The Memorial to Company A, Capitol Guards (also known as the Capitol Guards Monument) was an American Civil War memorial in MacArthur Park, Little Rock, Arkansas. It stood just northeast of the former Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal, at a junction of two of the park's internal roadways. It consisted of a bronze sculpture depicting a Confederate Army soldier in a defensive stance, holding a rifle pointed forward. The statue was 8 feet (2.4 m) in height, and was mounted in a granite column 16 feet (4.9 m) tall. The memorial was sometimes known as "Lest we forget", a line that appeared near the top of the inscription on the base. The statue was created by sculptor Rudolph Schwarz, and was installed in 1911; it was paid for by the local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and memorializes the unit that seized the arsenal at the outset of the war.[2]
The memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996, and was delisted in 2021.[1] The statue was removed in June 2020 following the George Floyd protests.[3]
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Little Rock, Arkansas
- Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "NRHP nomination for Memorial to Company A, Capitol Guards" (PDF). Arkansas Preservation. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
- ^ Simpson, Stephen (June 21, 2020). "Arkansas statues fall, raising fresh debate". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
