A group focused on preserving southern Charleston’s history is taking legal action against local authorities and the school board. They want to reinstate statues of Vice President John C. Calhoun and Confederate General Robert E. Lee, which were removed during the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020-2021.
Brett Barry, president of the American Heritage Association (AHA), discussed the significance of these statues on Saturday, expressing deep concern over their removal. “I moved to Charleston in 2015 because I appreciated its rich history. However, in 2020, everything seemed to change,” Barry shared with host Matthew Boyle. “When [former mayor] John Tecklenburg took office, he acted as if he was siding with the mob that demanded the statue’s removal. They wanted to take down Calhoun’s monument, and when they couldn’t manage it, he did.”
The towering 115-foot monument, which had stood in Marion Square since the late 1800s, was torn down following a unanimous vote by the Charleston City Council in the wake of George Floyd’s death. “Not only was the statue taken down, but the 130-year-old granite base was also basically destroyed,” Barry remarked, criticizing the former Democratic mayor’s actions.
Barry emphasized Calhoun’s historical role, mentioning that he was instrumental in important Senate debates that shaped early discussions about the U.S. Constitution. Serving as vice president under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, Calhoun remains a controversial figure due to his staunch advocacy for slavery in Confederate states. In a speech from 1837, he called slavery a “positive good” for the coexistence of different races.
Although the bust of Calhoun was removed, it has not been destroyed but rather stored away for the past five years. Barry explained that they began their organization because they felt a strong need to uphold Calhoun’s legacy. “So yes, the statue is gone, but the base was destroyed. That prompted us to start legal action about three years ago.”
With the election of William S. Cogswell Jr. as Charleston’s new mayor in 2023, Barry expressed some optimism. “We are hopeful that negotiations to settle this issue are progressing well. Our aim is straightforward,” he stated. “We want to restore the base and rebuild the monument to Vice President John C. Calhoun.”
The AHA is also involved in a similar legal fight concerning the removal of the Robert E. Lee Memorial from the Charleston School of Mathematics and Science. Barry pointed out that the statue had stood outside the school for over 70 years without issue. Earlier, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson indicated that the school was violating state memorial protection laws, yet Barry noted that no action was taken to address the statue’s situation.
