Last summer, I had the opportunity to see the protests and painting of the Confederate statues in Richmond, Virginia. For me, this was the pinnacle of my own personal journey of reflection.
The protests gave witness to a long simmering struggle with race in our nation going back to the Civil War. For some, they want to bury and forget it.
While 165 years seem like a long time ago, recently a couple of events demonstrate how close it is. In May 2020, Irene Triplett passed away. She was the last person to receive a pension from the Civil War. She received $877.56 a year.
Some Reflections on Richmond and Confederate Statues wksu.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wksu.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Last Civil War Widow Dies at 101
The Civil War ended in 1865. How is this possible?
The Associated Press reports that 101-year-old Helen Viola Jackson of Marshfield, Missouri married a man named James Bolin in 1936. She was 17, and he was 93.
According to Jackson, she and her husband did not live together and were never intimate. He married her so that she would receive his pension after he died. It was meant to repay her kindness for helping care for him in his old age.
Bolin served on the Union side of the war as part of the 14th Missouri Cavalry. Jackson never told anyone of her wedding to Bolin - not even her own family.