Monument to Confederate Women (Mother of the South)

On May 1st, 1913, the Monument to Confederate Women, also known as the Mother of the South, was built to pay homage to the Confederate women impacted and affected by the Civil War and its consequences. These women of the Confederacy watched their husbands, brothers, and sons leave for battle with only a few way to help. The monument is located in Little Rock, Arkansas, and stands directly in front of the State Capitol building. It can also be found online in the National Register of Historic Places, the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, and in the Smithsonian Art Inventories Catalog. The monument is meant to acknowledge the roles that women played in the Confederacy, like being nurses or raising children, along with the sacrifice they faced.

When the Civil War began, there were few things that the women of the Confederacy could do to support the cause. Women were noncombatants in the war, and other than becoming nurses, their most common role usually consisted of the sacrifice of watching the men in their families leave to join the fight. This selfless view of Confederate women became a standard among the South as the men of households left to fight in battles against the Union. While the women had not actively fought, they had played another massive role in the war. Along with watching the men leave, the mothers also raised their children with the ideals of their cause, which would keep the mindset of the Confederacy going for years. This solidified not only the Confederate women’s selfless heroism but also their unending loyalty towards their ideals.

The monument was designed and created by J. Otto Schweizer, a Swiss Sculptor, and was funded by the State of Arkansas and the United Confederate Veterans (UCV). As the name describes, the UCV was an organization of veterans who wanted to memorialize and care for those who were former Confederate soldiers and those who were related to deceased Confederate soldiers. The UCV had come up with the idea of the monument, planning to memorialize the heroism and sacrifice of Confederate women, and the State of Arkansas agreed to fund most of the monument’s construction. In the Confederacy and the Lost Cause, a group that believed strongly in the justness of cause that the Confederate states had during the Civil War, the women were believed to be heroines for their previously mentioned situations. The Lost Cause viewed women as loyal, so loyal in fact that there were different women groups, like the United Daughters of the Confederacy, created so the women could make sure everything was honored correctly. This Monument to Confederate Women was only one of the many that were dedicated by the UCV throughout Arkansas and other surrounding states.

The monument itself consists of a plaque and 4 notable bronze statues, showing the loss that Confederate women had faced at the time. The statues depict a woman in a long dress seated as her daughter cries into her left shoulder. On her right is her son who holds the mother’s knee with his left hand and a drum and sticks in his right. Standing in front of the seated mother is a male figure, who’s right hand is held in both of hers as the other hold his hat. He is dressed in the Confederate uniform, seemingly ready to leave for war. The depiction of the male varies, as the National Register of Historic Places views him as the 16-year-old son and brother who is leaving to join his father on the front lines, while many other sources, like the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, view him as the father. Either way the male figure is interpreted, the symbolism is a stark show of the situation that so many Confederate women had faced all throughout the Civil War.

The plaque centered below the statues reads:

TO THE CONFEDERATE WOMEN OF ARKANSAS

1861-1865

Whose Pious Ministrations To Our Wounded Soldiers

Soothed The Last Hours Of Those Who Died For The

Object Of Their Tenderest Love, Whose Domestic

Labors Contributed Much To Supply The Wants Of

Our Defenders In The Field, Whose Jealous Faith

In Our Cause Shown A Guiding Star, Undimmed By The

Darkest Clouds Of War; Whose Fortitude Sustained

Them Under All The Privations To Which They Were

 Subjected; And Whose Patriotism Will Teach Their

Sons To Emulate The Deeds Of Their Sires.

THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED BY

THE STATE OF ARKANSAS AND THE CONFEDERATE VETERANS.

While the women of the Confederacy weren’t fighting to the bloody end on a battlefield, they still felt heavy impacts and effects from the Civil War. Their roles in the war were few but strong, and the sacrifice they faced was rough. Yet despite these hardships, they stayed strong and raised their children in the Confederacy’s ideals, leading to hope of memorialization to honor their heroism. This was what led to the creation of the Monument to Confederate Women.

Elledge, Zachary. Monument to Confederate Women, Encyclopedia of Arkansas . June 13th 2018. Accessed April 13th 2021. https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/monument-to-confederate-women-7592/.

Faust, Drew Gilpin. "Altars of Sacrifice: Confederate Women and the Narratives of War." The Journal of American History 76, no. 4 (1990): 1200-228. Accessed May 5, 2021. doi:10.2307/2936595.

Monument to Confederate Women, (sculpture)., SIRIS. Accessed April 13th 2021. https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=16E5852841Q8H.3504&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!314010~!28&ri=2&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=confederate+women&index=.GW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=2.

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Little Rock, 26 Apr. 1996. https://www.arkansasheritage.com/docs/default-source/national-registry/pu4770s-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=be420f1e_0

Warren, Steven L. United Confederate Veterans (UCV), Encyclopedia of Arkansas. July 10th 2017. Accessed April 13th 2021. https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/united-confederate-veterans-6401/.