The Tennessee Historical Commission could decide in mid-February whether to move busts of Confederate Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and two Union admirals from the Capitol to the State Museum, but the outcome remains uncertain because of a pending dispute over state law.
Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton stand by an October letter contending the matter should go first to the State Building Commission – on which they serve – before the Tennessee Historical Commission takes it up. Their position hasn’t changed after they said the matter is wrongly before the Historical Commission based on the process set up in the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act.
But the Historical Commission is scheduled to move forward Feb. 18-19 with the request made by the Capitol Commission, which voted last fall to seek permission to move the busts of Forrest and Union Admirals David Farragut and Albert Gleaves to the State Museum from the Capitol’s second floor.
“We believe the Tennessee Historical Commission cannot properly hold an initial hearing on the petition for waiver until the required statutory action is taken by the State Building Commission,” the letter from McNally and Sexton said.
That letter came before the Historical Commission held an initial meeting on the question in October. Sexton said Wednesday he signed on to the letter after McNally drafted it.