ABOUT THE BOOK

The monuments of South Carolina bear on their weathered faces and cracked tablets a history of honor and of memory embodied in stone. Whether revealing the lost graves of Southern sons, unveiling the history of the only national cemetery to inter Confederate soldiers alongside the Union fallen during wartime or recording the simple obelisks that reach for heaven throughout the Palmetto State, this volume is a story of remembrance and of mourning. Kristina Dunn Johnson, curator of history with the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, shares with us the powerful stories of memory and acceptance that are the legacy of the Confederacy, as varied as those who lie beneath the Southern soil.

A pictorial history of South Carolina's Confederate monuments and resting places, as well as an examination of the statewide movement that created them. Not meant to be considered a definitive compilation [the author recommends Robert Seigler's Passing the Silent Cup: A Guide to Confederate Monuments in South Carolina as the best reference], Johnson, using a variety of published and unpublished sources, adopts a selective approach, one that allows a deeper exploration into meaning and trends. As with most titles from this publisher, this volume is abundantly illustrated with dozens of photos of monuments, gravesites, and dedication ceremonies.