Winston-Salem Confederate monument set to be moved to new permanent location 5 years after being taken down

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — A Confederate monument which was originally erected at the intersection of Fourth Street and Liberty Street in Winston-Salem in 1905 and taken down in 2019 is set to be taken out of storage and moved to a permanent location.

The monument came down on March 12, 2019.

Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines said the monument was taken down because it was on private property, and the owners asked for it be removed.

The mayor says it could have been moved sooner, but multiple lawsuits were filed, and officials had to wait until the lawsuits were settled.

The state division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy appealed the North Carolina Court of Appeals’ dismissal of its attempt to return the statue to Liberty Street and Fourth Street.

Joines believes officials are close to settling the lawsuit with the UDoC and once it is settled, they’ll be ready to move the monument to a permanent location.

He says a new location was proposed and accepted by the UDoC, and it will be announced soon.

Group pledges to keep up fight against confederate monument

The following timeline tracks the recent history of Winston-Salem’s confederate monument.

October 4, 1905

On or about this date, the confederate monument was dedicated in Winston-Salem, according to the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Aug. 18, 2017

Someone spray-painted the monument, nearly a week after the protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. The vandalism was cleaned up shortly before 11 p.m. that same day.

Aug. 22, 2018

FOX8 reported on Aug. 22, 2018, that Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines said the city had previously made an offer to move the Confederate statue on the corner of Fourth and Liberty streets.

He said in this report that he was waiting to hear back from the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The UDC later declined the offer.

The idea was to move the statue to the Salem Cemetery were 36 Confederate veterans and soldiers are buried.

“I think the cemetery is a more appropriate location for it,” Joines said.

Dec. 25, 2018

Police said they responded to a call that the monument had been defaced at 5:24 p.m. Christmas Day. There, they found that the monument had the words “cowards & traitors” written on it in what appeared to be permanent marker.

Dec. 31, 2018

The Winston-Salem City Attorney Angela Carmon sent a letter to the UDC, which owns the statue, directing the organization to remove and relocate it by Jan. 31. The attorney cited concerns for overall public safety, as well as the protection of the statue.

“It is clear that the tenor of the vandal’s message has escalated and the intensity of the same is not likely to wane with the passage of time,” Carmon wrote in the letter. “The City is not in a position to provide constant security checks necessary for the protection of the statue and to mitigate the recurring acts of vandalism.”

Carmon added that the statue should be moved to a “more secure location where the same can be protected from vandals and others looking to create a Charlottesville type incident in Winston-Salem.”

Jan. 13, 2019

Crowds gathered in downtown Winston-Salem to protest for and against the removal of a Confederate monument.

A crowd of supporters stood near it, while people who wanted it taken down stood across the street.

Jan. 25, 2019

Attorney James Davis responded on behalf of the North Carolina UDC and asked for a 60-day extension and a forbearance on any legal action considered by the city.

The request aimed to give the organization time to determine if the city’s reasoning is legally valid and if the United Daughters of the Confederacy North Carolina Division have the authority to remove the monument from its current location. Davis expressed concern that the order to remove the monument might go against the 4th and 14th amendments.

“The monument has stood silently since its dedication to the citizens of Forsyth County on or about October 4, 1905,” the letter reads. “A period of sixty days is a mere blink of the eye in comparison to the more than a Century the monument has served the citizens of Forsyth County, North Carolina.”

The city ultimately rejected the UDC’s request, and a judge turned down the UDC’s plea to halt removal of Confederate statue in Winston-Salem.

Jan. 31, 2019

The United Daughters of the Confederacy failed to meet the City of Winston-Salem’s deadline to remove the confederate statue.

Attorney Scott Horn gave the City of Winston-Salem clearance to remove the statue in a letter on behalf of Winston Courthouse LLC.

“Winston Courthouse will cooperate with the City of Winston-Salem’s removal and relocation of the Statue,” the letter reads.

Feb. 1, 2019

Winston-Salem City Attorney Angela Carmon confirmed the city’s agreement with Winston Sourthouse LLC in a letter.

She wrote, “Hopefully, the removal and relocation of the Statue to Salem Cemetery will minimize, if not eliminate, the safety concerns addressed more fully in my recent letters … and restore some semblance of peace for the residents of 50 West Fourth Street and the City at large and reduce the likelihood of damage to the statue.”

Ruling allows Confederate monument to remain in front of Gaston County Courthouse

Feb. 24, 2019

Crews spent more than an hour on the scene of the Confederate monument in downtown Winston-Salem.

At least six workers were at the monument at the corner of Fourth and Liberty streets to take measurements, according to police.

March 12

Mayor Allen Joines confirmed that the Confederate monument will be moved to a safe location on this date. Work crews and cranes were on scene to take the statue down.

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