Silent Sam

Silent Sam is a statue of a Confederate soldier by John Wilson on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is located on McCorkle Place, the university's upper quad; facing Franklin Street on the northern edge of campus.

The statue was funded by the University Alumni and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It was erected in 1913 as a memorial to the 321 alumni who lost their lives in the American Civil War and all students who joined the Confederate States Army. More than one thousand members of the university fought in the American Civil War in either the Northern or Southern armies, comprising at least 40% of the student body, a statistic that was unequaled by any other school. A bronze image on the front of the memorial depicts a young student dropping his books as he looks up to answer a call to duty. The statue was to commemorate 50 years since the beginning of the war (1911).

Similar to the sculpture Wilson created of an unarmed Union soldier Daniel A. Bean, Wilson created a "silent" statue by not including a cartridge box on the Confederate soldier's belt so he cannot fire his gun.

Like its neighbor, the Unsung Founders Memorial, the statue has frequently been a source of controversy. It is seen by some as symbol of historical remembrance, while others view it as a sign of racial oppression. Students gathered here to speak out after Los Angeles police officers were found not guilty in the 1992 Rodney King trial.

In July 2015, the statue was vandalized. The statue has been the focus of protests, and many have called for its removal.