The high cost of curating history’s dustbin
BY RICHARD FAUSSET
New York Times
COLUMBIA After decades of debate in South Carolina over the Confederate battle flag, it seemed the matter had been settled in July, when state officials stopped flying the flag on State House grounds and relegated it to a museum for “appropriate display” ...
This month, consultants for the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum here introduced a $5.3 million plan to expand the facility and show off the flag, along with an electronic display of the names of the state’s Civil War dead ...
Last week, the commission that oversees the museum reduced the cost to $3.6 million ...
A state law puts the power to make such changes exclusively in the hands of the Legislature. But soon after the flag vote in July, Rep. Jay Lucas, the House speaker, determined that the best way to manage history’s dustbin, at least for the time being, was to keep the lid sealed tight. In a statement, Lucas said the House would “not engage in or debate the specifics of public monuments, memorials, state buildings, road names or any other historical markers.”
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/state/article51704950.html
