Counter petition opposes removal of Ivers Square Confederate monument

Editor's note: The following story has been edited to reflect the correct date for the next city council meeting.

A petition opposing the removal of the Confederate States of America monument in Cape Girardeau's Ivers Square has been circulating on the Internet since Tuesday.

As of 4 p.m. Friday, the petition, written by Erin, a Cape Girardeau County resident who declined to give her full name due to safety concerns, had garnered 390 signatures.

Most signatories are from Missouri, but the document also is receiving international support, with signers from the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Croatia, Australia, Cyprus, Kenya, Morocco, France, Liechtenstein, Denmark and Sweden.

If her identity is protected, Erin said she intends to speak to her petition when Cape Girardeau City Council meets next July 6.

"The idea of removing (the C.S.A.) monument really bothers me," said Erin, "and it breaks my heart."

Erin said she has done significant genealogy work and believes her family has two Union ancestors but none who fought for the South in the 1861-1865 civil war.

Erin, a Ph.D. student and a transplant to the area from central Illinois, said she is doing research on historical monuments using primary sources.

"The (C.S.A.) monument and all the others should stay in (Ivers) Square," said Erin.

"We need to stop emotionally responding to things," said the petition writer, "and have a reasonable, rational discussion (instead)."

A petition urging the monument's removal, presented to city council June 15 by Sofia Voss of Cape Girardeau, has garnered 1,034 supporters as of press time Friday.

The monuments in Ivers Square are currently protected behind construction fencing as work begins on a new Cape Girardeau City Hall nearby.

The 14 ½-foot-tall, 12 ½-ton white C.S.A. monument was erected in 1931 on Morgan Oak Street near the Mississippi River. It was moved to its current location in 1995 by the Civil War Roundtable.

On a related note, Cape Girardeau mayor Bob Fox has asked the city's historic preservation commission to study the request to remove the C.S.A. monument.

The commission will meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

The petition opposing the monument's removal is at gopetition.com/petitions/oppose-removal-of-the-confederate-monument-in-cape-girardeau-missouri.html.