Williams said bust to Museum ‘a wise move’
“Removing the Admiral Farragut bust from the State Capital Building and moving it to the Museum was a very wise move,” Williams wrote. “You typically have protesters from time to time outside the Senate & House chambers. As you have seen, they could very easily be the target from dissidents who do not know our country’s history. Folks who pay to visit the Museum to look at what they have displayed are not protesters but actually very educated history buffs. So I consider all of the busts in the Museum to be safe. “The only bust that will stay in the Capital Building will be that of elected officials.”
In a follow up e-mail to farragutpress, Williams stated, “I chose not to attend the Saturday (protest) gathering due to my differing opinion. I think the news media should have included that all non-elected bust will be relocated to the new museum with only the bust of elected officials to remain in the building. The Nathan Bedford Forrest (bust), which was no one’s hero, was the real issue, but the local media made more out of the Adm. Farragut bust.”
Background
In addition to Adm. Farragut’s bust, Tennessee State Capital Commission voted 9-2 Thursday July 9, to remove a bust of Confederate Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest — the target of protest groups saying he was among the founders of the Ku Klux Klan — and Adm. Albert Gleaves, who served during the Spanish American War and World War I.
State Comptroller Justin Wilson, an ex-officio member of the commission, made the motion to include the relocation of the Admirals along with that of Forrest.
“Comptroller Wilson moved to amend the motion to remove the bust of General Forrest to include Admiral Farragut and Admiral Gleaves for the purposes of creating an exhibit at the Tennessee State Museum to honor military heroes,” stated John Dunn, director of communications for the Comptroller’s office, in a press release.
In order to finalize the vote, the State Historical Commission — currently not scheduled to meet until October — would also need to vote in favor of moving the busts.
The bust of Admiral Farragut has been in the state capital for decades. The installation of Forrest’s bust was initiated in the early 1970s, and was suggested since Farragut represented the Union, perhaps a Confederate sculpture should be present in the state Capital, too.
