Pack Square lies at the center of Asheville’s sense of itself as a city, but recent attention to the area — and the monuments to Confederate figures located there — has highlighted a curious anomaly of history and law: No one can say for sure who owns the piece of land where the Vance Monument sits.
” I think we should put out a request for proposals from artists and community members, and create a panel of local activists, artists and historians to assess them. Get the new equity manager involved. Something fitting and beautiful will come out of that.”
Several hundred people assembled at the Vance Monument in downtown Asheville on Sunday evening, Aug. 13, to express opposition to a white nationalist gathering that took place in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend.
With the recent removal of Confederate monuments in New Orleans and other Southern cities capturing national headlines, local residents, historians and scholars once again turns their eyes to Asheville’s Confederate landmarks and what they symbolize to our community.
Murder and outrage are frequent and the absence of civil law encourages the wickedly inclined.
“I believe he well deserves our respect and the monument that stands in his honor!”
“I am all for never seeing a Confederate flag again, but we need proper context for our precedents who lived in a world so different from our own.”
“To ignore the positive things that have occurred in our history is an injustice. Sadly, it seems, most people today want to turn everything into a racial issue.”
“What message are we really giving to all of our city residents? That only white people count?”
“Should we change the name of the Lincoln Memorial and the many other buildings and monuments that pay tribute to the great men and women of their time?”
“History should be left alone to be understood and appreciated. It should not be a matter of current approval. Some of us respect Vance.”
“Other U.S. cities are removing Confederate symbology and monuments. Let’s not waste any more time — Asheville needs to join them, now.”
The history of Asheville’s Jewish community is indistinguishable from the city’s history. A new book takes a look at the economic and philanthropic contributions of Asheville’s Jewish community.
![NAMES OF THE FALLEN: Two granite markers in the vicinity of their gravesites bear the names of the 13 victims of the Shelton Laurel Massacre: James Shelton; David Shelton; James Shelton, Jr. ; Azariah Shelton; William Shelton; Rod Shelton; Jasper Chandler; Ellison King; Hellen Moore; [young] David Shelton; James Metcalfe; Wade Moore; and Joe Woods. Photo by Max Hunt](https://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Graves-3-330x220.jpg)
“Will the America of the future — will this vast, rich Union ever realize what itself cost back there, after all?” – Walt Whitman In January 1863, at the height of the Civil War, Confederate soldiers of the 64th North Carolina Regiment, composed mostly of men from the western counties, marched into Shelton Laurel. Their […]
“Wouldn’t it be nice have a few more parks, squares, green spaces, libraries and Urban Trail stops named after other important figures in Asheville’s and Western North Carolina’s history? You might be surprised by how many are not white males.”
A rededication ceremony for the Vance Monument is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, June 6, at the foot of the monument in Pack Square Park in downtown Asheville.
“As a transplanted Northerner, I have always been amazed that the South wants to glorify its past Confederate history while being so quick to overlook its true history, both past and present, of violence, hate, impoverishment and economic and chattel slavery of people. “
For the Swannanoa Valley Museum, the spring season is an excellent time to remind people of what came before and the foundations that facilitate growth.
The upcoming restoration of the Vance monument is said to honor the memory of Zebulon Vance, Confederate military officer and wartime governor. But there’s another side to this story. By many accounts, Vance was a white supremacist who supported and profited from slavery. Many are saying that it’s important to consider what ideals and what history the momunment reflects — and also what is absent.