Rise Up! Alabamaians !
Currently in the Alabama Legislature is HB561, scheduled for a floor vote on Tuesday April 10.
http://alisondb.legislature.state.al...llNumber=hb610
The net effect of this bill is to take funding from Confederate Memorial Park and allocate it to other recreational and historical efforts within the Alabama system. The reduced level of funding will force the closure of CMP at the new fiscal year.
This is the site of the Alabama Old Soldiers Home. While no structures remain from the Home, there are two veterans' cemetaries, and other historic structures in place.
The museum is a monument to the common soldier-it's collection includes a wartime image of a private from every unit raised within Alabama. Equally poignant are the post war images of these impoverished old men and their wives who lived out their last years on these grounds. The need for public relief for these old soldiers was so great that Booker T Washington, founder of Tuskeegee Institute, sent hundreds of pairs of shoes made on his campus, for the men, as well as sending student masons and carpenters to aid in construction
Unique Confederate ersatz in the collection includes a Spanish Moss saddle blanket, as well as other items ubiquitous within the poor, non-planter class of Alabama.
Currently on long term loan for conservation purposes are period flags held by the State of Iowa. Many of the flags displayed by CMP have been conserved through private funding.
Historically, pensions for Alabama Soldiers were funded by an Ad Valorem tax that is still in place today. Confederate Memorial Park now draws less than 1% of that fund. While the programs and sites which will benefit from this reallocation are worthy, this is not the place to fund them.
By following the link above into the main Legislative website, interested persons can email or call their legislators to object to this bill. Use the zip code lookup function to aid in identifying your own representatives. Be sure to identify yourself as being a resident of the district and sign your name. The subject line should include HB 610 and your objection to it.
Time is essential here as the issue comes to a vote this coming Tuesday.
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