Arthur Ashe statue on Monument Avenue

Richmond native, tennis champion and humanitarian Arthur Ashe was the first African-American male to win a Grand Slam event and was an active civil rights supporter. He is honored with a statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. [slideshow]

WHERE: Monument Avenue and Roseneath Road.

ARTIST: Paul Di Pasquale.

DEDICATION: July 10, 1996 (it would have been his 53rd birthday).

DESCRIPTION: The bronze statue of Arthur Ashe faces west with four children facing east. The statue shows him holding books in his left hand and a tennis racket in his right hand to illustrate how he encouraged the importance of sports and education. The 12 foot bronze statue (the figure is 10 foot tall, 12 foot to the books in his left hand) stands on a 87,000 pound granite block quarried in Georgia. The monument rises 28 feet above the street.

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There was plenty of controversy over this statue when it was proposed and after it was placed at Monument and Roseneath avenues back in July 1996. Questions like:

• Should it be on Monument Avenue with all the Confederate heroes?
• Should there be more design options?
• Is the base too big for the statue?
• Is he about to hit the kids with the books and the racquet?

Personally, I don’t think it is the best statue in Richmond. That’s no slight to Mr. Ashe, who was and still is a hero to so many people worldwide. The message in the statue is a good one, and true to his legacy. He’s kept a smile over on Monument Avenue.

Who remembers that then Mayor Leonidas Young had a proposal to place the monument in Byrd Park and rename the Boulevard for Arthur Ashe? Definitely, there were some that thought his statue belonged in Byrd Park, home of some of his tennis-playing days as a Richmond youth.

One article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch noted a suggestion from a city council member to move the Stonewall Jackson monument to make way for Ashe, calling the intersection of Monument Avenue and Boulevard “the most primary piece of property in the city.” I’ve written that it is the most trafficked and therefore most visible on Monument Avenue.

The article also noted that the entire Ashe family favored the site at Monument Avenue and Roseneath Road — and that Arthur would not have approved of the debate over the location for the statue.

How else has Richmond honored Ashe? Have you ever seen the Arthur Ashe Center? I’ve never liked the building, and I’m not alone. 

One day Richmond will tear that down and build a more adequate and modern facility to replace it.  There have been proposals, mostly tied in with revamping The Boulevard corridor and The Diamond, located on the same property. I hope that if it gets Ashe’s name, it will at least be worthy of his world-class status.

Stonewall Jackson on Monument Avenue

Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson statue on Monument Avenue

Confederate General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. [slideshow]

WHERE: In the intersection of Monument Avenue and The Boulevard.

ARTIST: William F. Sievers.

DEDICATION: October 11, 1919.

DESCRIPTION: A great equestrian bronze figure 17 1/2 foot high on an oval granite pedestal 20 1/2 foot high of General Jackson astride his horse. The statue is oriented to the North.

The Civil War changed Jackson from a largely unknown teacher at VMI into one of the most famous men in the world.  A fellow general inspired his own men by pointing to Confederate General Jackson and saying, “Yonder stands Jackson like a stone wall.” 

Jackson was shot down by his own men at the height of his greatest achievement battle of Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863, and he died eight days later at Guinea Station.

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Most every Richmonders passes this monument to Jackson at some point.  This is the busiest intersection on Monument Avenue, and Jackson has the prime seat. Our Richmond marathon and Ukrop’s 10k running races pass it, countless cars on The Boulevard and the National Historic Landmark Monument Avenue.  See for yourself in a driving tour slideshow of Monument Avenue.

Stonewall Jackson at Capitol Square

Gen. Thomas Stonewall Jackson

WHAT: Statue of Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson [slideshow]

LOCATION: Capitol Square, along Northern Boundary in downtown Richmond at the Virginia State Capitol.

ARTIST: John Henry Foley. 

DEDICATION: October 26, 1875. 

DESCRIPTION: This bronze 7 foot high standing figure was sculpted and cast in England. It was commissioned by a group of admiring gentlemen shortly after Jackson’s death. The state had the 9 foot pedestal erected and paid for the delivery of the statue.