The Town of Carrboro was named after Julian Carr, a prominent local historical figure who owned a textile mill in the town in the early 1900s.

At last week’s Board of Aldermen meeting, members discussed installing a plaque somewhere in town to acknowledge Carr’s racist history and the remarks made in his 1913 speech at the unveiling ceremony of Silent Sam, the confederate soldier statue on UNC’s campus.

Alderwoman Jacquelyn Gist said the purpose of the plaque will be for the town to acknowledge the truth publicly.

“The plaque can’t have a million words on it, but like 100 words on the front acknowledging who we got our name from and that he made this horrific speech at the unveiling of Silent Sam, and we can say which is located just down the road – because hopefully it’ll be gone sometime soon – and then committing ourselves to constantly be fighting in favor of social justice,” said Gist.

At the meeting, the board members discussed the possibility of having the Moxie intern research possible locations and work with the community to decide what the truth plaque will state.

“I think this is the community’s truth and needs to be articulated by the community,” Gist said.

Carrboro’s intern assisting with the placement and design of the plaque is a part of the Carolina Women’s Center’s Moxie Project, which aims to place UNC students with community organizations for summer internships in activism.

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