Union soldier statue

Museum Exhibit Uncovers Hard Truths
Monday January 24, 2022

Titled The Chasm Is Not Closed, a new exhibit at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum uses a pair of tributes to the Confederacy to dig deeply into a disturbing chapter in the Island's not too distant past.

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In Statue Debate, a Hurtful History Has the Final Word
Thursday May 23, 2019
A. Bowdoin Van Riper

The fiercest, bloodiest wars are those fought not over territory or a throne, but over a way of life.

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Selectmen Vote to Remove Plaques from Civil War Monument
Wednesday May 22, 2019

At a public forum Tuesday night, Oak Bluffs selectmen unanimously agreed adopt the Martha’s Vineyard NAACP’s recommendation.

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Dedication Ceremonies
Friday August 14, 1891
Vineyard Gazette
As we go to press the exercises attending the dedication of the Soldiers’ Memorial at Cottage City are in full progress. The fine weather, accompanied by a cool breeze from the northward, together with the noble aim of the events of the day, has brought together the largest body of people Cottage City has seen for years.
 
At 1 o’clock the several posts assembled at Grand Army Hall, Lake avenue. The line formed for parade on Siloam and Kedron avenues, right resting on Lake avenue, in the following order:
 
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Civil War Statue Debate Dominates Oak Bluffs Meeting
Wednesday March 27, 2019

In a sometimes tense, sometimes emotional debate, Oak Bluffs selectmen heard arguments for and against a request to remove plaques from a Civil War monument.

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Opposes Placing of Confederate Name
Friday August 28, 1925
Vineyard Gazette
Despite the protest of Grand Army Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief Wilfred A. Wetherbee against the placing of a Confederate veteran’s name on the Soldiers’ Monument at Oak Bluffs, representatives of the surviving member of the Henry Clay Wade Post, and the Woman’s Relief Corps, declare that the plan shall be carried out, and regard the commander’s objection as ridiculous and shameful.
 
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Vineyard NAACP Urges Oak Bluffs to Remove Plaques Honoring Confederate Soldiers
Tuesday March 19, 2019

A Civil War memorial in Oak Bluffs is drawing concerted opposition from the Martha’s Vineyard chapter of the NAACP

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Confederate Soldier Honors the Blue
Friday June 5, 1925
Vineyard Gazette
Last Saturday at Edgartown marked the beginning of a new paragraph in a chapter of Vineyard history which was begun 30 years ago. At the close of the public exercises, patriotic orders including the G. A. R., W. R. C. and the American Legion met in the town hall for refreshments and friendly discussion.
 
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Monument to Healing
Thursday August 17, 2017

Martha’s Vineyard can look with pride on its Civil War statue, built to express an aspiration as urgent today as it was in 1891: to heal a nation’s deep divisions.

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