New Civil War event marker location causes debate in Ga.
ATLANTA - This new marker's location is considered to be the "ground zero" of Atlanta and some Southerners look at the event with disappointment and may not want to commemorate it...
ATLANTA – William Tecumseh Sherman has been considered both a hero and villain. His Union Army was responsible for burning much of downtown Atlanta during the Civil War.
There are many historical markers present in Atlanta, but nobody has mentioned this happening until now. This week, a new marker commemorating Sherman’s acts went ip outside the Railroad Freight Depot to help observe the 150th anniversary of the start of the war.
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This new marker’s location is considered to be the “ground zero” of Atlanta. According to Michael Thurmond, who serves on the board of the Georgia Historical Society, some Southerners look at the event with disappointment and may not want to commemorate it.
Some NAACP members have also objected to the marker’s location near some of the city’s civil rights geography.
However, Thurmond finds this opposition to be baffling because he views the event as a symbol of liberation for African Americans.
“His destruction of most of the city really was the death knell for the Confederacy and ultimately for legalized slavery in America,” Thurmond said.
Thurmond has also written a book about the experiences of many of Georgia’s African Americans from colonial times to the Civil War. He sees the marker as a chance for people to become educated about the real story of the war.
