Women of the Confederacy Memorial

Memorial to women of the Confederacy (left) next to a statue of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Originally located on Broad St. in downtown Rome, Ga., the two statues were moved in 1952 to the base of Myrtle Hill Cemetery.

This monument was funded through donations from the Rome Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and local individuals and organizations and presented by the SCV as a gift to the city of Rome on March 9, 1910.

Approximately 20 feet in height, with a 10-foot square base, the marble statue was sculpted by J. Wolz of Savannah and erected by the Georgia Granite and Marble Co. of Rome. On opposite sides of the base are two carvings -- one showing a woman nursing a wounded soldier and the other depicting a mother telling her daughter of her father's death in battle. On the two other sides of the base are the following inscriptions:

She was obedient to the God she adored And true to every vow she made to man. She was loyal to the country she loved so well, And upon its alter laid husband, sire, and son. The home she loved to serve was graced With sincerity of life and devotion to heart. She reared her sons to unselfish chivalry And her daughters to spotless purity. Her children delight to give her honor And love to Speak her praise.

Whose purity, whose fidelity, whose courage, whose gentle Genius in love and in counsel kept the home secure, the family A school of virtue, the State a court of honor; who made of War a season of heroism and of peace a time of healing; the Guardians of our tranquillity and of our strength.

One of the inscriptions was composed by Mercer University president G.A. Nunnally, while the other was written by Princeton University president Woodrow Wilson.

As a final note, reportedly, this is the only monument that pays tribute to the women of the Confederacy. In fact, other than the Women's Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., this is believed to be the only monument commemorating the women of an American war.

Photos: John North

(c) Carl Vinson Institute of Government, The University of Georgia