In researching his new book
North Carolina Civil War Monuments: An Illustrated History, author, photographer, Douglas Butler uncovered lots of competing interests immediately following the war as different groups sought to advance their own version of what the war had been about and what it had accomplished. There were numerous cost concerns, Northern and African American interests, but even among those who wanted to commemorate the Confederate dead and veterans, there was a lot of controversy over where to put the monuments. Doug says that initially they were placed in the middle of busy intersections as favored by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
