Thomas Jefferson Religious Freedom Monument - Fredericksburg VA
N 38° 18.360 W 077° 28.108
18S E 284163 N 4242650
A monument commemorates Thomas Jefferson's drafting of the Statute of Religious Freedom that became the 1st Amendment of the Constitution.
Waymark Code: WMBD2N
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 05/08/2011
Views: 15
In January 1777, Thomas Jefferson met with his advisory committee which included George Mason, Edmond Pendleton, George Wythe and Thomas Ludwell Lee in Fredericksburg, Virginia to draft the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom. It established the right of every man and woman to their own religious beliefs and opinions. Nine years later, it was passed by the General Assembly in Richmond to become the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom. This statute was eventually incorporated into the Constitution as the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.
In 1932, the Fredericksburg City Council commissioned St. Clair Brooks, a stonemason, to erect a monument commemorating Jefferson's bill. It was originally installed on George St., but in 1977, it was moved to its present location on Washington Ave. near Kenmore.
The Virginia Statue of Religious Freedom was one of Jefferson's proudest achievements, the others being the Declaration of Independence and the University of Virginia. The Religious Freedom monument is the third-oldest memorial to the statute he drafted; the older two memorials are inscribed on his original tombstone at the University of Missouri and his replacement tombstone at Monticello.
The stone column bears two bronze plaques on each side:
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
FROM A MEETING IN FREDERICKSBURG,
JANUARY 13 -17, 1777,
OF A COMMITTEE OF REVISORS
APPOINTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF VIRGINIA, COMPOSED OF THOMAS
JEFFERSON, GEORGE MASON, EDMUND
PENDLETON, GEORGE WYTHE, AND THOMAS
LUDWELL LEE TO "SETTLE THE PLAN OF
OPERATION AND TO DISTRIBUTE THE
WORK"- EVOLVED
THE STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
AUTHORED BY
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
IN THIS DOCUMENT
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
MADE PROBABLY ITS GREATEST
CONTRIBUTION TO
GOVERNMENT RECOGNITION OF
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.
Opposite side:
THIS MEMORIAL
MARKS THE SITE OF A CELEBRATION,
ON OCTOBER 16,1932,
BY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
LEADING RELIGIOUS FAITHS IN
AMERICA, COMMEMORATIVE OF THE
RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF
GEORGE WASHINGTON,
WHOSE BOYHOOD HOME TOWN WAS
FREDERICKSBURG;
AND OF THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH
AND STATE, AS THE VIRGINIA
"BILL FOR ESTABLISHING
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM"
WAS OUTLINED BY A COMMITTEE
CONSISTING OF
THOMAS JEFFERSON, GEORGE MASON,
EDMUND PENDLETON, GEORGE WYTHE
AND THOMAS LUDWELL LEE
WHICH MET IN THIS CITY ON
JANUARY 13, 1777
-----
ERECTED BY THE STATE COMMISSION ON CONSERVATION
AND DEVELOPMENT
1932
There are two smaller memorial plaques that were subsequently installed later on the ground near the base at each side:
PLACED HERE BY THE RAPPAHANNOCK ASSEMBLY,
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS,
IN HONOR OF
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND THE 225TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE DRAFTING BY THOMAS JEFFERSON
OF THE STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FOR VIRGINIA
JANUARY 13, 2002
The Knights of Columbus have celebrated the anniversary every year since 1974.
Opposite side:
IN MEMORY AND APPRECIATION
OF
DR. KURT F. LEIDECKER
(1902 - 1991)
FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR
OF
THE THOMAS JEFFERSON INSTITUTE
FOR THE
STUDY OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
AND
BY WHOSE EFFORTS
THIS MONUMENT WAS RELOCATED TO THIS SITE
Dr. Leidecker of Mary Washington College was instrumental in convincing the City Council in moving the monument to its current location in the 1970s.
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