6 thoughts on “The monument unveiled”

  1. Marion Brooks Robinson recalled that in 1932, when she was about seven, St Clair took her to the Maury School to show her the monument and tell her about religious freedom. I mentioned that her father must have thought she was pretty smart to talk to her about such a grown-up topic, to which Marion responded “he DID!”

    Robert Kravetz
    P.S. St Clair spelled his name without a period, though no one else besides me does, as far as I know.

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    • You are among the few to understand that the likely primary reason the monument was built was because it was the year of the 200th anniversary of Washington’s birth. I can’t prove this … yet.

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  3. P.S. The original plaque is on the back of the monument in its present location and orientation. I would guess that the monument was turned 180 degrees to accommodate its 1977 plaque. The 1932 plaque highlights George Washington more than Jefferson.

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  4. You are correct as usual. I cover that in my book. The plaque you are referring to says:

    THIS MEMORIAL MARKS THE SITE OF A CELEBRATION, ON OCTOBER 16,1932, BY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE LEADING RELIGIOUS FAITHS IN AMERICA, COMMEMORATIVE OF THE RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF GEORGE WASHINGTON, WHOSE BOYHOOD HOME TOWN WAS FREDERICKSBURG; AND OF THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, AS THE VIRGINIA “BILL FOR ESTABLISHING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM” WAS OUTLINED BY A COMMITTEE CONSISTING OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, GEORGE MASON, EDMUND PENDLETON, GEORGE WYTHE AND THOMAS LUDWELL LEE WHICH MET IN THIS CITY ON JANUARY 13, 1777

    I was referring to the fact The Free Lance-Star didn’t include both Washington and Jefferson in their article.

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    • I understood you to be saying that.

      But I wish I had a dollar for each time I have heard someone say “…and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which Thomas Jefferson wrote in Fredericksburg…”

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