Charles Francis Adams Memorial
Charles Francis Adams Memorial
Bronze memorial honoring Charles Francis Adams (1835–1915), a Union Army veteran and historian whose 1907 tribute to Robert E. Lee at Washington and Lee University became a famous symbol of reconciliation between the North and South.
Erected: June 14, 1916
Removed: Summer 2021
Originally Located In: Lee Chapel
Current Status: Unknown
Commissioned By: A group of Richmond gentlemen.
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Charles Francis Adams (1835–1915) was the grandson of John Quincy Adams and great-grandson of John Adams. He served as an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War and subsequently became a prominent figure in railroad administration, historical scholarship, and Massachusetts affairs. On January 19, 1907, Adams delivered the principal address at Washington and Lee University’s celebration of the centennial of Robert E. Lee’s birth. His tribute to his former adversary was widely admired and reproduced throughout the nation, and became an important expression of national reconciliation.
Following Adams’s death on March 20, 1915, a group of Richmond gentlemen led by Thomas S. Wheelwright commissioned a bronze memorial bearing his likeness, with the approval of Adams’s family and the University. The tablet was formally presented in Lee Chapel on June 14, 1916, during Washington and Lee’s commencement exercises. Henry Watkins Anderson, a Richmond attorney and Washington and Lee alumnus of 1898, delivered the presentation address, An American Citizen, praising Adams’s devotion to public service and his ability to transcend sectional divisions.
Adams’s daughter, Elsie Ogden Adams, unveiled the tablet in the presence of her mother, after which Rector William A. Anderson formally accepted it on behalf of the University. The inscription declared that it was “Presented by Southern Men in Appreciation of His Friendship for the South and His Noble Tribute to Robert Edward Lee.”
University officials removed the plaque alongside other memorials from the Chapel sanctuary in 2021.
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CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS
PRESENTED BY SOUTHERN MEN
IN APPRECIATION OF
HIS FRIENDSHIP FOR THE SOUTH
AND HIS NOBLE TRIBUTE TO
ROBERT EDWARD LEE. -
On June 4, 2021, the Washington and Lee University Board of Trustees announced plans to rename Lee Chapel and restore its auditorium to an “unadorned design,” physically separating it from the Lee family crypt and memorial sculpture. As part of these changes, university officials removed twenty historical plaques and memorials from the chapel sanctuary.
In a July 21, 2022, update, the university explained that the removed plaques and artifacts had been relocated to other exhibits or placed in temporary storage pending renovations. It further announced that “most of the other plaques will be moved to the galleries in the building or to the new institutional history museum, where they can be displayed with more historical context.” The university has not publicly announced plans for the reinstallation or exhibition of this particular memorial.
The university has not responded to recent TGR inquiries concerning the whereabouts and future exhibition of removed plaques. However, in September 2026 correspondence with The W&L Spectator, Museum Director Matt Davis stated: “Our storage facility is not open to the public, nor do we make a list of our collections inventory available to the public.” He further explained that “the size and weight of some of these artifacts are not conducive to public viewing.” Regarding their future exhibition, Davis wrote: “It is possible that some or all of these artifacts will eventually be incorporated into temporary or permanent exhibits once the new museum is open, and we hope to have online databases and viewing rooms in the future.”
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