TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Then They Came for General Hooker…

Being in New England Massachusetts suffers from an acute shortage of Confederate monuments, giving activists little to do. However, creative ones will find a way, and you can always go after Union heroes. One Massachusetts lawmaker has a problem with General Joseph Hooker (a native son) because an entrance named in his honor insults “women’s dignity.”

[Lawmaker] Michelle DuBois says the sign is divorced from any historical context, which could be provided by simply adding Hooker’s first name.

“Some people say, “I’m not a general hooker, I’m an elite hooker. Where is the entrance for me?’ So these types of jokes … kind of bring in this whole other ickiness,” DuBois tells the State House News Service.

Like sharpshooter, the term “hooker” as a synonym for prostitute existed well before the general’s tenure, although there’s not much doubt that the general’s hard drinking and carousing with loose women gave it a boost. The red light district in Washington was often called “Hooker’s Division.”

But if his doorway goes, can his statue be far behind?

More here.


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