Chapel Hill Removes Jefferson Davis Memorial Plaque

Chapel Hill has removed the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway marker from Franklin Street in downtown.

Officials said the marker was removed “based on the recommendation of Chapel Hill public safety officials that the plaques were a public nuisance and created a public safety threat.”

The Jefferson Davis marker has been a point of protest for months. Another plaque honoring the “Negro Wench” referenced by Julian Carr at his 1913 dedication to the Confederate monument known as Silent Sam, recently removed from the UNC campus after more than 100 years, was placed next to the Jefferson Davis marker earlier this month.

It was then taken from that location before being retrieved by law enforcement. Activists placed the marker on Franklin Street again this week, this time chained to a nearby post.

The “Negro Wench” marker was removed at the same time as the Jefferson Davis marker, according to the town.

Town manager Maurice Jones sent the following email to the Chapel Hill Town Council on Friday morning.

Early this morning the Town removed both the Jefferson Davis Highway marker and the dedication plaque that was recently erected near the marker. We came to this decision as the result of a growing concern about the threat levels associated with having the two items on public property. We believed the marker and plaque would have continued to create unsafe conditions if they had remained in place and that quick action was necessary in advance of the rallies scheduled for Saturday.

After receiving the attached letter yesterday from the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office we felt comfortable that both objects resided on Town property, therefore giving the Town the authority to remove them in response to increasing public safety concerns. Recent spikes in caustic rhetoric and actions taken against the two items have led us to conclude that both were becoming public nuisances that could lead to violent clashes in our community.

It is the intent of the Town to return the marker and the plaque to their rightful owners. Please let me know if you have any questions.

A letter from the attorney general’s office responding to a request from the town seemed to give the final approval for the marker’s removal.

Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger said Friday afternoon that town crews removed the markers at 5 a.m. Friday. When crews arrived, Hemminger said, the plaque portion of the monument honoring the “Negro Wench” had been removed by someone other than town staff. She said that crews had checked each monument around 8 p.m. Thursday, and that both monuments were intact at that time.

A pro-Confederate Facebook group has claimed that it is in possession of that piece of the memorial.

Hemminger said both markers were in storage now and that the town would be working to return each piece to its owner.

Hemminger released the following statement Friday afternoon:

Earlier today, the Town of Chapel Hill removed the Jefferson Davis Highway marker and a recently placed unauthorized marker from the small grassy strip between the street and the sidewalk along Franklin Street.

The presence of both markers has resulted in an ongoing threat to public safety in our downtown as opposing groups – including some from out of town – continue to plan protests and other actions in downtown and on campus.  For this reason, both markers have been removed and will be offered to their rightful owners.

Our Town is committed to our shared values of being a welcoming and inclusive place for everyone.  To that end, we will continue to support our community’s ongoing work to identify and commemorate the people, places and events in our  history that have helped shape the community we are today.

In Chapel Hill, we have a long history of supporting peaceful dialogue when grappling with difficult issues.  I encourage everyone to remember that our freedom of expression does not come at the expense of public safety.