To preserve a piece of New Hampshire’s history, sponsors of the historical marker dedicated to Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a labor activist affiliated with the Communist party, are rallying for its return in Concord.

At Monday’s meeting of the Historical Resources Council, Arnie Alpert and Mary Lee Sargent – the two people who proposed the marker – expressed their disappointment at the removal and concerns about procedural oversights in the decision-making process.

“It was removed arbitrarily, unilaterally and clandestinely, in violation of department policies without consulting this body as is required,” said Sargent wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the image of the Gurley Flynn marker. “It was removed for ideological reasons and for political reasons, based on reasoning coming from an executive counselor that rehashes outmoded, Cold War thought, reflecting sentiments from 1953 and not 2023.”

The state removed Gurley Flynn’s historical marker at the corner of Court and Montgomery Streets in Concord just two weeks after it was unveiled once it caught the attention of two Republican Executive Councilors and Governor Chris Sununu.

The state’s historical highway marker program policy states that the Division of Historical Resources can retire a historical marker after consultation with the historical resources council. Gurley Flynn’s marker was removed without consulting the advisory opinion of the council, which meets quarterly.

Council member James Garvin agreed that the panel should have discussed the retirement of the marker and provided appropriate documentation before action on the marker was taken.

“There’s no policy for arbitrary removal of a marker, so we have to go through the normal procedures for the staff to recommend retirement, which the staff has not done,” Garvin said. “The staff is supposed to do that and for good reasons that are spelled out in the policy.”

According to the policy, factual inaccuracies, damage to the marker, or the need for refurbishment are the criteria listed for retiring historical markers.

“The historical marker program is grounded in scholarship and interpretation, that’s a distinction from being grounded in political ideology,” said Alpert before taking his seat to hold a poster of the controversial marker. “The purpose of the markers is to educate the public about New Hampshire’s history.”

Alpert also said the criteria for calls for markers to identify any significant impact made by a person, place, or organization.

The council assured to treat the matter as a serious issue and hold a special meeting to determine the best course of action.

However, discussions arose about whether installing the marker on private property or an alternate location would be acceptable to those advocating for its return. The marker had been initially placed on state-owned property near the Merrimack County Superior Court, near where Gurley Flynn was born.

There were concerns raised about the marker’s permanence if placed on private property.

“I think the guidelines process exists now and shouldn’t be pursued to the bitter end, but the better end,” said Jim McConaha, a former director of the State Historic Preservation Office. “But as far as a proper place for this marker is where it was approved.”

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