History Written in Stone: Gender and the Naturalizing Power of Monuments in Hampton Roads

Courtney Leistensnider, Emily Weidenmuller and Taylor Williamson

     Monuments and memorials are part of the way that we celebrate our country’s history. They represent real players that physically embody the local and national history and cement it into the natural landscape. Statues and monuments are placed in areas to capture the essence of a particular moment or person in history to bring to the public a lesson about the past. However, it is important to remember that those in power have the power to write the history and how the people view the importance of their past, a statement cultural geographer Don Mitchell would support. Thus, monuments often reflect the people who built them. This can cause issues over what constitutes memorialization. Who should be remembered? But, a good geographer should more importantly ask, who is being erased from the past?

     In observing the monuments in the landscape of Hampton Roads, one can see how they represent biased in their portrayal of Virginia history. The majority of these monuments, tools of remembrance and preservation, are portraying powerful male leaders. Unless these gaps are contested, the monuments become naturalized into the landscape, cemented a biased view of history into the landscape. Statues may seem innocent, but really they are the adulterated truth. The monuments naturalize men into its history, and erase the significance of women in Virginia’s past.

     Geographer Kenneth Foote states, “America’s white majority has had two centuries to develop and mark its myth of origins in the landscape. Its point of view has been etched into almost all historical memorials and markers at the local, state, regional and national levels.” The same can be said of the way that the males in society have had the advantage since the beginning of time to develop their own literature on the placement and the concepts of women. The men portrayed throughout Hampton Roads are strong, hardworking men shown in positions of leadership and power; these men are militaristic, intellectual, creative and commanding. Women, while almost entirely neglected in the public art of Hampton Roads, are portrayed as dainty, unthreatening and peaceful. These images were all sculpted and produced for the region not to create or maintain a gender stereotype, but the landscape has had that effect on the people through these modes of memorial.

 As seen at the entrance to the Virginia Living Museum, the statue of a young boy, titled The Winner, shows the wide open possibilities available to men.

With his gracing presence at the entrance to the Mariners’ Museum, Leifr Eiriksson represents the bold masculinity of sea exploration and colonization.

 The symbol of Christopher Newport University and the protector of the campus, Captain Christopher Newport helped to cement the first English colony in the untamed North American continent.

 One of the most notorious people from the Jamestown settlement, John Smith stands along the banks of the James River as a symbol of power from the early colonial era.

An important step toward development and civilization comes with Conquering the Wild. This statue on the Noland Trail of the Mariners’ Museum represents how men have tamed the seemingly unconquerable Nature.

A part of Conquering the Wild, this brooding man demonstrates how man triumphed over the wild with labor, industry, and power.

This statue of the lofty Lord Botetourt gazes out over the campus of the College of William and Mary. The portrayal of Botetourt revers him for his power and influence he held while Governor of Virginia.

Found in the Tyler Family Garden located in the College of William and Mary, these three busts portray these three successful men in Virginia society, while neglecting to acknowledge their female family members.

The Reverend James Blair is remembered on the campus of the College of William and Mary as the founding president of the college, who shared his great knowledge with his pupils.

This statue, a part of Conquering the Wild on the Noland Trail, shows how men dominate nature with their superior intellect, bringing civilization to the wild.

An additional part of the Conquering the Wild monument portrays how men are artistic beings, capturing the beauty around them.

Another figure surrounding the Conquering the Wild monument portrays how man brought science and reason to the unruly wild.

As seen in Colonial Williamsburg, this statue of Thomas Jefferson emulates how he helped to shape American values and had a major impact on education, architecture, and innovations.

The men in the statue, John Marshall and George Wythe, were both influential lawyers on their own, but by standing in front of the law school at the College of William and Mary, they represent the male foundation of the school. 

These figures found on the College of William and Mary’s campus depict a boy nose deep in a book and a girl reading a love letter, showing the male as a dedicated student, while the girl is putting romance before studies.

While Queen Mary was a ruler by title, her statue shows her with no authoritative power as she holds a cross. King William, on the other hand, is shown holding a royal scepter, asserting his power and dominance.

Pocahontas, an important historical figure has been so romanticized that her true story has been lost. Her statue in Jamestown captures her as a passive and minor participant in Virginia’s history.