1/ THREAD Related to @SmithsonianMag "The Costs of the Confederacy" and findings that "over the past ten years, taxpayers have directed at least $40 million to Confederate monuments... and to Confederate heritage organizations." bit.ly/2RoOJcc
2/ The article was written by Brian Palmer and Seth Freed Wessler. I found it very interesting, and something also needs to be said about Confederate cemeteries and cemeteries with Confederate sections in Richmond.
3/ Take #HollywoodCemetery. In 1969, #HollywoodCemetery was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register (part of the VA Department of Historic Resources and managed by its staff on behalf of the VA Board of Historic Resources, in partnership with the National Park Service).
4/ Such an assignation "may qualify owners for voluntary state and federal rehabilitation tax credit programs and DHR’s easement program."
5/ Potential perks include: 1) reductions of real estate taxes; 2) tax credits from the state and federal government related to the rehabilitation and/or up keep of the site; and 3) eligibility for federal grants for historic preservation.
6/ The Hollywood Cemetery Company ran things, early on, at the founding of the cemetery (and still exists, today with offices in #rva on South Cherry Street). But there is also the Friends of Hollywood Cemetery.
7/ The Friends of Hollywood is a 501(c)3 organization founded in 2007 to meet a need for private funding. The nonprofit currently takes money from the UDC, The Great Great Great Granddaughters Club, The Great Great Granddaughters Club, and The Great Granddaughters Club.
8/ Figuring out just how much money has gone into Confederate preservation at #Hollywood would involve taking a close look at the finances of each of these organizations (meaning a bunch of open records requests).
9/ And then there's #OakwoodCemetery, also in #rva. #Oakwood is owned by the City of Richmond (the city tried to privatize the cemetery in 1995 but was barred from doing so by the General Assembly).
10/ In 1997, The Virginia Sons of Confederate Veterans received $30,000 from the State of Virginia to restore the Confederate section in #Oakwood and about $11,470/ year for up keep.
11/ To manage these funds, officers of the Virginia SCV and others formed the #Oakwood Confederate Cemetery Trust, Inc. in 1999, but in 2005 the SCV re-assumed control of the update and state money now goes to them.
12/ A lot of names but it gives a glimpse into the financing of Confederate preservation, particularly when it comes to support from the state. And just compare the appearance of the Confederate portions of Hollywood and Oakwood with, say, plots in the #EastEndCemetery of #rva
13/ As Palmer and Wessler note, "In 2017, the [VA] legislature finally passed the Historical African American Cemeteries and Graves Act, which is meant to address the injustice [related to funding of white over black cemeteries]. Still, less than $1,000 has been spent so far."
14/ And there is a final issue: Both #Hollywood and #Oakwood fly the Confederate battle flag from poles and display it in miniature on individual graves, in spite of many sources of state funding.
