Efforts to remove Seattle's Confederate memorial gets new support



SEATTLE - Renewed efforts are underway to remove a controversial Confederate memorial at Capitol Hill's Lake View Cemetery.

The NW Museum of Legends and Lore has been requesting the memorial's removal for the last two years, but a new unlikely voice has reinvigorated their efforts.

The former United Daughters of the Confederacy president told Q13 News she realizes "history is important, but so is the future."

"My interest in seeing the monument moved is to protect its history and also to remove an eyesore from King County," Heidi Christensen said.

Christensen is expected to talk to the Seattle City Council on Monday about where the memorial should be placed. She says she hopes it will be moved to the private Sons of Confederacy Camp in Portland, Oregon, where it is more appropriate.

The Confederate memorial is on private land, but supporters of its removal want the council to acknowledge the monument is in a publicly visible location and therefore should fall under current ordinances to remove offensive markings visible to the public.

Over the past two years, the monument has been at the center of controversy and has been defaced and vandalized.

Last year, former Mayor Ed Murray called for the 92-year-old memorial to be removed from the 15th Ave E cemetery alongside the Lenin statue in Fremont.

“We can’t tell the private property owner what to do,” Murray said. “But we can say we think this isn’t a good message to the city.”