Confederate Monument, UNC (Chapel Hill)
The monument depicts a Confederate soldier facing north while grasping his rifle firmly in both hands. He lacks a cartridge box for ammunition. On the front of the monument a brass plaque depicts a woman clad in classical dress, representing North Carolina, resting her hand on the shoulder of a seated student, convincing him to take up arms.
Images: Plaque Image |
Left Inscription |
Right Inscription
Left: ERECTED UNDER THE AUSPICES / OF THE / NORTH CAROLINA DIVISION / OF THE UNITED DAUGHTERS OF / THE CONFEDERACY / AIDED BY THE ALUMNI OF / THE UNIVERSITY
Right: TO THE SONS OF THE UNIVERSITY / WHO ENTERED THE WAR OF 1861 – 65 / IN ANSWER TO THE CALL OF THEIR / COUNTRY AND WHOSE LIVES / TAUGHT THE LESSON OF / THEIR GREAT COMMANDER THAT / DUTY IS THE SUBLIMEST WORD / IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
June 2, 1913
35.913610 , -79.052110
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"'Silent Sam' A Yankee," Carolina Alumni Review (January 1975), 6, (accessed January 20, 2013) Link
"A Guide to Resources about UNC's Confederate Monument," developed by the University Archives at UNC Chapel Hill, 2016, (accessed October 5, 2017) Link
"As Time Goes By Sam Seems to Get Noisier," Carolina Alumni Review (November/December 2011), 10, (accessed January 20, 2013) Link
"Breaking the Silence About Sam," Carolina Alumni Review (May/June 2000), 14, (accessed January 20, 2013) Link
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"Confederate Soldiers' Monument, University of NC, Chapel Hill," in Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards (P077), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, (accessed December 12, 2012) Link
"Graffiti on 'Silent Sam'" in the Hugh Morton Collection of Photographs and Films (P081), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Link
"L.A. Verdict, BCC Issue Stir Campus Concern," Carolina Alumni Review (Summer 1992), 29, (accessed January 20, 2013) Link
"Photograph Album 0011: The Squirrel Hunter (Silent Sam Confederate Monument), January 1927: Scan 3," in the John Moran Frohock Photographic Collection (P0042), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, (accessed January 15, 2013) Link
"Silent Sam's on Sabbatical," Carolina Alumni Review (Summer 1986), 2, (accessed January 20, 2013) Link
"Silent Sam," North Carolina Public Radio, WUNC 91.5, www.wunc.org, (accessed July 14, 2020) Link
"Soldiers' Monument. Chapel Hill, N.C.," in Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards (P077), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, (accessed September 12, 2013) Link
"Spring Cleaning for 'Sam'," The University Report 28:3 (May 1981), C1, (accessed January 20, 2013) Link
"The Confederate Soldier," University of North Carolina Alumni Review (December 1967), C2, (accessed January 20, 2013) Link
"The Soldiers' Monument Unveiled." University of North Carolina Alumni Review, Vol. 1:6 (June, 1913), 184-185, (accessed January 14, 2013) Link
"UNC Student Life," in the Hugh Morton Collection of Photographs and Films (P081), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Link
"UNC-Chapel Hill student life, 1939-1942," in the Hugh Morton Collection of Photographs and Films (P081), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, (accessed November 19, 2012) Link
"Unveiling of the Confederate Monument, June 2, 1913" in Orange County, North Carolina Postcard Collection (P052), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill Link
Aronson, Isaac-Davy and Frank Stasio. "Controversial Silent Sam Monument Turns 100," wunc.org, (accessed August 27, 2013) Link
Carr, Julian Shakespeare. Dedication Speech in Folder 26 in the Julian Shakespeare Carr Papers #141, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, see Scans 93-112 Link
Chapman, John K. "Black freedom and the University of North Carolina, 1793-1960." PhD diss., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006 Link
Deconto, Jesse James and Alan Blinder. "‘Silent Sam’ Confederate Statue Is Toppled at University of North Carolina," New York Times (New York, NY), August 21, 2018, (accessed August 24, 2018) Link
Guthrie, Brooke and Sarah Carrier. "A Guide to Researching Campus Monuments and Buildings: 'Silent Sam' Confederate Monument," UNC University Libraries, (accessed October 5, 2017) Link
Hartley, Taylor. "Real Silent Sam movement holds protest focused on statue’s history," The Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, NC), September 20, 2011, (accessed January 14, 2013) Link
Hemmer, Nicole. "The toppling of a Confederate statue shows students' strength," CNN, edition.cnn.com, August 22, 2018, (accessed August 24, 2018) Link
Letters in the University of North Carolina Papers #40005, University Archives, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, see folders 920, 921, 922, 923, 942, 964, 965, 966, 967, 970, 971, 972, 973, 974, 975, 976, 977, 978, 980, 981, 982 ,984, 985, 986, 987, 988, 989, (accessed January 14, 2013) Link
London, Bettie Jackson. "Speech Made to the Trustees of the University of North Carolina to Present 'This Monument which is Erected in Memory of Those Students of this University who Served the Armies of the Confederate States of America.'" (1913), (accessed May 22, 2012) Link
London, H.A. [Mrs.]. “To Be Erected at Chapel Hill,” Raleigh News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), March 14, 1911, 1 Link
Oral History Interview with Conrad Odell Pearson, April 18, 1979. Interview H-0218. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Published by Documenting the American South, (accessed January 14, 2013) Link
Photos from September 1, 2011 Demonstration: Re-Reading Julian Carr's 1913 Dedication Day Speech, | "Who is Silent?" A Poem About Silent Sam, | Image of Crowd, | Image of Crowd, | A new "plaque" awaits unveiling, | Crowd before unveiling of new "Plaque," | Side view of Statue before unveiling, | The new "plaque" unveiled, | Close up of new "plaque", | After the demonstration
The Department of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "The History Department's Statement on the Confederate Memorial at UNC (aka 'Silent Sam' Statue)," (accessed August 24, 2018) Link
Tollerton, David. "The Legend of Silent Sam," Carolina Alumni Review (Summer 1992), 67, (accessed January 20, 2013) Link
United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division. Minutes of the Fourteenth Annual Convention of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division, Held at Rocky Mount N.C., October 12th, 13th, 14th 1910, [Raleigh, NC: Capital Printing Co., 1910], 25, 66, 108, (accessed September 3, 2012) Link
Yes
North Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and University of North Carolina Alumni
$7,500
Julian Carr spoke at the dedication of the monument in 1913. His speech recounted the heroic efforts of the men the monument honored as well as the women on the home front. The speech also spoke to the racialized nature of the commemoration as Carr tells this story: “100 yards from where we stand, less than 90 days perhaps after my return from Appomattox, I horse-whipped a negro wench, until her skirts hung in shreds, because upon the streets of this quiet village she had publicly insulted and maligned a Southern lady.”
Silent Sam, originally brought about due to the statue's lack of ammunition which would cause him to be unable to fire his weapon.
Following a white supremacy rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017, during which a counter-protestor was killed by a white supremacist, activists began a sustained campaign for the removal of the Confederate Memorial from public display on the university campus. The protests included extended vigils at the monument, campaigns to raise public awareness about the monuments’ origins, and public calls for its removal. While Gov. Roy Cooper publicly endorsed removing the monument, university leaders insisted that the 2015 Heritage Protection Act prevented the university from removing the monument without legislative approval. Throughout the academic year of 2017-2018 the monument remained the focus of protest, but no meaningful steps, other than a few public forums, were taken to reinterpret the monument or to petition the legislature for its removal. On the evening of August 20, 2018, an estimated 250 protesters gathered around the monument, and, despite the presence of campus police, the statue was pulled down from its base at around 9:20 PM. The monument subsequently was moved to an undisclosed location by campus authorities. The future disposition of the monument remains unclear. As of February 2020, the UNC System Board of Governors did not make any immediate decisions on what to do with the Silent Sam monument, while waiting for the Sons of Confederate Veterans to return the Silent Sam statue to the University of North Carolina. UNC System Interim President Bill Roper said he will seek a "lasting, legal solution" for the future of the statue torn down by protesters, but that it will not return to its former location at UNC Chapel Hill. "It will not go back on campus," Roper told reporters on February 21, 2020.
The monument stood at the center of McCorkle place on the UNC Campus, Chapel Hill, NC. The statue faced north as if to defend the Confederate South from the armies of the United States.
It was surrounded by campus buildings as well as a number of other monuments.
The monument stood at the center of McCorkle place on the UNC Campus, Chapel Hill, NC. It was surrounded by campus buildings as well as a number of other monuments.
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