Mt. Zion Confederate Monument, Cornelius, North Carolina

Dedicated on August 4, 1910, the Mt. Zion Confederate Soldiers Monument was dedicated to honor local Confederate soldiers with a granite statue representing a Confederate soldier standing at parade rest. The monument was part of a nationwide effort to celebrate the Confederacy as heroic while minimizing its connection to efforts to expand and defend slavery. For this reason, the monument, which is the largest remaining Confederate Monument in Mecklenburg County, has been at the center of a spirited debate as to whether it should be removed owing to the ideology of those who erected it. During the Civil War, North Carolina supplied thousands of men to serve in branches of the Confederate Army. Local men could enlist for the war at the Mt. Zion United Methodist Church located behind the Mt. Zion Confederate Soldiers Monument. Defenders of the monument point to the community's historic connection to the Civil War, while those who call for its removal emphasize the time period when it was created and the Lost Cause movement that motivated those who created this and hundreds of other monuments in the early 20th century.

Confederate monuments have existed in many southern states, but few were built in the decades after the war ended in 1865. Instead, most of the Confederate monuments were dedicated by groups such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy four to seven decades later during a movement commonly referred to today as "The Lost Cause." This movement advocated the belief that the Confederacy was heroic and just. In recent years, there has been increasing public attention to the ideology of the Lost Cause which has led to calls for removal or relocation of some Confederate monuments. For a growing number of diverse Americans, these monuments are physical relics of white supremacy. Others defend the monuments as historic artifacts or argue that they should be contextualized rather than removed to remind people of the way that some white Southerners hoped to change the memory of the war. By examining the Mt. Zion Confederate Monument located in North Carolina, one can understand the different opinions held on Confederate monuments.

Even though North Carolina contributed to both the Confederate and Union war effort, the state served as the largest supply of manpower by sending over 130,000 men to serve in branches of the Confederate Army (“North Carolina in the Civil War,” 2018). Furthermore, General Robert E. Lee’s army was highly dependent on North Carolina after using its warehouses full of food supplies. (“North Carolina in the Civil War,” 2018). In addition, women held their own stance on the Confederacy. During the Civil War, the United Daughters of the Confederacy respected soldiers who served in the war and wished to devote a monument to remember the men in the future. The Chairman of the Memorial Arch Committee provided the President and Daughters of the Confederacy with a report on a cemetery project that announced to “honor not only the thousand dead soldiers resting within its limits, but to stand as a memorial of the devotion and untiring zeal of the Daughters of the Confederacy of North Carolina to the heroes of their own State” (London and Williams, 1907).

The Mt. Zion Confederate Soldiers Monument is in front of the unaffiliated Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Cornelius, North Carolina (UNC University Library, 2010). During the Civil War in 1861-1865, local men would enlist for the Confederate war in front of the Mt. Zion Methodist Church (UNC University Library, 2010). The granite monument shows a Confederate soldier standing at parade rest and facing ahead with his rifle resting on the ground. Beneath the soldier, there is an inscription on the monument that reads, “Though men deserve. They may not win success. The brave will honor the brave. Vanquished none the less” (UNC University Library, 2010). In addition, the back of the monument reads, “First at Bethel. Farthest at Gettysburg. Last at Appomattox” (UNC University Library, 2010). The monument was dedicated on August 4, 1910 in order to serve as a site of Confederate reunions and to provide services honoring veterans (UNC University Library, 2010). Funds to build the monument were raised through individual donations, oyster suppers, fiddlers’ conventions, and shows with box suppers (UNC University Library, 2010). Even though the government did not support the funds, the dedication address was given by Judge Armistead Burwell, the Associated Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court (State Library of North Carolina, 2014).

Although laws in many southern states protect the removal and relocation of historical Confederate monuments, there have been numerous protestors and local leaders that have started to relocate and remove the monuments associated with white supremacy. Specifically in North Carolina, a state law declares that “a monument, memorial, or work of art owned by the State may not be removed, relocated, or altered in any way without the approval of the North Carolina Historical Commission” (“Approval and Protection of Monuments, Memorials, Works of Art, Etc.”, 1-3). Even though people have been reflecting on topics of slavery and white supremacy for years, it was only recent that the topic became a forefront of national conversation. After nine African Americans were massacred by a white supremacist in a South Carolina church on June 17, 2015, Americans started to deeply reflect on the historical aspects of slavery, the Civil War, the Confederacy, and white supremacy that was displayed on local Confederate monuments (UNC University Library, 2010). In addition, the rate of removal has greatly increased since the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2020 (UNC University Library, 2010). Recently released, a report from the SPLC states that a total of 94 Confederate monuments were removed in 2020, while only a total of 54 monuments were removed between the years of 2015 and 2019 (Treisman, 2021). 

Nearly 110 years after the monument was erected, community and church leaders have started to renew calls for the Mt. Zion Confederate Monument to be removed (Boraks, 2020). An open letter was published by 180 Mecklenburg leaders directed toward the private association that controls the Mt. Zion Confederate Monument in July 2020. The letter suggested that the statue “champions the brutal enslavement of human beings with accompanying rape, murder, denial of rights and dehumanization” of all Black people and should be relocated as soon as possible (Boraks, 2020). Also, leaders of the United Methodist Church have called for the removal of the Mt. Zion Confederate Monument. The church concluded that the symbols associated with white supremacy including the Confederate battle flag “do not represent the values of a holy, just, equitable, and Beloved community” (Extended Cabinet of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, 2020). Additionally, the church reflected on its own struggles with slavery and racism during the 1800s and explained they still have “miles and miles to go in embodying Christ’s ministry of reconciliation, justice, and peace” (Extended Cabinet of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, 2020). Even with the increased levels of support to remove the monument, people are still arrested for its vandalism. In July of 2020, two individuals were arrested after they spray painted the words “racist” and “BLM” on the monument (Marusak, 2020). With the legacy of shame, a politically charged climate, and symbols of white supremacy, the monument portrays white groups as dominant in society which is not supported by the individuals that were arrested (Marusak, 2020). To improve racial equality, members of the Cornelius community have called to remove the Confederate monument. In addition, a Cornelius local named Rankin-White feels that the monument keeps the community from being able to “issue an invitation to Black members of our community without making an explanation about the state and why it’s there,” according to WBTV (Giles, 2020). Since the monument has controversies involving racism and white supremacy, it leaves out important opinions from African Americans and how it affects their lives.  

While the original purpose of the Mt. Zion Confederate Monument was to hold Confederate reunions, 65 years have passed since one has taken place (Yochum, 2017). However, some locals believe that the Mt. Zion Confederate Monument now represents the lives of the soldiers lost during the Civil War. After the monument was vandalized in 2015, volunteers of the Mt. Zion Monument Association cleaned the statue to show their respect. Furthermore, UNC-Charlotte history professor David Goldfield insisted that Confederate monuments are an important link to the past and “are also a statement of what we value most at present” (Yochum, 2017). Goldfield believes that the monument is now a symbol for national reconciliation, and its meaning has changed over time (Yochum, 2017). In order to completely understand the legacy of Confederate monuments, historical context is needed. Confederate monuments were installed during the Lost Cause movement that had a general purpose to “reframe the South’s effort and ultimate defeat as noble and dutiful,” according to Jonas Glenn, author of “Two Roads Diverged: The Civil Rights Movement Comes to FBC Raleigh” (Jonas, 2019).

As of the time of the writing of this article, the Mt. Zion Confederate Monument remains in place and is a controversial piece of North Carolina's monumental landscape that raises questions about Civil War memory and public history.

Boraks, David. “North Mecklenburg Leaders Call for Removing Cornelius Confederate Statue.” WFAE 90.7 – Charlotte’s NPR News Source. WFAE, September 2, 2020. Accessed March 13, 2021. https://www.wfae.org/local-news/2020-08-31/north-mecklenburg-leaders-call-for-removing-cornelius-confederate-statue.

Brooke, Csuka. Effects of Historical Contextualization of Confederate Monuments in North Carolina. Casey Rawson, 2020. Accessed March 13, 2021. https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/masters_papers/k3569963t.

Extended Cabinet of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. “The Western North Carolina Conference Extended Cabinet Calls for Removal of Confederate Monument Adjacent to Mt. Zion United Methodist Church.” Western North Carolina Conference. The United Methodist Church, July 6, 2020. Accessed March 13, 2021.

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Giles, Alex. “Local Group Calling for Confederate Monument in Cornelius to be Removed.” WBTV. WBTV, June 15, 2020. Accessed March 13, 2021. https://www.wbtv.com/2020/06/15/local-group-calling-confederate-monument-cornelius-be-removed/.

Jonas, Glenn. “Two Roads Diverged: The Civil Rights Movement Comes to FBC Raleigh.” Baptist History and Heritage, 2019, 41–51. https://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=9&sid=d5dcd1e5-6f1a-4e89-b213-a25837fe422d%40pdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHNzbyZzaXRlPWVkcy1saXZl#db=rfh&AN=ATLAiA14191014000851.

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London, Henry A. Williams, Frank M. United Daughters of the Confederacy. Newton, North Carolina: Enterprise Job Print, 1907.

Marusak, Joe. “3 Arrested After Confederate Statue Defaced Again Outside NC Church, Police say.” The Charlotte Observer. The Charlotte Observer, July 7, 2020. Accessed March 13, 2021. https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article244047527.html.

State Library of North Carolina. “Mt. Zion Confederate Soldiers Monument.” NCPedia, July 11, 2014. Accessed March 13, 2021. https://www.ncpedia.org/monument/mt-zion-confederate.

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Treisman, Rachel. “Nearly 100 Confederate Monuments Removed In 2020, Report Says; More Than 700 Remain.” Npr.org, February 23, 2021. Accessed May 5, 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/02/23/970610428/nearly-100-confederate-monuments-removed-in-2020-report-says-more-than-700-remai.

UNC University Library. “Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina.” Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina | Mt. Zion Confederate Soldiers Monument, Cornelius, March 19, 2010. Accessed March 13, 2021. https://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/358/.

Yochum, Dave, ed. “Cleansing history at Confederate monument.” Cornelius Today.

Jason Benavides, August 14, 2017. Accessed March 13, 2021. https://www.corneliustoday.com/cleansing-history-at-confederate-monument/.

“Approval and Protection of Monuments, Memorials, Works of Art, Etc.” Monuments, Memorials and Parks, 1–3. Accessed May 4, 2021. https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByChapter/Chapter_100.pdf.

“North Carolina in the Civil War.” American Battlefield Trust. History, October 23, 2018. Accessed March 13, 2021. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/north-carolina-civil-war.