NJ wants to swap a century-old Civil War statue in D.C. Kearny isn't happy about it

The potential relocation of a statue of a Civil War hero has ignited a battle between the town of Kearny and the state of New Jersey.

Trenton lawmakers want to gift a statue of Alice Paul, a women’s rights champion born in Mount Laurel, to the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall Collection. The plan would see Paul’s statue replace one of Philip Kearny, a general who died fighting for the Union at the Second Battle of Bull Run.

Kearny Mayor Al Santos, whose Hudson County town was named after the Civil War general, said he’s stunned by the proposed statue swap, while a longtime Kearny historian says the general's contribution to the Union effort was too significant for New Jersey to consider replacing his statue.

“Without Philip Kearny, you might not be living in the United States of today,” said the historian, Bill Styple. “The outcome of the war could have been different.”

The push for a Paul statue comes as the nation reevaluates the types of historical figures who should be honored with public monuments, with controversies largely centering around statues of Confederate generals. There is also a push to include more women in the Capitol’s National Statuary Hall Collection, which includes 100 statues, two from every state. Nine are statues of women.

The New Jersey bill, S-1369, would ask a Congressional committee to approve replacing the bronze Kearny statue with one of Paul. New Jersey’s other statue in the collection is a marble one of Richard Stockton. Both were given to the U.S. Capitol in 1888.

Santos, a Democrat, said he's concerned that the public has not been consulted about the proposed change. He also said he worries about the implications of state lawmakers appearing to favor one historical figure over another.

“Is someone who fought for the Union and preserving the Union less important than someone who fought for women’s rights?” Santos said. “That kind of pitting one kind of historical figure against one another winds up pitting groups against one another. And I don’t think that’s the way history should be treated.”

Assemblywoman Carol Murphy, D-Burlington, is driving the bill. Murphy acknowledges that Gen. Kearny is an important figure, but said his and Stockton's statues have been in the Capitol for over 100 years and it's time for someone like Paul to be honored.

"A woman needs to represent New Jersey," she said.

The Kearny statue won't be destroyed, noted state Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-Middlesex. It can be brought back to New Jersey to be displayed in a prominent place, she said.

“It’s not a matter of wanting to dishonor Gen. Kearny as much as it is to honor Alice Paul and to do an appropriate way to do it," Greenstein said.

Kearny and Paul

Styple is a Gen. Kearny expert who in 1988 wrote "Letters from the Peninsula the Civil War Letters of General Philip Kearny." The general, who lost his left arm fighting in the Mexican-American war, signed up to fight again when the Civil War broke out because he was so outraged by slavery, according to Styple.

"He felt that slavery was a stain on the American flag and that the southern Confederacy must be defeated," Styple said.

When a statue of Kearny, killed in battle in 1862, was unveiled in Newark's Military Park in 1880, Gens. Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, and George Mclellan all attended.

Paul was born five years later. She began fighting for women's suffrage in 1910, a decade before the ratification of the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. She formed the National Women's Party in 1916 and wrote the Equal Rights Amendment in 1923.

NJ news: New NJ Transit board members urged by Weinberg to 'stand up publicly' for commuters

For subscribers: Former employee alleges Bergen One-Stop Career Center has 'dangerous,' racist atmosphere

Anti-Defamation League: Reports of white supremacist propaganda tripled in New Jersey last year

“Women worked long and hard to make democracy accessible to all Americans and that feels like something worthy of celebration,” said Lucienne Beard, executive director of the Alice Paul Institute. “New Jersey should be proud of her and of having a daughter that did something like that on the national stage.”

Beard, a Civil War buff, said she knows the important role Gen. Kearny played in defeating the Confederacy. But it's vital to showcase the role women have played in the nation's history, Beard said.

Onto the Assembly

The state Senate introduced S-1369 on Monday and then approved it 28-5, with seven members abstaining. Greenstein said it was fast-tracked to nearly coincide with the anniversary of New Jersey's ratification of the 19th Amendment, on Feb. 9, 1920. The measure would need approval by the General Assembly before heading to Gov. Phil Murphy for his signature. A vote in the Assembly will not come before March, according to a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin.

State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio, R-Morris, was one of the five no votes. Pennacchio said it's "crazy" that the Legislature would consider removing a statue of a Union soldier who gave his life fighting the confederacy.

"We're going to discard him because he's not the flavor of the month?" he said. "Nothing against Alice Paul, she was a very nice lady. Find another way to honor her."

Asked to respond to that, Beard said, “I think it’s a shame we have to look at something like 51% of the population getting the vote as a flavor-of-the-month topic.”

Congress authorized creating the National Statuary Hall Collection in 1864. The first statue of a woman was unveiled in 1905, of Illinois' Frances Willard.

States were not allowed to replace statues until a federal law was enacted in 2000. Since then, several states have mulled replacing statues of men with those of women. Alabama added one of Helen Keller in 2009 to replace a statue of Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry, a Confederate officer.

Florida legislators in 2016 approved replacing one of their statuary hall pieces — honoring Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith — with a monument to black civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune, with the switch expected to occur this year. California in 2015 approved a now-shelved bid to replace one of its statues, of the Rev. Junipero Serra, with one of Sally Ride. And Kansas has spent 20 years planning to replace a statue of the late Sen. John James Ingalls with one of Amelia Earhart. The Architect of the Capitol, which oversees the hall, hasn't approved the Earhart statue's pedestal, according to Roll Call.

Besides thinking New Jersey's statue of Kearny should remain, Styple has another grip with S-1369: it misspells the general's name as Kearney.

“Philip Kearny was known to toss away mail if it was spelled incorrectly,” he said. “He said, my friends know how to spell my name.”

Terrence T. McDonald is a reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: mcdonaldt@northjersey.com Twitter: @terrencemcd