DEO VINDICE (God our Protector)
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