Golden dome accentuates each memorial presentation
Capitol Grounds, US-60
Charleston, Kanawha County
"This monument erected A.D. 1930 by the Union Sailors and Soldiers Memorial Association"
"Mountani Semper Liberi
Dedicated to the hallowed memories of the brave men and devoted women who save West Virginia to the Union
Presented to the state and people of West Virginia through the instrumentalities of the Grand Army of the Republic and the
Womens Relief Corp by a private citizen"
"Erected as a memorial to the Confederate Soldiers
by Charleston Chapter United Daughters of The Confederacy"
1861-1865"
1861-1865
As I began to take these photos I was approached by an older gentleman walking the grounds for his evening exercise. He informed me that this was the only place in the nation where there was a memorial dedicated to a Confederate General and a Union President within sight of each other. I hated to tell him he was likely wrong and that I had seen several instances in the last few weeks. That's that nature of these presentations; although they are really everywhere, they are not well visited and rarely are they the subject of an precise documentation and there are even fewer attempts to catalog them.
State Capitol presentations usually span several generations and eras of conflicts. West Virginia's capitol grounds are no exception. The newest memorial is under construction now. It is a segmented circle in the middle of a fountain and relates the lists of the fallen from World War I to the present. Statues on the four segemented walls depict soldiers, sailors, and airmen as they would have been seen by the comrades - dressed in combat gear and ready to perform their duties. The lists of the fallen are still being engraved upon the interior marble, I'll have to return after the memorial is dedicated to properly photograph them.
