Year in Review 2020: #8

Our countdown of the Top Ten Most-Read blog posts of the year continues.

In any conversation/discussion/debate/ argument/shouting match about monuments, it quickly becomes apparent when someone doesn’t understand the fundamental difference between history and memory. The two ideas are related but different. One of our most-read posts of the year examined that difference.

In 2011, instead of a Year in Review series, ECW ended the year with a series by co-founder Chris Mackowski called “Statues of Stonewall.” The series highlighted different statues of Stonewall Jackson and provided brief histories of each. This past summer, as monument controversies heated up, Chris revisited that series, using the statues of Stonewall as a way to illustrate the differences between history and memory.

#8: History vs. Memory: Statues of Stonewall Offer a Lesson posted by Chris Mackowski on June 18, 2020:

Do we erase history when we take down a statue? That’s a question at the core of recent debate concerning Confederate monuments. Personally, I’m not convinced we do, but I do know we erase memory.

However, the distinction between “memory” and “history” is vital.