Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee is an equestrian statue honoring Confederate general Robert E. Lee, shown with his horse Traveller alongside another mounted soldier. Also known as Robert E. Lee on Traveller, General Robert E. Lee and Confederate Soldier, or Robert E. Lee and Young Soldier, the work was unveiled by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1936. It stood for many years in Dallas’s Lee Park before being removed in 2017. Two years later, the city sold it to a private company. The sculpture is now located at a golf course in Terlingua, Texas.
© Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain
© Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain
January 2007 © BoNoMoJo · Public domain
September 2017 © Riverhugger · CC BY-SA 4.0
© Franklin Delano Roosevelt · Public domain
Identification | |
| Title | Robert E. Lee on Traveller |
| Type | Bronze double equestrian statue |
| Alternative titles | General Robert E. Lee and Confederate Soldier; Robert E. Lee and Young Soldier |
Iconography and meaning | |
| Subject | Confederate general Robert E. Lee on his horse Traveller, accompanied by a young Confederate States Army soldier on horseback |
| Subject interpretation | The accompanying soldier represents the entire youth of the South to whom General Lee became a great inspiration, and was not intended to be an aide-de-camp |
Creator | |
| Sculptor | Alexander Phimister Proctor |
| Architect | Mark Lemmon |
| Foundry | Roman Bronze Works N.Y. |
Historical context | |
| Unveiling reaction | Proctor heard Roosevelt call the statue "magnificent!" |
| Related commentary | Yoni Appelbaum of The Atlantic described Roosevelt's praise of Lee as part of a trend of American presidents praising Lee; he listed Woodrow Wilson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump, and characterized Trump's praise as relatively meager |
| Unveiling date | June 12, 1936 |
| Unveiling remarks | Roosevelt praised Lee as a great leader of men, a great general, one of our greatest American Christians, and one of our greatest American gentlemen |
| Purpose of unveiling | To honor Confederate veterans |
| Unveiled by | President Franklin D. Roosevelt |
Discovery and provenance | |
| Sale | Sold by the city of Dallas in 2019 for $1,435,000 to Holmes Firm PC, a Dallas law firm |
| Current location | A golf course in Terlingua, Texas, owned by Kelcy Warren, near the Mexican border crossing |
| Later installation date | September 2019 |
| Original planned location | Dealey Plaza |
| Removal method | Toppled |
| Removal date | 2017 |
| Former location | Dallas' Turtle Creek Park, Texas, United States |
| Long-term location | Lee Park, Dallas |
| Installed location | Oak Lawn Park |
Physical characteristics | |
| Cost | $50,000 |
| Base weight | 7 tons |
| Base dimensions | Approximately 6 ft × 12 ft 6 in. × 6 ft (2 × 4 × 2 m) |
| Dimensions | Approximately 9 × 12 × 5 ft (3 × 4 × 1.5 m) |
| Base material | Texas pink granite |
Materials | |
| Material | Bronze |
Appearance | |
| Front inscription | Robert E. Lee |
| Side inscription | A.P. PROCTOR – 1936; A. Phimister Proctor, Sculptor / Mark Lemmon, Architect; Roman Bronze Works N.Y. |
| Plaque inscription | This bronze statue of General Robert E. Lee was presented to the City of Dallas on June 12, 1936, by the Dallas Southern Memorial Association / Lee Memorial Company / Elizabeth Rembert Rogers, Chairman. The soldier accompanying General Lee represents the entire youth of the South to whom General Lee became a great inspiration. He was not intended by the sculptor to be an aide-de-camp. |
History and restoration | |
| Vandalism | In July 2015, someone painted the word "shame" across the base during protests against Confederate monuments and memorials across the United States |
| Controversy at unveiling | The unveiling caused no controversy |
| Unveiling flags | American flags, Confederate flags, and Lone Star flags were flown at the unveiling |
| Resale restriction | The statue cannot be displayed within Dallas city limits or sold or given to someone who will display it within Dallas city limits |
| Auction | In 2019, the city of Dallas auctioned the statue with a $450,000 starting bid; Holmes Firm PC won with a bid of $1,435,000, and the purchase was initially unclear as to whether it was for the firm itself or a client |
| Removal reason | Removed in 2017 following the Unite the Right rally and a Dallas city council vote; the mayor viewed the statue as a symbol of injustice |
| Restoration | Restored in 1991 by the Dallas Southern Memorial Association at a cost of $50,000 |
| Survey | Surveyed in 1992 by the Smithsonian Institution's Save Outdoor Sculpture! program |
| Historical marker | After restoration, the monument received a historical marker from the Texas Historical Commission |
| Park renaming | In 1936, Lee Park was renamed Robert E. Lee Park |
| Presented by | The Dallas Southern Memorial Association / Lee Memorial Company / Elizabeth Rembert Rogers, Chairman |
| Presented to | The City of Dallas |
| Presentation date | June 12, 1936 |
| Production time | Two years to complete the working model, then another two years to complete the finished statue |
| Source material used by sculptor | Old photographs for Lee; a horse owned by a friend, the general's writings, and photographs of Traveller for the horse |
| Design history | Proctor's initial design showed Lee and a young Confederate soldier heading into a storm with their heads down and the heads of their mounts lowered; the revised design showed Lee confidently marching forward after members of the Southern Women's Memorial Association objected to a defeated-South depiction, and the revised design was quickly and enthusiastically approved by the association and Lee's grandson |
Significance | |
| 1987 poll result | The Dallas Morning News informal poll ranked the statue second among favorite statues in Dallas, after Robert Glen's Mustangs at Las Colinas |