A Confederate general statue toppled in 2020 has been reinstalled : NPR
A 2017 photo of the statue commemorating Confederate General Albert Pike in Washington, D.C.
Alex Brandon/AP
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Alex Brandon/AP
A statue of Confederate General Albert Pike that was torn down and burned in Washington, DC in June 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement, has been renovated and reinstalled in Judiciary Square. Saturday’s relocation followed a previous National Park Service. announcement that the federal government intended to restore the statue, which he said had been damaged during “riots.”
The monument to Pike was first erected in 1901, but has long been a controversial subject within the nation’s capital.
The Pike statue is the only monument in Washington, D.C., to honor a Confederate general, but it does not mention his military history. Pike, who was a Freemason and pardoned by President Andrew Johnson, has also been identified by historians as maybe having been involved in the development of the Ku Klux Klan in the period following the Civil War.
The plaque at the base of the statue, which was originally attached by the Freemasons, calls Pike “an author, poet, scholar, soldier, jurist, orator, philanthropist and philosopher.”
Members of the Washington Council, the district’s legislative body, called for the statue’s removal. since 1992.
In an unsigned statement sent to NPR on Monday, the National Park Service wrote: “The National Park Service announced on August 4, 2025, that it would restore and reinstall the bronze statue of Albert Pike, which was damaged and vandalized during the Black Lives Matter riots in June 2020. The restoration aligns with federal responsibilities under the Historic Preservation Act and recent decrees aimed at beautifying the national capital and restoring pre-existing monuments. statues.”
In a statement released Monday, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DD.C.) objected to the reinstallation of the statue, calling it “an affront to the predominantly black and brown residents of the District of Columbia and offensive to members of the military who serve honorably.”
“Pike himself served dishonorably. He took up arms against the United States, embezzled funds, and was ultimately captured and imprisoned by his own troops,” Norton continued. “He resigned in disgrace after committing a war crime and dishonoring even his own Confederate military service. Confederate statues should be placed in museums as historical objects, not left in parks or other places that imply honor. Pike represents the worst of the Confederacy and has no claim to be memorialized in the nation’s capital.” In August, Norton introduced a plan bill to permanently remove the Pike statue.
