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Unsung Founders Memorial

The Unsung Founders Memorial was designed to honor of the “men and women of color who helped raise the first buildings on campus.” Placed on McCorkle Place in close proximity to the University’s Confederate Monument, the memorial is a Black granite table about five feet in diameter, which rises only a few feet from the ground, its surface supported by miniature bronze figures representing the University’s “unsung founders.” Though the memorial received initial praise at its unveiling and dedication in 2005, it almost immediately drew criticism for its biased memorialization of the University’s involvement in enslavement.

Fryar, Charlotte. “Unsung Founders Memorial, Decorated with Flowers” Personal Photograph. 1 September 2017.

Organization: Real Silent Sam Coalition

Space Use: Monument or Memorial

Spatial Organizing Approach: Contestation

Date Created: 2005

Campus Space: McCorkle Place

Citation: Interview with Taylor Webber-Fields by Charlotte Fryar, 29 November 2017, in the Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007), Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.