Source: Confederate Monument, Oxford NC
Granville County Confederate Monument, Oxford
A bronze statue of a Confederate soldier standing ready is placed atop a stepped granite base and a square pedestal. The monument is thirty-four feet tall, with the statue being seven feet. The soldier is pictured in the ready position to indicate that he is prepared for battle. Two Confederate flags, crossed, are engraved on the middle section of the pedestal. Its dedication was in September of 1904.
Images: Removal of the monument on June 23, 2020
On the base: TO OUR CONFEDERATE DEAD / 1861-1865
On the die: GRANVILLE GRAYS/ CHAPTER / U.D.C.
On the plinth: C.S.A.
Granville County
October 30, 1909
36.309720 , -78.587950
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"Granville County Confederate Memorial," Waymarking.com, (accessed September 1, 2017) Link
"Granville County Court House, Oxford, N.C.," in Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards (P077), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, (accessed December 12, 2012) Link
"Section of Business District, Showing Confederate Monument, Oxford, NC," in Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards (P077), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, (accessed December 12, 2012) Link
Confederate Veteran, 18 (1910), p. 109. Link
Alderman, Derek H. and Owen J. Dwyer. "A Primer on the Geography of Memory: The Site and Situation of Commemorative Landscapes," from “Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina”, http://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/, (accessed May 16, 2012) Link
Conn, Edward L. "Confederate Monument Dedication," (Oxford, NC: Orphanage Press) Link
NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “1970 Oxford Murder Sparked Violent Protests,” ncdcr.gov, (accessed July 22, 2020) Link
Pinnix, Frank M. Corner Stone of Confederate Monument Laid May 10, 1909, with Impressive Ceremony, (Oxford, NC: Orphanage Press, 1909), (accessed May 18, 2012) Link
United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division. Minutes of the Tenth Annual Convention of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division, Held at Durham, N.C., October 10th, 11th and 12th 1906, (Newton, NC: Enterprise Job Print., 1907), 81, (accessed May 23, 2012) Link
“Granville County Confederate Monument Removed Following ‘Credible Threat,” CBS17.com, (Raleigh, NC), June 24, 2020, (accessed July 22, 2020) Link
“List of Granville County Patriots of the Revolution,” Oxford Public Ledger (Oxford, NC), June 8, 1926
Yes
Warren County granite base, bronze statue
Granville Grays Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
$3,000
Governor Kitchin gave the dedication speak, noted as "strong and patriotic" by the Confederate Veteran, and the monument was accepted by Major Dennis Brummit. A large number of visitors attended, and the festivities included a parade, music, and dinner.
Following the massacre of nine African Americans in a church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015 by white supremacist Dylann Roof, Americans, especially southerners, have reflected on and argued over the historical legacy of slavery, the Civil War, the Confederacy, and white supremacy. Monuments have been a particular focus of these debates and controversies, especially after the death of a counter-protester, Heather Heyer, at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017 and after President Donald Trump expressed his opposition to the removal of Confederate memorials. Despite laws in many southern states intended to prevent or impede the removal or relocation of historical monuments, protesters and local community leaders have removed or relocated controversial monuments associated with slavery, the Confederacy, and white supremacy. The pace of the removal of controversial monuments accelerated sharply in 2020, following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Against the backdrop of protests against police brutality and white supremacy across the nation, local authorities in many communities in North Carolina removed and/or relocated monuments that were the focus of civil unrest.
On June 22, 2020, the Granville County Board of Commissioners signed an order of removal for the Granville County Confederate Monument after receiving a credible threat that the memorial would be “forcibly removed,” according to a county press release. “Given that such action may lead to violent protests and counter-protests and destruction of property, the Board has ordered its removal from its current location to protect the health and safety of the public and their property,” the Board said. The following day the monument was taken down and placed in storage until a new location could be determined.
This is not the first time that the monument becomes a particular focus of controversies.
Oxford was roiled by violent protest in 1970 following the murder of Henry Marrow, a 23 year-old African American Vietnam veteran. He was beaten and fatally shot after at an encounter at Robert Teel’s store. The murder served to unite the African American community long outraged by racial oppression. During the turmoil that followed several local businesses were destroyed to include Teel’s store. After Marrow’s funeral a civil rights protest was held in front of the Confederate Monument. As part of a compromise to help quell the unrest it was agreed that the Granville County Confederate Monument would be moved from in front of the courthouse. It was then placed a short distance away in front of the Richard Thornton Library.
After being removed on June 23, 2020 from its location in front of the Richard Thornton Library (210 Main St, Oxford, NC 27565), the monument was stored by Granville County in an undisclosed location.
At its original 1909 location, the monument faced outward from the courthouse toward Main Street. It was also the tallest structure in the area at the time, allowing it to occupy a place of great importance and honor in Oxford. As part of a compromise following race riots in 1970, the monument was moved in 1971 to the Richard Thornton Library, 210 Main St, Oxford, NC 27565. The monument stood on the front lawn covered with grass and greenery. It was nearby the Granville County Revolutionary War Monument located at the intersection of Main Street and Spring Street, Oxford, NC.
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