Unsung Founders Memorial (North Carolina)

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Unsung Founders Memorial at the University of North Carolina

The Unsung Founders Memorial serves as a counterpoint to the Confederate Memorial (Silent Sam). This Memorial erected in 2005 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as a gift of the class of 2002 both the form and the function of this memorial have been questioned and debated ever since. This monument was designed by artist Do-Ho Suh and is in the shape of a round table, with 300 bronze statues with 5 seats. There’s an inscription around the edge of the table that said: “The Class of 2002 honors the University’s unsung founders – the people of color bond and free – who helped build the Carolina that we cherish today.” Many people see it as a memorial to the enslaved black people who built the UNC campus.[1][2]

Background

"This was the most successful senior class gift campaign," said Emily Stevens, director of the young alumni program for the Office of Development (2002). Not only the seniors who contributed to this memorial but also were donated by parents, faculty, alumni, and friends of the University.[3]

On November 5, 2005, the university dedicated this memorial in honor of the many enslaved and free African-Americans who contributed their labor and services to the campus. This was a gift from Class 2002.[4]

Many of the buildings at the University of North Carolina were built by black workers, many of whom were enslaved. The enslaved African Americans contributed to the maintenance of the site and provided students with the services of "college servants".

According to the “Slavery and the Making of the University” exhibit, researchers “…found a number of items clearly showing that slaves and free blacks participated in the construction of the early buildings. And, given the dominant role that slavery played in the antebellum southern economy, it is probably safe to assume that slaves were far more involved in building the university than we can demonstrate through written documents.”

As for day-to-day duties, “…college servants were getting up before daylight and kindling fires in the students’ rooms as well as keeping the dormitories and recitation halls clean. Students were charged a fee for servant hire, but it seems to have been permissible to pay extra for services beyond the servants’ ordinary duties.”[5]

All people who work are not called "slaves." Some are called "hands" or "labor". Some people call it "Negro Workmen" for short. As obtained from verified documents, it can be said that “Negro Workman” had contributed mightily to the construction of Old East, the Old Chapel (Person Hall), Old West, the New Chapel (Gerrard Hall), and additions to Old East and Old West.[6]

Vandalism

On March 31 2019, The Unsung Founders Memorial was vandalized by two people. The memorial was defaced with urine and racist language written in permanent marker.[7] The graffiti said "F*ck Lindsay Ayling, f*ck her white supremacy," Linday Ayling was one of the activist anti-Silent Sam, many viewed as a monument to white supremacy.[5] Ayling commented, “They’re mocking anti-racist activists and trying to deny that they’re racist, even while they’re in the process of desecrating a monument to slaves that built UNC’s campus.”[8]

Not long after the incident, police arrested two people, who caught by security video. They were arrested on misdemeanor charges of vandalism and ethnic intimidation, and released on bond.[9]

References

  1. Unsung Founders Memorial. Virtual Black and Blue Tour. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  2. Unsung Founders Memorial. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  3. Knighton, Heather. Class of 2002 Raises $54K for Unsung Founders Memorial. The Daily Tar Heel November 5, 2002. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  4. UNSUNG FOUNDERS, BOND AND FREE. The Carolina Story. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  5. 5.0 5.1 HUNTER-CHANG, GABRIEL. HISTORY BEHIND THE HEADLINES: UNSUNG FOUNDERS MEMORIAL. Back Story April 10, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  6. INTRODUCTION. Slavery and the Making of the University. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  7. Zaveri, Mihir. University of North Carolina Memorial to Slaves Is Defaced With Urine and Racial Slurs. The New York Times April 1, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  8. Leonard, Ben. UNC memorial honoring slaves is defaced with racist language Sunday. The Chronicle April 4, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  9. Staff, Reuters. Police arrest two over vandalism of African American monument in North Carolina. Reuters April 9, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2021.