Statue of Thomas Jefferson (Decatur, Georgia)

The Thomas Jefferson statue is a bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson which was formerly located on a bench next to the Old DeKalb County Courthouse in Decatur, Georgia.^[1] The statue depicts Jefferson writing the United States Declaration of Independence and was donated to the city by a private citizen to honor U.S. senator Paul Coverdell, who died in 2000.^[2]

Statue of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson statue (2012)
Medium	Bronze
Subject	Thomas Jefferson
Location	Decatur, Georgia, United States
Coordinates	33°46′32″N 84°17′48″W

Following a rally during the George Floyd protests on June 17, 2020, it was announced that the statue would be removed, citing the fact that Jefferson was a slave-owner who owned over 600 slaves and fathered several children with Sally Hemings, his sister-in-law and a slave he owned.^[3] On the morning of June 19, 2020 the statue was removed at the request of the donor "to protect it from damage."^[4] This came several days after the removal of the DeKalb County Confederate Monument, an obelisk on the courthouse grounds that honored the Lost Cause of the Confederacy.^[2][3]

See also

• List of statues of Thomas Jefferson
• List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests