Historic Memphis N. B. Forrest Monument 
 The Complete Story...Clippings, letters, photographs, articles from 1894 to 2013

Forrest Park.   The Commercial  Appeal  reported on September 22, 1898,  that the Forrest Monument Association met to discuss the planned trotting race at Billings Park on September 29 to raise funds for the equestrian statue.  This complete collection of clippings, letters, photographs, and articles, would not have been possible without the contributions of many individuals who cherish history and art.  The Charles Henry Niehaus sculpture of General Forrest is recognized today as one of the three top equestrian statues in the United States.  It is a major sculpture by this important American sculptor.  The Forrest Monument Association Minutes Book is in the collection of the Memphis Public Library, and is available on line in their digital collection.

Click on small photos to see an enlargement .  Hold mouse over small photo and paragraph will appear describing the page. 

Most of the files are quite large.  PLEASE BE PATIENT WHILE THEY LOAD.

  <  Index  >

1887:  Ten years after the death of Nathan Bedford Forrest, efforts were begun to raise money for a statue to be erected in his memory. Three men, James E. Beasley, Col. W. F. Taylor and W. W. Schoolfield began asking for donations toward this monument fund. During the early years of their work, there were some small contributions, but in November 1891 the Forrest Monument Association was incorporated and the movement took off.

The following officers were elected to lead the Association. Gen. S. T. Carnes, President, Gen. George W. Gordon, Vice-President, James E. Beasley, Treasurer, and Judge John Preston Young, Secretary. Also named were thirteen Directors who represented the who’s who of Memphis at that time.  

Immediately following the incorporation of this unit, a fundraising benefit was given by the Lyceum Theater Stock Players. Other donations followed during 1892 and 1893. During 1894, a number of Confederate Veterans organized a drill team designated as Company A, UCV. Their first order of business was to challenge the Memphis "Chickasaw Guards" to a competitive drill. The cash prize of $1,927.45 was won by Company A and donated to the Forrest Monument Fund - their largest donation, to date. 

By January of 1900, the cash and signed pledges to the Association amounted to $14,000.  In June, the interested Ladies of Memphis formed an auxiliary headed by Mary Latham and deserve special mention for their work.  In October 1904, they turned over to the Association treasury $2,955.51 of solicited donations.

The cornerstone for the monument was laid during the May 1901 UCV Reunion in Memphis.   In August 1901, sculptor Charles H. Niehaus was contracted to produce the bronze statue of General Forrest astride his favorite horse "King Phillip." It took three years for the modeling of the statue and nearly nine months for the casting. The marble work for the base was done by the Ross Marble Co. of Knoxville and is of Tennessee marble.

The bronze casting of more than heroic size (one and one-half life size), weighs 9,500 pounds.  The height of the monument is 21 feet 6 inches, including the equestrian of 12 feet.  The height of the pedestal is 7 feet, and the terrace 2 feet 6 inches. The total cost of this magnificent sculpture was $32,359.53.

Casting for the bronze was done in Paris France at the well known foundry of E. Guret June. The statue was shipped by steamer to New York, and then to Savannah , and from there by rail to Memphis, arriving here on April 8, 1905. The Forrest Monument Association believed that the most appropriate place for the remains of General Forrest would be beneath the foundation of this splendid statue.  They obtained the consent of his son, Capt. William Montgomery Forrest and the bodies of General Forrest and his wife were re-interred from the Forrest family plot at Elmwood Cemetery to Forrest Park on November 11, 1904.

The dedication ceremony took place on May 16, 1905 beginning at 2:30 p.m., with 30,000 Southerners from seven States attending. Following the various speeches, the little eight year old great granddaughter Kathleen Forrest Bradley, finally pulled the cord that unveiled the magnificent memorial. 

The Who's Who of Memphis that supported the Forrest Monument .  Almost every important figure in Memphis during this period supported the Forrest Monument by working with the committee or by their financial support.  There was a universal feeling that the city was doing something important.  These people were the "movers"  who cared about Memphis and its image in the world.  And they were frequently rewarded by having buildings, businesses, and streets named after them.   

C. H. Niehaus, The Sculptor . Memphis selected one of the best sculptor's in the United States for their equestrian sculpture of Nathan Forrest - sculptor Charles H. Niehaus.  He has eight statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. - a record for a sculptor.  And his work has consistently been praised as among  the best of the 19th Century American sculptors.  When Niehaus finished the Forrest piece, it was almost immediately rated as among the top three equestrian sculptures in the entire United States - and that hasn't changed.  .

George Kessler, The Landscape Architect .  In 1901, Memphis hired famed landscape architect George Kessler, the designer of New York's Central Park, to create a master plan for a parkway system like those in Boston, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.   The city's original parks, Overton and Riverside were also designed by Kessler and connected by long green avenues (Parkways) in a formal pattern that preserved the green spaces.  As Memphis grew, so did the city-owned parks.  Kessler went on to design the Fairgrounds, Forrest Park, Confederate Park, and Gaston Park.  During his 40 year career, George Kessler prepared plans for 26 communities, 26 park and boulevard systems, 49 parks, and 26 schools.  His projects can be found in 23 states, Mexico, and China and in 100 cities.  The  parkway system  and most of these parks are now listed on the National Historic Register and have long been a source of great pride among Memphians.

Chickasaw Guards of Memphis  The Chickasaw Guards of Memphis had the reputation of West Point Officers in being the most perfectly drilled company of citizen-soldiers in the United States.    They traveled around the North as well as the South and participated in drill competitions which earned them great respect.

The route from the foundry in Paris to Forrest Park in Memphis .   Niehaus had picked the Paris foundry, because it was one of the best.  But from the beginning there were problems, including the death of the owner.  When the statue was shipped to New York, it was held in Customs while they determined what "Fine Art" is.  The American trains had all fought for the honor of transporting the sculpture, but they began backing out when they realized that it was too large for their railroad cars and for many bridges along the way.  Eventually it made it to Memphis via a combination of Steamboats and trains.

Updates...

USA Today, Feb 6, 2013:  Memphis changes names of 3 Confederate-themed parks  "The Memphis city council has hurriedly renamed three Confederate-themed parks, including one named after the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, to head off an effort by some state legislators to block such name changes.  The council on Tuesday passed a resolution to immediately rename Confederate Park and Jefferson Davis Park in downtown Memphis and Nathan Bedford Forrest Park, which lies just a few miles away. The vote was 9-0 with three members abstaining.  ...  "The parks are changed. It's done," said Councilman Lee Harris, "We removed controversial names and named them something that is less controversial."  The new names may be only temporary until more permanent names are chosen, the Memphis Daily News reported.  Council members made no secret of their attempt to vote for and finalize the move, which normally would require three hearings, in order to beat an attempt by two state lawmakers in Nashville to block such name changes.  The city council even voted to approve its minutes Tuesday to prevent the measure from being reconsidered at its next meeting".

       

Historic-Memphis website editorial  .   2013 FACT: There was an American Civil War. It was all about slavery. Changing some names of Memphis Parks won't change that. No matter what new name is applied to these parks, there will always be a footnote about the original names that stood for over a hundred years. Renaming these parks will not erase the South's greatest shame. What the city council has done with this 2013 ruling creates an even greater divide in Memphis racial relations. As offensive as some find Confederate symbols, those symbols do represent Memphis history. That history should not be denied. It is part of the South's good, bad and ugly, as well as the nation as a whole. To change names that are historically relevant is an attempt to change the course of history. For a city government to attempt to bury the past by pretending it didn’t exist is a total exploitation of power. Will the burning of history books be next on their agenda?   In 2001, the world's two largest standing Buddhas - one of them 165 feet high, were blown up by the ruling Taliban Regime in Afghanistan in defiance of international efforts to save them.    The rulers issued a decree ordering the destruction of all statues in Afghanistan.  The great Buddha statues had stood for 2,000 years, but since the Taliban leaders found them to be offensive, they were destroyed.  Is there a difference?   Buddha - Before and After Destruction 2001

The suit also asks for a declaratory judgment declaring the city’s removal of the Forrest Park stone marker in January to be illegal and invalid. It said the marker was installed in the park last May, after approval of the Park Services Division, and “illegally and surreptitiously removed” by the city without notice.  The Memphis lawsuit also alleges that the city’s actions have “damaged Memphis” because of its “invalid attempts to erase and eliminate a significant part of the history of the city of Memphis.” It noted that the parks’ original names are featured in the state’s official Tennessee Civil War Trails program’s brochures and maps. 

The city of Memphis is challenging a lawsuit that alleges officials acted illegally when they renamed three Confederate-themed parks.  Lawyers for the Memphis City Council filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in Shelby County Chancery Court .

The Memphis City Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution to remove the remains of Nathan Bedford Forrest.    They're also moving ahead with plans to remove the statue of Forrest, even looking at selling the statue to anyone who want it.

The Tennessee Historical Commission, a state agency that oversees The Tennessee Heritage Protection Act, voted to deny the city’s application for a waiver of the law regarding moving the Forrest statue.

The last Memphis City Council meeting of the 2017 year was officially December 11.  Without any notice or comment, that meeting was scheduled to continue the next night.

December 11:  The City of Memphis sold two public parks containing Confederate monuments to a nonprofit organization in a months-in-the-planning operation to take the statues down overnight.  The Council voted unanimously Wednesday evening to sell Health Sciences Park (Forrest Park) and to remove the Forrest statue.  They immediately approved the minutes. 

The City Council authorized the mayor to sell the parks to Memphis Greenspace this afternoon.  The mayor immediately signed the Bill of Sale and the City Council ratified it without prior public review.  The parks were sold for less than their market value.  The City Council had passed legislation in early September to enable this sale, allowing the council to sell parkland to a nonprofit for less than fair market value.

Immediately a heavy police presence surrounded the former Forrest Park and within minutes a crane that had been standing by rolled into the park and work began to remove the statue.  According to Mayor Strickland, the public parks were sold to a private entity and removal of the statue will be immediately conducted by the private entity and will be compliant with the law. 

City officials said they are unanimous in wanting Memphis' Confederate statues removed before the 50th anniversary next year of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination in Memphis in April 1968.

The parks were sold to Greenspace Inc. for $1,000 each.  Memphis Chief Legal Officer Bruce McMullen said Greenspace can legally remove the statues, which the city was unable to do.

Vintage Post Cards and Memorabilia of Forrest Park

Credits

The Historic-Memphis website does not intentionally post copyrighted photos and material without permission or credit.  On occasion a "non-credited" photo might possibly be posted because we were unable to find a name to give credit.  Because of the nature of our non-commercial, non-profit, educational website, we strongly believe that these photos would be considered "Fair Use.  We have certainly made no monetary gain, although those using this website for historic or Genealogy research have certainly profited.  If by chance, we have posted your copyrighted photo, please contact us, and we'll remove it immediately, or we'll add your credit if that's your choice.  In the past, we have found that many photographers volunteer to have their works included on these pages and we'll  also do that if you contact us with a photo that fits a particular page. 

The "Historic-Memphis" website would like to acknowledge and thank the following for their contributions which helped make this website possible:  Memphis Public Library, Memphis University Library, Memphis Law Library, Memphis Commercial Appeal, Memphis Press Scimitar, Shelby County Register of Deeds, Memphis City Schools, Memphis Business Men's Club, Memphis Chamber of Commerce, Memphis City Park Commission, Memphis Film Commission, Carnival Memphis, Memphis Historical Railroad Page, Memphis Heritage Inc, Beale Street Historic District, Cobblestone Historic District, Memphis Historic Districts, Vance Lauderdale Family Archives, Tennessee State Archives, Library of Congress, Kemmons Wilson Family, Richard S. Brashier, Lee Askew, George Whitworth, Woody Savage and many individuals whose assistance is acknowledged on the pages of their contributions.  Special thanks to Memphis Realtor, Joe Spake, for giving us carte blanche access to his outstanding collection of contemporary Memphis photos.

We do not have high definition  copies of the photos on these pages.  If anyone wishes to secure high definition photos,  you'll have to contact the photographer  or the collector.  (To avoid any possibility of contributing to SPAM, we do not maintain a file of email addresses for anyone who contacts us).