White Supremacist or Philanthropist? Julian Carr and Durham's Commemorative Landscape

Adam Domby argues that the Lost Cause ideology that emerged after the Civil War and flourished in the early twentieth century in essence sought to recast a struggle to perpetuate slavery as a heroic defense of the South. This was not only an insidious goal, but was founded on falsehoods, including those peddled by one of Duke's primary early benefactors, Julian Carr. As a graduate student, he resurfaced from archives the speech Julian Carr delivered at the inauguration of UNC-Chapel Hill's "Silent Sam" statue, helping spur protests and the statue's ultimate removal. Domby is an assistant professor of history at the College of Charleston His new book is The False Cause: Fraud, Fabrication, and White Supremacy in Confederate Memory (University of Virginia Press, 2020). Copies will be available for sale after the talk.