Original Joseph Caldwell Monument (Wilson Caldwell grave), UNC (Chapel Hill)
This sandstone obelisk, completed in 1837, was the first monument built for UNC president Joseph Caldwell. In 1904, when the current monument in McCorkle Place was erected, the Class of 1891 placed this monument on Wilson Caldwell's grave in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery and rededicated it to three other slaves who worked for the University with a marble stone placed at its base. It stands in the section reserved for African Americans in honor of Wilson Caldwell (whom university president David Swain owned), his father November Caldwell (whom Joseph Caldwell owned), and two other men, all longtime servants of the university. It was rededicated in 1904.
MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 1891 PLACE THIS STONE / TO THE MEMORY OF / WILSON SWAIN CALDWELL / (WHO LIES HERE) / NOVEMBER CALDWELL / DAVID BARHAM AND / HENRY SMITH / WHO SERVED THE UNIVERSITY FAITHFULLY
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
1837. Rededication:1904
35.910930 , -79.044950
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"Original Joseph Caldwell Monument, photograph," The Carolina Story: A Virtual Museum of University History, (accessed February 28, 2012) Link
Battle, Kemp P. The Two Caldwell Monuments on the Campus of the University of North Carolina, (Chapel Hill, NC: Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Societies of the University of North Carolina, 1902), (accessed May 16, 2012) Link
“Original Joseph Caldwell Monument,” The Carolina Story: A Virtual Museum of University History, (accessed January 2, 2019) Link
Yes
Sandstone, marble
The Class of 1891 was responsible for moving the monument to its current location and dedicating it to Wilson Caldwell, November Caldwell, David Barham, and Henry Smith.
[Additional information from NCpedia editors at the State Library of North Carolina: This person enslaved and owned other people. Many Black and African people, their descendants, and some others were enslaved in the United States until the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in 1865. It was common for wealthy landowners, entrepreneurs, politicians, institutions, and others to enslave people and use enslaved labor during this period. To read more about the enslavement and transportation of African people to North Carolina, visit https://aahc.nc.gov/programs/africa-carolina-0. To read more about slavery and its history in North Carolina, visit https://www.ncpedia.org/slavery. - Government and Heritage Library, 2023.]
The statue is located in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery in Chapel Hill, NC.
Yes
The original obelisk stood where the current Joseph Caldwell monument stands, in McCorkle Place just north of the Davie Poplar on the University of North Carolina Campus in Chapel Hill, NC.
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