Civil War Museum Says It’s Closing Because County Asked Them to Remove Confederate Flags

A Georgia Civil War museum is closing its doors after the county asked it to remove a Confederate Flag from public land in front of the building.

The Nash Farm Battlefield Museum alleged in a May 23 Facebook post that Henry County Commissioner Dee Clemmons asked the staff to remove all Confederate flags from within the museum and gift shop, and that its main volunteer and donor decided to take his relics off display in response. Clemmons told a local Fox affiliate that she asked the museum to remove the flag from out front, but said she had no issue with the flags on display inside the museum.

“To exclude any Confederate flag would mean the historical value has been taken from our exhibits, and a fair interpretation could not be presented to each guest,” the Board of Friends of Nash Farm Battlefield, Inc. said in the statement. “Confederate flags were on this hallowed ground, as were the Union flags. To remove either of them would be a dishonor.”

A Henry County Commissioner Spokesperson reiterated to a local CBS affiliate, however, that the county did not ask the museum to remove the flags.

“The county has not asked them to take down anything or to leave the museum.,” she said to CBS46. “That was something they did voluntarily.”

The museum resides on the Nash Farm Battle Field Park, a Civil War battlefield that serves as a Nash County Park.