This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine on Wednesday introduced a bill to redesignate the site known as “Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial” at Arlington National Cemetery to simply the “Arlington House National Historic Site.”
Companion legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, Va.-8th District.
The legislation, Kaine’s office told InsideNoVa, would repeal statutes memorializing Lee dating back to 1955, when Congress renamed the memorial the “Custis-Lee Mansion” from its original title of “Arlington House.”
“The names of our national sites hold significance and should honor individuals whom we can all look up to,” Kaine said in a news release. “That’s why I’m introducing this legislation to remove Robert E. Lee’s name from Arlington House. During Black History Month, we recommit to restoring the original name to better tell the whole history of the house and reflect our nation’s values.”
Overseen by the National Park Service, the mansion is on federal land within the U.S. Army portion of Arlington National Cemetery. It was built by George Washington Park Custis, grandson of Martha Custis Washington – the nation’s original first lady – as the first memorial to George Washington.
Custis’ daughter later married Gen. Robert E. Lee and lived in the home until the Civil War, at which time the site was selected as a national military cemetery.
Kaine’s legislation comes at the behest of descendants of people who were enslaved at Arlington House.
According to the National Parks Service, “Arlington House is the nation’s memorial to Robert E. Lee. It honors him for specific reasons, including his role in promoting peace and reunion after the Civil War. In a larger sense it exists as a place of study and contemplation of the meaning of some of the most difficult aspects of American history: military service; sacrifice; citizenship; duty; loyalty; slavery and freedom.”
