In 1891, as the Democratic-controlled legislature passed laws that disenfranchised most black Americans, the government of the City of New Orleans erected the Liberty Monument to "commemorate the uprising" of 1874, in the city. The monument was prominently placed in the neutral ground (median) near the foot of
Canal Street. In 1932, inscriptions were added to the monument which attested to the battle's role in establishing
white supremacy. By the late 20th century, after civil rights achievements, many residents, especially in the black and
Italian American communities, objected to the monument as a symbol of
racism. (During the 1891
Hennessy affair, a New Orleans mob had lynched eleven Italian men; the lynching had helped revive the stalled fundraising campaign for the Liberty Place Monument.) In 1965 the monument was dismantled and temporarily removed during major demolition and construction projects in the area. Already controversial, it was put back despite objections in 1970. It was subject to protests and vandalism with some regularity. In 1974, the city government added a plaque at the foot of the monument that acknowledged the history but officially distanced the city from the racist philosophy of previous generations. In 1976, the
NAACP Youth Council formally called for the monument's removal. The
Ku Klux Klan and other
white nationalists used the monument as a rallying point. In 1981, New Orleans mayor
Ernest "Dutch" Morial called for the monument to be removed "because of what it symbolizes, has long been a source of divisiveness in our community" and "in the interest of public harmony, it is time to lay this monument to rest." The City Council blocked Morial's attempt to remove the monument but agreed to remove the inscription touting "white supremacy" in what was described as a "compromise." In 1989, the monument was removed during major street work on Canal Street, and many residents opposed its return. The city tried to negotiate removing the inscriptions. Some people argued for the monument's restoration at the original location. The content of the inscriptions was seldom discussed; rather, the issues were dealt with on technical grounds. Historic preservation officials argued for its replacement; others argued that it was history that did not deserve commemoration. The council eventually permitted its installation at a less prominent location, a short distance off Canal Street (at the river end of Iberville Street) between the
One Canal Place parking garage and a floodwall. A local businessman led his staff in cleaning up the monuments; he said that after
Hurricane Katrina, residents needed to build the city together. In July 2015, the
Charleston church shooting caused many Southern states and communities to rethink the public display of Confederate symbols and monuments. New Orleans Mayor
Mitch Landrieu called for the Liberty Place monument and statues honoring
Robert E. Lee and other Confederate notables to be removed from prominent public spaces and explained "that's what museums are for." The idea drew both support and resistance, and the city council voted unanimously to hold public hearings to discuss the proposal. In October 2016, on
Mischief Night, a group of angry paraders converged on the monument. The monument was covered in antiracist graffiti and parts of the inscription were smashed with sledgehammers. When the police tried to intervene, they were attacked with paint, and a bonfire was lit. In December 2016, the council voted to remove the monument, and its move was upheld by a federal appeals court in March 2017. Under the cover of darkness because of threats of violence, the monument was removed in the early hours of April 24, 2017, a day that was observed in
Mississippi and
Alabama as
Confederate Memorial Day. With heavy police presence, workers wore bulletproof jackets and were protected by police snipers in the face of threats of violence. Mayor Landrieu stated that the statue would be moved into storage before being relocated into "a museum or other facility." A seven-person Monument Relocation Committee was set up by Mayor
LaToya Cantrell to advise on what to do with the removed monuments. The Battle of Liberty Place Monument will remain in storage.{{cite news ==Inscriptions==