Tennessee panel to vote on removing Forrest bust from state Capitol

FILE – In this Tuesday, June 9, 2020 file photo, A bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest is displayed in the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, Tenn. A required 4-month waiting period for the removal of a Nathan Bedford Forrest bust from the Tennessee Capitol building expired on Friday, July 9, 2021 but if and when it will be removed is still uncertain, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported. That’s because top Republican lawmakers say the removal request should have gone through the State Building Commission but didn’t.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

by: Associated Press

Posted: Jul 22, 2021 / 06:27 AM AST

Updated: Jul 22, 2021 / 06:27 AM AST

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — State officials are scheduled to take a key step in the effort to remove a bust of a Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader from the Tennessee Capitol.

The seven-member State Building Commission will vote Thursday on the removal of the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust, as well as the busts of two other Tennessee military leaders.

The Forrest bust was first installed at the Capitol in 1978 and has sparked protests and demonstrations ever since.

Earlier this year, Tennessee’s Historical Commission voted 25-1 to move the three busts just north of the Capitol building to the state’s museum, noting it was better equipped to furnish the appropriate historical context.