Charleston has reached a settlement with a group that sued the city over the removal of the John C. Calhoun statue from a downtown park five years ago.
And now that group, the American Heritage Association, promises South Carolinians will be the first to re-erect a monument.
“America’s historical landscape is being restored after the foolishness that took place across the country in 2020,” said American Heritage Association President Brett Barry in a statement announcing the settlement Wednesday.
The statue of Calhoun, a former statesman, Vice President and staunch supporter of slavery, was taken down following protests over racial injustice and the murder of George Floyd. It took crews more than 17 hours to bring it down.
Charleston city council voted unanimously then to remove the towering figure from Marion Square where it stood, just down the street from Mother Emanuel AME Church, for more than 100 years. The historic, African American Church was the site of one of the nation’s most horrific hate crimes in 2015.
Other monuments across the nation were toppled too as protesters called them symbols of hate and racism. Others saw their removal as an attempt to erase history.
Two year later, the American Heritage Association sued the city of Charleston on behalf of descendants of Calhoun, arguing the statue’s downing violated the Heritage Act, which does protect the removal of some of the state’s historical monuments. The association was put together by a group that owns the park as well as descendants of Calhoun.
Tuesday night, members of Charleston city council went into executive session, before voting to settle the suit. Now the city will hand over the statue, being kept at an undisclosed location, to a recently formed non-profit called the Calhoun Monument Preservation Society.
“The Calhoun monument will once again be in the hands of those who respect South Carolina’s historical inheritance,” said Society President Cal Stephens in a statement.
“The Society will now begin developing a plan to re-erect the Calhoun monument locally for public viewing."
There’s no word yet on when the statue will change hands or where it will ultimately be displayed. The initial plans for its relocation to a museum in Charleston or one in California fell through.
