Charleston United Daughters of the Confederacy Chapter Sues Local School District

Charleston United Daughters of the Confederacy Chapter Sues Local School District

The local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) has initiated legal proceedings against the Charleston County School District seeking reinstatement of a historical marker dedicated to Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Previously sited at Charleston Charter School on King Street, the marker was removed by the city in July 2021 and has since been kept in storage.

Violation of the South Carolina Heritage Act

The lawsuit, filed on July 15, asserts that the school district violated the South Carolina Heritage Act. This legislative act mandates that monuments and memorials commemorating American wars or Native or African American history present on public grounds cannot be “relocated, removed, disturbed, or altered” without consent from the state legislature. A two-thirds majority in the General Assembly was originally required for such approval, although this provision was nullified by the state’s Supreme Court in 2021.

The Robert E. Lee Memorial Highway Marker

The stone-and-metal marker, initially erected by the UDC in 1947, was donated to the then M. Rutledge Rivers Junior High School. The call for its removal was made by school officials and also happened to receive backing from the district. The marker resides in storage since the July 2021 removal.

Previous Legal Battles Over Historic Figures

This lawsuit isn’t the first instance where the removal of controversial historic markers has led to legal disputes in the city. The American Heritage Association had previously sued the city over the Lee marker’s removal, with South Carolina’s Attorney General Alan Wilson siding with the group and alleging the city breach of the Heritage Act.

In response, the city contended that the removal did not violate the Heritage Act as the marker was not explicitly a “war memorial.” In addition to this, city attorneys declared that the stretch of King Street where the marker was positioned was not officially named the “Robert E. Lee Memorial Highway”. This lawsuit was subsequently dropped in September 2022.

A similar controversy involving descendants of John C. Calhoun, the former vice president, arose when they disputed the removal of a statue from Marion Square. This lawsuit, also financed by the American Heritage Association, was dropped in September 2022.

The South Carolina Heritage Act

At the heart of the UDC lawsuit is the South Carolina Heritage Act. This legislation states that no monuments, memorials or dedicated public spaces named in honor of historical figures or events related to America’s war history, African American history, or Native American history can be “relocated, removed, disturbed, or altered” without local government permission. It also explicitly forbids any action that may prevent the maintenance, preservation, and protection of such monuments, memorials, and publicly acknowledged names.

At this stage, representatives from both the local UDC chapter and the school district have not yet issued public comments regarding the recent lawsuit.