O n Wednesday and Thursday, The Real Silent Sam, an activist group of students, staff and community members on campus, recreated the Unsung Founders Memorial in the Pit.
Their intent was to provoke critical examination of a monument students walk past on a daily basis.
The monument was installed on McCorkle Place in 2005 in an attempt to honor the people of color — many of them slaves — who helped build the University. It consists of 300 figurines holding up the table-like memorial surrounded by five stone seats.
Other monuments and structures on campus make clear the identities of the people they are meant to commemorate, such as Silent Sam, a statue that was given that name to represent the Confederate soldiers from the University. The same goes for buildings on campus, many of which are named after white supremacists.
While the Unsung Founders Memorial celebrates people who were previously invisible because of UNC’s ties to slavery, these people remain nameless today. Their diminutive physical portrayal combined with the lack of their identities denies them a place in the history of the University.
Landmarks on campus represent UNC. Until a new monument is erected that will more appropriately depict the people of color who built UNC in the way they deserve — with actual identities rather than a collective label — the ‘Unsung Founders’ will continue to be silenced.
