Town of Eastville may take Northampton’s Confederate statue

February 10, 2021
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Eastville Confederate Monument

By Ted Shockley

 

The Eastville Town Council apparently wants to house on town property the Confederate soldier statue along with a proposed Union soldier statue, according to Betsy Mapp, a member of the Northampton County Board of Supervisors.

Mapp said during a meeting on Tuesday night that she had been in contact with Eastville officials interested in preserving the statue, which last year became a local flashpoint during a national racial reckoning.

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Mapp said she had been in contact with Eastville officials over the tall, slender Confederate monument that has stood on the Northampton courthouse green for more than a century.

“We don’t need to destroy any more history,” she said.

Last month supervisors voted to seek bids for the removal and reestablishment of the statue, but the issue still draws ire among some.

The idea by Eastville would apparently fund the statue’s removal and relocation with town revenues.

Earlier in the meeting, Northampton County resident Allen Hamilton said a petition circulated only briefly in the county received signatures in favor of a proposal made last year to erect a Union solder statue nearby in an African-American likeness.

“This has only been out for a few days,” he said.

The board allowed Mapp to continue talking to Eastville about the monument’s future, but not before a back-and-forth about the matter.

Supervisor John Coker said having Eastville display the statue was “kicking the can down the road,” as he put it, “so that somebody else has the problem.”

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“What problem?” Mapp asked.

Coker said “I personally have a problem” with the statue and the Civil War. He said the statue belongs in an area cemetery.

Supervisor Oliver Bennett said he would prefer the statue wasn’t in such a prominent place, instead of thrown “in your face” where visitors to the town “constantly have to see it.”

“Go back and endure what other folks have,” Bennett said.

But Mapp said, “If Eastville likes the idea of having it, isn’t it better to give it to another government?”

Giving it to another government “ensures it will be treated properly,” she said.

She said the town wants to display the existing Confederate solder and a new Union statue next to it with interpretative signage.

The idea of two statues was brought up last year by retired physician Dr. Arthur Carter, and gained popularity.

“If Eastville wants it, what’s it to us?” said Mapp.

Bennett disagreed.

“It brings back all of those hurts and memories that some folks endured,” he said.

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