TO THE EDITOR:
Memorials and monuments inspire individual reactions, and Silent Sam embodies a particularly provocative example. No matter your opinion of this statue situated by Franklin Street, it would be hard to deny that the Civil War left an indelible mark on UNC.
In recognition of the sesquicentennial of this highly significant event in American history, the Wilson Special Collections Library has organized an exhibit entitled “Home Front on the Hill: Chapel Hill and the University During the Civil War” to be on display from Feb. 2 through May 8 in the Melba Remig Saltarelli Exhibit Room on the third floor. Artifacts from the North Carolina Collection, Southern Historical Collection, University Archives, and other repositories will recount much of the experiences before the war, during the war, and after the war of those connected to both Chapel Hill and UNC.
The various collections in Wilson contain a wealth of contemporaneous objects ranging from photographs, newspapers and University records to scrapbooks, diaries and letters. Wilson Library provides students, staff, faculty, alums, and visitors with access to information for the formation of individual conclusions and opinions of history and its consequences.
Come learn what happened here during that turbulent time, and perhaps Silent Sam will prove to have a new meaning for you.
Frances McVay
Graduate Student
Information and Library Science
