The Lake County Florida Board of County Commissioners has voted to support the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Lake County Historical Society in their quest to install the statue of Confederate general Edmond Kirby Smith on public property in Lake County Florida.

Locating the statue in Tavares is an ill-considered idea for multiple reasons:

• The statue is irrelevant to Lake’s history. Lake County was created in 1887 — 22 years after the Civil War.

• Gen. Smith was born in St. Augustine and left Florida when he was 12. He is buried in Tennessee along with his family, and he never visited this area.

• All other Florida communities and museums — including St. Augustine (Smith's birthplace) — were offered the statue for free and have refused. They have some pretty good and obvious reasons. Lake County should take heed.

• Proposing to house the Smith statue, memorialized in his confederate regalia, in the same building that served as headquarters for the infamous racist Sheriff Willis McCall, transcends insensitivity.

• If Lake accepts this Jim-Crow-era artifact, it will make national news. We will look foolish and backward — and that is never good for business, for community cohesion and for Lake County’s civic reputation.

We request that:

1.  Lake County withdraw their support of this museum project.  The application was submitted to the state at the request of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. This organization only gives full membership to men who can prove a direct relationship to Confederate Army veterans.  This organization does not represent the diversity of our community.

2.  Governor Ron DeSantis should withdraw the long-term loan of the statue to the Lake County Historical Society.  The statue should be displayed in the Florida Museum of History, "Florida in the Civil War" permanent display.

3.  If the Museum moves forward with the statue installation we request that the Lake County government cease all taxpayer funding in support of the museum.   The Lease agreement with the Museum allows for cancellation with a six month notice.

Please support our efforts at our GoFundMe page.  We have a lot of work to do and the fight is not over.  LCVOR GoFundMe Page