The Connecticut Mirror published a Viewpoint by William Hosley on Dec. 18, regarding the removal of Trinity College’s U.S.S. Hartford cannons stationed on the main quad.
Hosley, who is not a Trinity alumnus, noted that he “read” that the Trinity student government “is advocating for the removal of” the aforementioned cannons. While I agree with Mr. Hosley’s sentiment that removing Union artifacts from campus would be working against the spirit of historical preservation and remove Trinity’s connection with the Union, Mr. Hosley is ultimately incorrect in the foundation of his Viewpoint.
[Read William Hosley’s Viewpoint here]
The Student Government Association (SGA) is in no way advocating for the removal of these cannons. They are only advocating for the removal and potential rehoming of the plaque of the northern cannon which reads: “In memory of the Trinity men who fought for the principles in which they believed with the Union and Confederate forces in the Civil War and of those who gave ‘the last full measure of devotion.’”
The SGA resolution, recently sent to the student body by its president, reads: “THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Student Government Association of Trinity College calls upon the Trinity College administration to remove the plaques affixed to the cannons on the main quad.”
Although the resolution does include the plural “plaques,” it does not refer to the removal of the cannons in any way. I am not sure if Mr. Hosley did not have access to this resolution as it was sent only to the Trinity student body of which he is not a member, but wherever he “read” that the SGA was advocating for the removal of the cannons was mistaken. The SGA president did mention in his email that the cannons have been a source of contention, but did not advocate for their removal.
Trinity’s SGA wishes to remove the northern cannon’s plaque because actively honoring Confederate veterans is abhorrently racist.
I am not a part of the SGA, but, as a Trinity student and a history major, I am absolutely for the removal of the northern plaque. Walking past a Confederate memorial every day on a campus that claims to care for its marginalized students is extraordinarily painful. I have watched children play on those cannons several times and wondered to myself why we, as an academic setting, are allowing words that are so egregiously racist to continue to stand and teach our children, particularly considering Trinity’s history as a “safe space” for southern students who were not abolitionists.
As Mr. Hosley said, colleges and universities absolutely should “present a plurality of views on contentious religious, racial, and political questions.” However, that does not mean permitting such deeply racist roots to remain without question.
A Confederate memorial has no place on a college campus or on a Union artifact. To quote Mr. Hosley, to “become the more perfect and inclusive union the founders intended,” we do not have to honor those who fought for the continued implementation of the barbaric practice of slavery. Many of the founders themselves were slave owners — should our modern society be following the racial future imagined by those who viewed Black Americans to be less than human?
As a Trinity student invested in the preservation of history and its virtues, I believe that the northern plaque should be removed and entrusted to the care of the Watkinson Library. We, as a campus community, have a responsibility to preserve our history in a way that does not harm or threaten our students of color.
Savannah Brooks is majoring in history at Trinity College.
