John Lewis Memorial Coming To Decatur Square

DECATUR, GA — A memorial dedicated to late Congressman John Lewis, one of the "Big Six" leaders of the 1960s civil rights movement, is planned for Decatur Square — in the same spot where the former Confederate obelisk monument stood for more than 100 years.

At the Jan. 26 DeKalb County commissioners meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a resolution that will create a memorial site honoring Lewis in front of the historic DeKalb County courthouse. Lewis died last July after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Clarence Seeliger ordered the Confederate monument in Decatur Square to be taken down and put in storage in early June 2020 after a formal complaint from the city of Decatur. In his ruling, he called the monument a public nuisance and ordered it be removed by the end of that month, and it was taken down June 18.

Decatur residents called the monument a symbol of "white nationalism" and said it had no place in the city, long before its actual removal.

"After the horrendous display of racism, bigotry, and white supremacy in Charlottesville, we, the citizens of Decatur and DeKalb County, want to take a stand against white nationalism by removing one of its symbols, the Lost Cause Confederate Memorial found in our downtown square," a petition for the monument's removal from 2017 reads.

Lewis' memorial and a celebration of his civil rights legacy will replace the racist symbol as part of the John Lewis Commemorative Task Force. The task force — spearheaded by DeKalb County District 5 Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson and Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett — was created in August 2020 and tasked with making a recommendation as to the best way to commemorate Lewis in DeKalb County.

"What an honor it was to join Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson to sign the declaration establishing the John Lewis Commemorative Task Force," Garrett said in a news release at the time. "John Lewis was an inspiration and voice of hope for all and his legacy lives on to instill a vigilant expectant hope to this generation of young advocates of good trouble."