Before protesters toppled it, the controversial statue of a Confederate soldier known as Silent Sam had stood on the campus of the U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for more than a century.Gerry Broome, AP Images
Silent Sam, an eight-foot-tall commemorative statue of a Confederate soldier, dominated the main entrance of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for more than a century.
Despite decades of protests, the monument remained, backed by conservative alumni and state legislators, a wary administration, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in security.
But then, suddenly, on the day before fall classes were to start in August 2018, the statue was yanked off its nine-foot-high pedestal by protesters. And in January 2019 the campus’s chancellor, Carol L. Folt, removed the statue’s pedestal and other remnants, and then resigned. Here’s how Silent Sam moved from dominance to disappearance, in reports by The Chronicle.
The Shadow of the Past
The Sons of Confederate Veterans will no longer get the statue, nor the $2.5 million that came with it.
Leadership
As the Sons of Confederate Veterans celebrate gaining ownership of the monument, many faculty and students are puzzling over why the university system’s governing board was so willing to make a deal.
News
The university system has ensured that the divisive Confederate monument won’t return to its Chapel Hill campus. But its method of doing so is “insane,” said one professor.
Where Folt Came From
Folt’s decision to remove Silent Sam’s pedestal as she announced her resignation in January won plaudits from some on campus, but she may have worsened the challenges her successor will face.
News
The dual announcements apparently came as a surprise to the system’s governing board. Its chair said Carol Folt’s move “undermines and insults the board’s goal to operate with class and dignity.”
News
The systemwide board said it could not support the plan, which calls for a $5.3-million campus center to house the Confederate statue.
From the Archives
Chapel Hill’s chancellor could signal moral clarity by refusing to display a Confederate monument on the campus. But some fear that would guarantee her dismissal, making a tense situation worse.
Campus Symbols
Teaching assistants at the University of North Carolina’s flagship are threatening to withhold thousands of student grades unless the administration withdraws its plan to keep the Confederate statue on the campus.
Campus Symbols
The University of North Carolina’s flagship campus wants to shift Silent Sam from an object of veneration to an object of study. But critics say it should simply not be on the campus any longer.
Backgrounder
Trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are expected Monday to plot the future for the toppled Confederate monument. Its whereabouts are a secret. Can the statue come back into public view?
News
With a decision on the fate of the Confederate statue due by November 15, Carol Folt faces an intractable question: What is a consensus builder to do when it doesn’t appear there’s a consensus to be had?
From the Archives
A monument to the Confederacy known as Silent Sam stands at the main entrance of the University of North Carolina. It’s ripping the campus apart. So what’s keeping it there?
Campus Unrest
As powerful supporters want the statue to be restored, student activists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill argue that it should never return.
Campus Unrest
Police officers arrested seven people at Saturday’s demonstration, where public support on campus for restoring Silent Sam appeared to collapse.
Leadership
Activists and many faculty members cheered its stunning fall on Monday. But the question of what to do about it is as urgent, and complicated, as ever.
News
The statue’s presence on the North Carolina campus had been the focus of increased activism since last August’s white-supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Va.
News
On campuses with reminders of bigotry, scholars have tried to do their jobs while a righteous present clashes with a racist past. To some, Monday’s toppling of a Chapel Hill statue felt like relief.
Campus Culture
Maya Little, a doctoral student in history at the University of North Carolina, says she wanted to make other people see the statue as she does, crimsoned with the blood of black bodies.
Administration
Institutions face smoldering tensions in the wake of the deadly rioting in Charlottesville, Va.
The Chronicle Review
Don’t remove problematic statues, like that of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville. Challenge them, in the service of history.
