LOUISVILLE, KY. — After years of debate and countless episodes of vandalism, the John Breckinridge Castleman statue is being moved.

What You Need To Know


  • Castleman statue removed

  • Going to storage and hopefully Cave Hill Cemetery

  • Friends of Louisvlle Pubic Art will appeal court decision

  • Debate over statue has lasted more than two years

Crews began dismantling the monument Monday morning at its Cherokee Triangle location after a Jefferson Circuit Court judge ruled Friday that the city could do it.

The statue is heading to a city storage facility for cleaning and will hopefully move to Cave Hill Cemetery where Castleman is buried. Cave Hill and the city are negotiating the move. 

In 2018, the Public Art and Monuments Advisory Committee created guidelines for evaluating existing and future public art and monuments in the city. In August of that year, Mayor Greg Fischer (D-Louisville) announced moving the Castleman statue as well as one of George Dennison Prentice.

The Mayor said at the time that, “We all agree with the report’s finding that our city must not maintain statues that serve as validating symbols for racist or bigoted ideology – that’s why we relocated the Confederate statue near the University of Louisville” in 2016. 

And, “While Castleman was honored for contributions to the community, it cannot be ignored that he also fought to continue the horrific and brutal slavery of men, women, and children; heralded that part of his life in his autobiography; and had his coffin draped with both a U.S. and Confederate flag,” he said. “And while Prentice was founder and long-time editor of the Louisville Journal newspaper, he used that platform to advocate an anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant message that led to the 1855 Bloody Monday riot where 22 people were killed.”

The Prentice statue was put in storage in December 2018. The city couldn't move the Castleman monument because it needed a Certificate of Appropriateness because it was located in the Cherokee Triangle Preservation District and the Architectural Review Committee denied the certificate in January 2019. The city appealed the decision to the Landmarks Commission which approved the monument's move in May 2019. The Friends of Louisville Public Art appealed the decision to Jefferson Circuit Court, which denied the appeal clearing the way for Monday's move. 

Today, the Mayor said moving the Castleman statue sends an important message. “But the events of the past weeks have shown clearly that it’s not enough just to face our history – we’ve got to address its impact on our present. Too many people are suffering today because the promises of justice and equality enshrined in our Constitution are unfulfilled by a society that devalues African-American lives and denies African Americans justice, opportunity, and equity. That’s got to change. People want and deserve action. We need a transformation.” 

Attorney Stephen Porter represents The Friends of Louisville Public Art and he says the group will once again appeal today's decision.

"The Circuit Court failed to consider the major points of law contained in our original complaint and we will ask the Court to reconsider. Failing that, my clients then have a thirty-day period to file an appeal to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Louisville Metro has no right to remove the Castleman statue until all court processes are exhausted."

Castleman Statue


There hasn't been a decision about how the Cherokee Triangle site might be used after the statue is gone. Metro's Public Art Administrator, Sarah Lindgren says any new art or monument proposal would be reviewed through the city's public art guidelines.