Dozens show for meeting over Robert E. Lee marker

Описание: FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Dozens of people lined up to attend a township trustees' meeting Thursday night to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee highway marker but most were forced to wait outside because the meeting room reached capacity.

Warren Co. Sheriff's officials said the fire code only allowed 49 people inside the meeting at a time. More than 50 people - including reporters - waited in the parking lot of the township building. A loud speaker was set up so the crowd could hear the meeting but it didn't work.

The vast majority of the people said they were attending the meeting to support the return of the Lee marker.

"What they really represent is the Civil War. It was thousands of men died and fought for that war and none of it had to do with slavery," said a woman named Annie who has lived in Franklin for 60 years. She sat on a chair outside the meeting waiting to hear about what happened.

Slavery was a large part of the Civil War but many of the residents in Franklin said the marker represented the history of the war to them and was not a tribute to slavery.

"I'd like to say this is part of our glorious history. Our history has got the good points in it, it's got the bad points in it, and it's got the ugly part in it," said Franklin resident Robert Fisher.

The marker was removed last week after the city manager found out groups planned to protest it. The city manager ordered it removed in the middle of the night after receiving a call from the assistant city manager about it. The protests were threatened after the attack in Charlottesville that left a woman dead and several people injured.

"When they heard that these people were going to come and besiege the town... We didn't need two groups clashing in Franklin," said Franklin city council member Paul Ruppert.

Doug Greathouse said he's attended every Franklin city council meeting for 10 years. He said the decision to move the marker was a mistake.

"I think that it was a rash decision and the proper answer should have been to have a public meeting to discuss it, determine what the facts are. There's a historical context in there that goes back to 1927," Greathouse said.

Franklin Twp. Trustees said Thursday night that they have the marker stored in an undisclosed location. It was believed the township owned the marker but trustees said it's unclear who owns it or the property where it sat for 90 years. Many more questions need to be answered before the marker can be reinstalled. Some residents have volunteered to host the marker on their property.

Justin Mays, a civil war re-enactor from Middletown, said he was concerned removing the monument was hiding a part of the country's history.

"Because it's a memorial people are getting upset about it and they need to learn the reason behind it," Mays said.

Several people attended the meeting to protest the return of the marker. Rachel Feltner, an African-American woman, grew up in Franklin and said she felt the marker should not be placed on the side of the road.

"I would prefer more of a museum situation where it can be viewed in an unbiased way where we can learn from it and we can have productive conversation," Feltner said.

The Daughters of the Confederacy, a benevolent organization, dedicated the marker in 1927 for Dixie Highway.