Saving History Saturday: Friends of Vicksburg Raising Funds to Repair Damaged Monument
Just last month, Mississippi was ravaged by a series of severe storms, including many tornadoes. On April 13, several tornadoes touched down throughout the state, resulting in three that hit in Vicksburg’s vicinity alone. Not only did storms destroy numerous buildings in town, two of the tornadoes ripped through Vicksburg National Military Park. Only one monument at Vicksburg sustained damage: the Rhode Island Memorial, which was erected in honor of the 7th Rhode Island Infantry.
The Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park – the nonprofit partner of Vicksburg National Military Park – is raising funds now to repair and save this 111-year-old war memorial. According to their campaign: “The bronze sculpture was completely separated from the base in the storm, and suffered further damage as it struck the ground. The cost for repairing the monument is $20,000. The work entails repair to the masonry base and sculpture, including cleaning, repairing, and remounting the sculpture to the base.”
For more information on how to donate, please visit their website here.
Does Vicksburg NMP have a trust fund to cover issues like this? Would be easier to have a trust that serves as a literal “rainy day” fund that can cover the costs for these things. It’s going to happen again and again.