Overview

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on August 6 that Moses Ezekiel’s Reconciliation Monument will return to Arlington National Cemetery in the coming weeks.
• The 1914 sculpture was removed in December 2023 following a commission’s finding that it was “problematic” and has since been held in a secure Department of Defense facility in Virginia.
• Originally commissioned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and unveiled under President Woodrow Wilson, the bronze memorial features Confederate symbols and stands near Ezekiel’s burial site.
• This reinstatement follows related decisions by federal officials to restore other Confederate-linked monuments, including an Albert Pike statue near the U.S. Capitol.
• The move underscores ongoing shifts in policy driven by independent and congressional reviews over the display of Confederate memorials on military lands.