Dublin Core
Title
Durham Confederate Soldiers Monument
Description
The Confederate Soldiers Monument was erected on May 10, 1924 in Durham, North Carolina in front of the Durham County Courthouse. Funding for this monument was done by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (Julian S. Carr chapter), the United Confederate Veterans (R.F. Webb camp), and a $5,000 tax paid by the citizens of Durham County.[1] It is done in the "common" soldier" style with two lamps and four cannonballs at its feet. The inscription on the base states, “In Memory of ‘The Boys Who Wore the Gray.’”[2] This monument has caused controversy during the Black Lives Matter movement. Activist groups such as Defend Durham and Do It Like Durham in North Carolina believe that Confederate monuments represent the United States’ history of violence toward black people. They stated that the monument was erected during the growth of the KKK and the Jim Crow era. After the statue was knocked down from its base on August 14, 2017, Durham created a City-County Committee on Confederate Monuments and Memorials to hold public forums and decide the fate of the monument. Their report in 2019 stated that the monument was placed near “Black Wall Street,” a successful economic district in Durham at the time.[3] The statue is being held in storage, and the base was removed in 2020 as a matter of public safety. Do It Like Durham is currently organizing to have the city replace the statue and taking public submissions to create a proposal for a new monument.[4]
Creator
McNeel Marble Company, Marietta, GA
Source
Date
May 10, 1924.
Contributor
Nicole Hallenbeck, Mireya Blush
Language
English
Type
Sculpture
Identifier
HIST 402A Fall 2020
Coverage
Durham, North Carolina