The decision to remove a Confederate monument from public display outside the Chatham County courthouse was carried out, ending its 112-year presence in Pittsboro, Nov. 20.
The city’s long-standing Confederate statue of a soldier standing outside of the courthouse, sponsored by the Winnie Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), has stood in that spot since its unveiling in 1907.
Over the past few months, the monument has faced much attention, especially in tandem with the controversies surrounding Silent Sam. The soldier’s controversy has been discussed in the court, in county board meetings and in the streets of Pittsboro. On Aug. 16, the Chatham County commissioners decided that the monument must be removed or relocated by Nov. 1 in a board meeting decision of 4-1. Since this decision, there has been a succession of further debates and protests.
A week before going to court over this decision, the UDC chapter filed a suit against the county’s choice to remove the statue from its spot outside of the courthouse. On Oct. 26, a local judge halted this decision, placing a restraining order against the statue’s removal until a further hearing. A statement from Barbara Pugh, the UDC chapter president, described the monument as “a gift to the county and is the property of the county.” Pugh states that its gift status legally prohibits removal or relocation “in any way” of “a monument, memorial or work of art owned by the State.”
The ruling led to multiple weekend protests on behalf of those against the monument, as well as counter-protests from its supporters.
“They should be able to walk in there [the courthouse] without the shadow of the civil war and slavery over them,” said Jim Vires, a counter protester in favor of removing the statue told Spectrum News.
The Oct. 26 decision was re-evaluated by a Superior Court judge Nov. 11, who allowed the monument’s removal after a hearing between Chatham for All and the NAACP versus the UDC.
“The equities here are the removal of a statue to be placed elsewhere vs. continuing to walk by a state that celebrates slavery, that celebrates the Confederacy on a daily basis,” said attorney Phillip Harris, who represented Chatham for All and the NAACP.
