When several preservation groups filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month challenging a decision to remove four Confederate monuments in New Orleans, among those joining the plaintiffs was Baton Rouge-based Foundation for Historical Louisiana.
FHL Board President Mark Upton declines to discuss the suit pending a Jan. 14 hearing on a temporary restraining order. But court documents explain the reason for the local group’s involvement in the controversial decision.
“FHL is a non-partisan organization with members from across the state,” the lawsuit reads. “The Foundation’s focus is not parochial; it champions historic preservation projects throughout the region.”
FHL joined the Monumental Task Committee, the Louisiana Landmarks Society and a chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in filing the suit Dec. 18, hours after the New Orleans City Council voted 6-1 to remove the monuments. Notably absent from the list of plaintiffs was New Orleans’ own Preservation Resource Center, which often takes positions on issues before the City Council. It is unclear why the PRC decided against joining the suit.
FHL, however, chose to jump into the fray because “its individual members have a recognized interest in the aesthetic and cultural well being in the city of New Orleans, and in the preservation and maintenance of the four monuments at issue in this litigation,” court documents say.
The lawsuit claims removal of the monuments violates the plaintiffs’ First Amendment right to free expression, “which they exercise by maintaining and preserving the historic character and nature of the city of New Orleans, including their monuments.”
FHL was founded in 1963 to foster an appreciation of Louisiana’s rich cultural heritage, and to preserve and protect historic buildings, site and other structures threatened by neglect, abandonment and development.
—Stephanie Riegel
