Preserving Painful Histories: South Carolina State

House Monuments
Esme Yarnell, BSW Candidate; Sam McDaniel, BSW Candidate

Confederate History & White Supremacy Southern Poverty Law Center’s Research on Confederate Monuments
According to historical researchers, the biggest trend of confederate monument building There were two major periods in which the dedication of Confederate monuments began to
occurred between the late 19th century and early 20th century. This time was also marked by incredible violence appear on public property in the United States. The first period began around 1900 post-reconstruction,
against African Americans including Jim Crow level oppression and brutal lynchings across the southern states. when states began enacting Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise the newly freed African Americans and re-
A vast amount of the confederate monuments across the country were commissioned by “heritage segregate society. Historians studying this era have claimed that this Confederate monument wave was
organizations” such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy whose mission was to resist reconstruction, meant as a message to black citizens that white citizens were still in control, despite the result of the war.
and to paint the Confederation as people who went to war for the rights of the state, and that slavery was a Many organizations who commissioned these monuments, such as the United Daughters of the
necessary and well-meaning institution for ‘civilizing’ slaves. Their purpose was to help restore the moral Confederacy, subscribed to and promoted the “Lost Cause” of the Confederacy. Essentially, this ideology
identity of Confederates, to see them not as those who lost the war, but those who risked their lives to sought to retell history: in a literal sense, the Civil War is referred to sometimes as the War of Southern
preserve “Anglo-saxon” supremacy. Many of the monuments were erected as a means of reconciliation Independence or the War of Northern Aggression. But the deeper purpose of these “Lost Cause”
between the states during the decades after the Civil War. This means that the South is not a villain, but all movements was to paint the cause of Confederacy, not as people who went to war to maintain slavery,
states have been complicit to an extent. Many of these monuments were backed and funded by Northern but instead as noble and honorable men simply protecting their freedom. The second period marked by
states as well. We can learn the purpose and intention for these kinds of monuments by listening to the voices significant increase in Confederate monuments occurred in the early 1950s and lasted through the 1960s,
of those who back them. For example, in North Carolina, a monument to Confederate Students dedicated by as the civil rights movement was taking place. This era is specifically significant because it was a time
speaker Julian Carr, who in his speech explicitly advocates for white supremacy and the true mission of the wrought with racial tensions and activists beginning to rise up, calling for the end of a Jim Crow society
Confederate fight. It is very important to understand not just the history of the men these monuments honor, (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2016). The rise of confederate monuments during these two distinct time
but also the cause of those who honor them. The context of these historical figures, in their true context as well periods is not coincidence, but rather the product of strategic racial oppression designed to reinforce
as their memorialized context, is necessary to take a real nuanced look at a solution. African American’s place in American society as other, less than, and second class.
Cox, K. L. (2017, August 16). The whole point of Confederate monuments is to celebrate white supremacy. The Washington Post. Retrieved February 7, 2018, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/08/16/the-whole-point-of-confederate-monuments-is-to-celebrate-white-supremacy/?utm_term=.6307182ba370 Southern Poverty Law Center. “Whose Heritage? Public Symbols of the Confederacy.”Southern Poverty Law Center, 21 Apr. 2016, www.splcenter.org/20160421/whose-heritage-public-symbols-confederacy.
Brundage, W. F. (2017, August 18). I've studied the history of Confederate memorials. Here's what to do about them. Retrieved February 07, 2018, from https://www.vox.com/the-big-
idea/2017/8/18/16165160/confederate-monuments-history-charlottesville-white-supremacy

Associated Press, & Chia, J. (2016, November 14). Artists fill black
stockings with dirt creating figures hanging from trees outside
Hilburg, J. (2018, January 19). NYC
Winthrop University emblazoned with the words 'Tillman's legacy'
monuments commission decides to move
to highlight fears about white supremacy after Trump's election.
one statue and contextualize Columbus.
Retrieved February 07, 2018, from
Retrieved February 07, 2018, from
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3935020/
https://archpaper.com/2018/01/nycs-

Benjamin Ryan Tillman

monuments-commission-move-sims-
context/
Black-stockings-left-hanging-trees-SC-university.html

J. Marion Sims Benjamin “Pitchfork” Tillman considered

According to The State newspaper,
J. Marion Sims has been hailed as the “Father
of Gynecology”. However, there are so many voices
that have systematically been left out of this story. Sims
practiced as a surgeon during the 1840s and specifically
performed reproductive surgeries and research. However, a
significant percent of his research was conducted on enslaved women
of color, procedures lacking both consent and anesthesia. Though his
medical discoveries were significant, the means for obtaining them were
entirely unethical and this is a very important part of this history that has
regularly been erased. The names and faces of these women is now
unknown, yet it is from their trauma and pain that Sims reaped all the
benefits, including the memories of these women. This monument was
erected in May 1929 by the South Carolina Medical Association’s
Women’s Auxiliary. This fact is important to include in critiques of forms
of feminism which lack an intersectional scope. These women’s voices
have been continued to be erased, even among other women,
Himself and identified as a passionate white
Wade Hampton
supremacist. He was very involved in South Carolina
politics, specifically with campaigns focused on small farmers
and agriculture. Tillman was elected as South Carolina governor Wade Hampton III is known as being
(1890-1894) as well as United States senator (1895-1918). He is well critically involved in the Confederate Army. At a
known as being involved in leadership of the “Red Shirts”, and armed point in time after his father’s death, he was one of the
gang of white supremacists who organized the murders of black people largest landowners and slaveowners in the south. After the
across the state. Tillman is also known for his involvement in the war, Hampton became very vocal against Reconstruction.
Hamburg Massacre which left seven men dead six black, one white. He, in fact, was a prominent member of a social movement
About the tragedy, Tillman remarked, "The leading white men called the “Lost Cause” which spoke out against Reconstruction
of Edgefield seize[d] the first opportunity that the Negroes and hoped to make up for the loss of the war. Hampton was very
might offer them to provoke a riot and teach the Negroes a involved in South Carolina politics, as many of those memorialized on
lesson,” and that the massacre was necessary because "the the state house grounds. Hampton, similar to Tillman, served as South
whites demonstrate their superiority by killing as many of Carolina governor as well as a United States senator. In fact, Tillman’s “Red Shirts”
them as was justifiable”. Tillman is also quoted speaking are known in this time to have committed acts of violence in an attempt to
about Booker T. Washington that “entertaining that n----- will suppress the black vote. Wade Hampton’s statue was erected on the
necessitate our killing a thousand n----- in the south state house grounds in November of 1906.
before they learn their place again”. It is
important to look at the way in which History.com Staff. (2009). Wade Hampton. Retrieved February
07, 2018, from http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-

due to the additional factors such as race and enslavement. South Carolina chooses those in our war/wade-hampton

Byrd, C. (2017, August 16). Mayor of Columbia says

history that should be honored, South Carolina's Information Highway. (n.d.). SC Governors
– Benjamin Ryan Tillman, 1890-1894. Retrieved February Digital Public Library of America. (n.d.). Wade Hampton
07, 2018, from Monument, Columbia. Retrieved February 07, 2018, from
statue of J. Marion Sims should come down. The Post
and Courier. Retrieved February 7, 2018, from and those lives that historically https://www.sciway.net/hist/governors/tillman.html https://dp.la/item/96d87fd17402fd6dd8ef25e31efc1ec0

https://www.postandcourier.com/news/mayor-of-
columbia-says-statue-of-j-marion-sims-
should/article_274a3734-8235-11e7-9624- remain left out of Sansbury, G. (2017, September 30). What makes this statue
4758e0e92b5c.html
the story. worse than all the others . The State. Retrieved February 7,
2018, from http://www.thestate.com/opinion/letters-to-
the-editor/article176179711.html

One Columbia for Arts and History. (n.d.). J. Marion

Sims Monument. Retrieved February 07, 2018, from
http://www.onecolumbiasc.com/public-art/j-marion-
sims-monument/

Velez, D. O. (2017, May 29). The first Memorial Day site is in a park named for Confederate General Wade Hampton
III. Retrieved February 07, 2018, from https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/5/29/1665243/-The-first-Memorial-
(Byrd, 2017) Day-site-is-in-a-park-named-for-Confederate-General-Wade-Hampton-III

Southern Poverty Law Center. “Whose Heritage? Public Symbols of the

Confederacy.”Southern Poverty Law Center, 21 Apr. 2016,
www.splcenter.org/20160421/whose-heritage-public-symbols-confederacy.

The 14th Amendment Argument

The Solution: Documenting Controversial History
The legal tactic that is most promising to remove confederate monuments on public
property is the use of the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. This argument states The solution is simple, after hundreds of years of insufficient progress to respect,
that confederate monuments were erected as expressions of white supremacy, and therefor are honor, and protect the lives of African Americans it’s time for serious change. The
examples of state-supported racism. Confederate monuments on public property make African American monuments must come down. They are to be displayed in a museum in which the full
people feel unequal in the eyes of the state, and that they are second class citizens. The equal protection
context of the statue can be explained by historians who are experts on the subject. To
argument for removing confederate monuments on public property depends on the prosecutions ability
to argue that the intended message of confederate monuments is one of white supremacy. This
determine what will be done with the new space created by the removal of the confederate
argument is proven by the research done by the Southern Poverty Law Center which asserts that the monuments, a local committee made up of historians, academics, and local citizens will be
majority of confederate monuments were erected during the Jim Crow era (1890s to 1920s) and the Civil created to determine what statues are appropriate to be erected in the fallen monuments
Rights era (1955 to 1965). place.
“This is not an attempt to erase history. It is an
The Proof: effort to end the government’s endorsement of
a symbol that has always represented the
Wade Hampton – Displayed in 1906 oppression of an entire race. These historical
symbols belong in museums and other
J Marion Sims – Displayed in 1929
educational settings where people can see them
Ryan Tillman – Displayed in 1940 and learn the full history of slavery, the
Roos,Dave.“HowRemovingPublicMonumentsWorks.”HowStuffWorksScience,
Confederacy, the Civil War and Jim Crow.”
HowStuffWorks,8Jan.2018,science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/
structural/removing-public-monuments4.htm.