Statue of Confederate soldier removed from Houston park

HOUSTON – A statue of a Confederate soldier has been removed from a downtown Houston park, and a second Confederate statue is expected to be removed soon, officials said.

The “Spirit of the Confederacy” statue was removed late Tuesday from Sam Houston Park and will be housed in the Houston Museum of African American Culture, under a plan announced last week by Mayor Sylvester Turner.

A second statue, of Confederate artillery commander Richard W. “Dick” Dowling, is also slated for removal. Initially, the Dowling statue was to be moved from Hermann Park to the Sabine Pass Battleground State Historical Site near Port Arthur.

But officials said Tuesday that the Dowling statue will instead be placed in a warehouse, at least temporarily, after leaders in Port Arthur expressed opposition, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Many Confederate symbols and monuments have been damaged or brought down by demonstrators and removed by local authorities since the death of George Floyd, an African American man whose death has become a worldwide symbol in demonstrations calling for changes to police practices and an end to racial prejudice.