Robert E. Lee Monument

The Robert E. Lee Monument was a historic statue in New Orleans, Louisiana, dedicated to Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The work of sculptor Alexander Doyle was unveiled in 1884 at Tivoli Circle, which was later renamed Lee Circle. It was funded by the Robert E. Lee Monument Association, which raised money after Lee's death in 1870. The unveiling took place on February 22, 1884, George Washington's birthday, and was attended by prominent Confederate figures, including former President Jefferson Davis and two of General Lee's daughters. The monument consisted of a bronze statue standing on a granite base and a column with an internal staircase. The statue faced north, which, according to local lore, allowed Lee to look toward his military adversaries.

Over time, the monument became a controversial symbol. After the events in Charleston in 2015, then-Mayor Mitch Landrieu called for the monument's removal, influenced by conversations with jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, who saw the veneration of Lee as incompatible with the city's values. After a period of public consultation and a lengthy legal battle that worked its way through several courts, the federal appeals court ruled in March 2017 that the city was allowed to remove the statue. On May 19, 2017, the statue was finally lifted off its column by crane and loaded onto a truck. While the removal was under way, Landrieu gave a speech about the monument's historical significance and the reasons for taking it down.

The monument had been added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 and was ranked among the city's most important statues by a local magazine in 2011. After its removal, the statue was taken to an undisclosed location, and its future whereabouts and any possible return to public display remain uncertain. The column and base stayed in place, while the statue itself is in storage. The removal of the monument sparked nationwide debates about the depiction of the Confederacy in public spaces across the United States.