Casting of black Union soldier statue proceeds as group raises funds

Creation of a new bronze statue of a black, Civil War-era, Union soldier has begun with a view toward unveiling it in Ivers Square in downtown Cape Girardeau next summer.

Steve Hoffman, a history professor and coordinator of the Historic Preservation Program at Southeast Missouri State University, said Tuesday the process is going �really well.�

Hoffman said the project is really a team effort, with himself, Denise Lincoln and Bonnie Kipper leading the charge.

�We each bring our own skill sets,� Hoffman said.

Old Town Cape Inc. has been a key partner, as well, he said, �providing support and guidance for our efforts.�

Wayne Bowen, a former colleague of Hoffman�s at Southeast and a former Cape Girardeau City Council member, asked a question several years ago: was there a road in Cape Girardeau named after a black figure in Cape Girardeau�s history?

And Hoffman said no, not to his knowledge.

��We need to work on changing that,�� Hoffman said at the time.

But, he said, from the beginning, the project�s goal was clear. This naming needed to be authentic, needed to be connected to Cape Girardeau�s history, and needed to be historically significant.

�And,� Hoffman said, �it needed to be additive, rather than a replacement.�

Hoffman said it was obvious from the beginning this naming needed to be about bringing much-needed historical context to Cape Girardeau�s black heritage.

The Common Pleas Courthouse park had no official name, so that was identified as a starting point, he said.

Lincoln�s research led to James Ivers and his wife, Harriet, Hoffman said.

During the Civil War, James Ivers and another approximately 200 black men from Cape Girardeau enlisted at the Common Pleas Courthouse and fought for the Union Army, Hoffman said.

The Cape Girardeau City Council in June 2017 renamed Common Pleas Courthouse park in honor of the Ivers.

After enlisting, according to Lincoln�s research, Ivers went to Helena, Arkansas � where another casting of this statue already stands, Hoffman said.

One other casting stands in Nashville, Tennessee, he said.

The Cape Girardeau statue would likely be the final one cast from this mold.

The mold, he added, is more than 60 pieces, highly realistic and detailed.

�It would cost more than $45,000 for the statue alone,� as much as $60,000 after all is said and done, Hoffman said. A $127,000 grant to preserve and upgrade Ivers Square doesn�t include an allotment for the statue.

But fundraising efforts have been successful enough that the statue�s casting has already begun, Hoffman said. Old Town Cape, the downtown revitalization organization, is accepting the donations. The statue, once completed, would be donated to the city.

Monuments honoring Union and Confederate soldiers already stand in Ivers Square.

�People from this region sent sons, husbands, brothers, into the Confederacy,� Hoffman said. �Let�s acknowledge that, but let�s also tell a bigger story.�

Hoffman said enslaved people were sold on the courthouse steps at one time.

Lincoln, who has researched the history of local slave families, has called that �the painful part of our history.� Hoffman said the Ivers� story can help add the voices of modern-day people with different values than our predecessors.

�Let�s honor a man who was enslaved ... who so believed in freedom that he climbed those steps and enlisted the first day African-Americans could,� Hoffman said.

Hoffman had told the Southeast Missourian a June date to unveil the statue would be appropriate because it would mark the 156th anniversary of James Ivers� enlistment in the Union Army. It also ties in with the Juneteenth celebration, which annually recognizes the June 19, 1865, announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas, and more generally the emancipation of enslaved blacks throughout the former Confederacy.

The statue�s dedication is planned for June 8, 2019, Hoffman said.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

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