Project supporters seek to erect black Union soldier statue in Ivers Square next June

A bronze statue of a black, Civil War-era, Union soldier could be erected by next June in Cape Girardeau�s Ivers Square, project proponents told the city council Monday.

Denise Lincoln, who has researched the history of Cape Girardeau�s former slaves who joined the Union Army, wants the statue erected in their honor.

She and Steven Hoffman, a history professor and coordinator of the historic preservation program at Southeast Missouri State University, are pushing the project.

They said they hope to raise private funds to pay for the statute and its installation.

�We are confident this is a project people would want to be a part of,� Hoffman said outside the council chambers.

Lincoln told the council the entire project, including installation, would cost an estimated $60,000.

Hoffman said a June date to unveil the statue would be appropriate because it would mark the 156th anniversary of the enlistment in the Union Army of former Cape Girardeau slave James Ivers. 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 Cape Girardeau City Council in June 2017 renamed Common Pleas Courthouse Park in honor of Ivers and his wife, Harriet. The community won a grant of more than $127,000 to preserve and upgrade Ivers Square.

But the proposed statue is not part of the grant project and none of the grant money can go to pay for the statue, Lincoln said.

Hoffman said after the meeting the statue itself would cost about $45,000. Half that amount would have to be raised before the statue would be cast, he said.

Lincoln and Hoffman want the bronze statue to be cast from the mold of a detailed statue of a black Union soldier created by Roy Butler and installed several years ago at the National Veterans Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.

A second statue from that mold has been erected in Helena, Arkansas, said Lincoln, who has traveled there to see the statute.

She called it an �amazing statue� that is �articulated with such clarity.�

Lincoln told the council the mold can only be used one more time.

�This would be the final casting of the statue,� she said.

She suggested the statue could be placed in front of the stone wall of the Common Pleas Courthouse Annex at Ivers Square.

Lincoln told the council slaves were once sold on the courthouse grounds, which she called �the painful part of our history.�

She said the park already has memorials honoring Union and Confederate soldiers, but has �neglected� to recognize the �significance and contribution of our population of color.�

More than 200 blacks enlisted in the Union Army at Cape Girardeau from June 1863 to June 1864; Ivers enlisted June 18, 1863, at the Common Pleas Courthouse.

He served in the 56th United States Colored Infantry, which was stationed at Helena. He died Oct. 1, 1863, in the regimental hospital from what military records called �consumption,� now known as tuberculosis, Lincoln�s research shows.

Hoffman said the city�s public art committee has approved the project.

�We are at the beginning of fundraising,� he said.

Old Town Cape, the downtown revitalization organization, would receive the donations. The statue would be donated to the city.

Marla Mills, executive director of Old Town Cape, urged the council to agree to accept the donation in advance of the fundraising effort.

Council members instructed city staff to draw up a resolution for the council to vote on at a subsequent meeting.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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