Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA With the controversial statue of Melville Fuller set to go back to its donor, the committee appointed to help find a new location for the effigy of the former Supreme Court justice wants to ensure its educational significance is not lost.
But the work of the advisory committee has ended because of an agreement reached Tuesday between Robert Fuller Jr. and the Kennebec County Commissioners to return the statue to Fuller for $1, and to allow the statue to remain in place for up to 12 months while Fuller looks for a new home for it.
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Augusta Court Statue May Return To Donor
According to a story by centralmaine.com, the donated statue of Melville Fuller, a United States Supreme Court Chief Justice, who was born in Augusta in 1833 will most likely return to the man that donated it to Kennebec County Courthouse in 2013.
Robert Fuller Jr, a descendant of Chief Justice Melville Fuller has indicated that he is willing to take back his gift in a statement through his attorney.
The State of Maine and the County Of Kennebec have been grappling with what to do with the statue ever since they announced that it will be moved due connections Chief Justice Melville Fuller had with legalized racial segregation in the Plessy v. Ferguson doctrine back in 1898.
The View From Here: Judge’s statue shows immortality can be fleeting
U.S. Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller was known for many things in his day, but his connection to racial injustice is not worthy of honor.
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It’s only been seven years since the late Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller was immortalized with a bronze statue outside the Kennebec County Courthouse and now it’s coming down, which may set a record for the shortest immortalization in history.
Last week, the Kennebec County commissioners voted unanimously that a depiction of Fuller, who helped lay the legal foundation for a half-century of racial segregation with the Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896, did not send the right message about the county’s commitment to equal justice under law.
The statue of Melville Weston Fuller, the U.S. Supreme Court chief justice who led the 1896 ruling that legally supported more than half a century of racial segregation, will be moved from the lawn of the Kennebec County Courthouse in Augusta.
The Kennebec County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to move the statue to a spot where it can serve an educational purpose. The three-member board will appoint a committee that will decide where the statue will go and other logistics of the move.
Melville Fuller presided over Plessy v. Ferguson, a decision that allowed separate but equal race-based discrimination across the country. In 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation violated the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which ensures equal protection under law, overruling the Plessy decision.
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Augusta gets $1.6 million donation for artificial turf field, other work at Cony’s Alumni Field
Philanthropist Robert G. Fuller Jr. has increased his contribution to the project that had been put on hold due to financial challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic and higher than expected costs.
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This June 7, 2019, photo shows Cony High School’s Alumni Field in Augusta. A project to renovate the field has now met its funding goal and work could begin within a couple months.
Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file
AUGUSTA With the coronavirus pandemic making fundraising for improvements at Cony High School’s Alumni Field unlikely anytime soon, a donor who had already agreed to pay for part of the project has increased his offer.