Douglas J. Butler

Author and Photographer

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North Carolina Civil War Monuments - Fifty State Summits and a Dream to Reach Them All - Mountaineering Books - Hiking Books - Climbing Books - Douglas Butler

North Carolina Civil War Monuments

An Illustrated History

by Douglas J. Butler
272 pp., 137 photos, ISBN: 978-0-7864-6856-0, Softcover. $29.95.
Now Available!

The Willie Parker Peace History Book Award
2014 – Book Awarded – The Willie Parker Peace History Book Award

Monuments of stone and statues of bronze have honored victorious armies and successful leaders through much of recorded history. Following the American Civil War this commemorative tradition expanded to include soldiers of the defeated Confederate States of America (CSA). By the early 20th century, cemetery memorials and courthouse soldier statues honoring the Southern dead and surviving veterans were regional icons, and men of the Confederate army ranked among history’s most commemorated troops. North Carolina Civil War Monuments: An Illustrated History is a carefully researched book with 137 photographs which details North Carolina’s commemorative response to a war in which more than 30,000 of its soldiers died in military service: 101 Confederate monuments – and eight Union memorials, including one honoring African American troops – were dedicated across NC between 1865 and the Civil War centennial in 1961.

The location, design, funding and dedication of these soldier statues reveal a society’s evolving grief and the forging of collective memory. Committee minutes of United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) chapters, financial accounts of Ladies’ Memorial Associations (LMA), legal documents, and contemporaneous accounts are quoted, highlighting the challenging and often contentious process through which these monuments were realized. Manufacturers’ catalogs and advertisements, as well as spirited editorial exchanges in newspapers and magazines, provide further insight into the sculptural, technological and cultural milieu in which these North Carolina monuments, memorials and commemorations were raised.

Photographs by the author, an award-winning photographer, illustrate each monument and provide an invaluable record of all 109 memorials early in the 21st century. Additional images showcase sculptural details, while paired appendices, Union and Confederate, summarize key data in an easy-to-use tabular reference.

Book Awards

Willie Parker Peace History Book Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians
Judges’ Comments:
“A phenomenal volume”
“Careful research extracted from a myriad of sources.”

Book Reviews

“This is a well-researched and well-written book... an excellent source” – Civil War News
“Degree and depth of the research is very impressive... a most useful book” – Blue & Gray Magazine
“A very thorough account of the various monuments built to honor the fallen of the war” – Salisbury Post
“Facts on each monument are fascinating and will keep the book in your hands” – Yadkin Valley Living

Radio Interviews

Listen to my WFDD NPR Radio Interview (shorter)
Listen to my WFDD NPR Radio Interview (longer)

Newspaper Articles

Local Photographer Presents Civil War Nonument Exhibit at High Point Museum – Winston-Salem Journal
Douglas Butler - Author and Global Photographer
Confederate Monument
Fairview Cemetery
Warrenton, NC
Dedicated: August 27, 1903
Speaker: NC Supreme Court Justice W. A. Montgomery
Manufacturer: Cooper Brothers, Raleigh, NC

“Featured Monument”
Douglas Butler - Author and Global Photographer Douglas Butler - Author and Global Photographer
Vance County Confederate Monument
Henderson, NC
Dedicated November 10, 1910
Sponsor: United Daughters of the Confederacy
Monument prose by Orren Randolph Smith, a prominent local citizen widely credited with designing the first Confederate national flag.
“Silent Sam”
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC
Dedicated June 2, 1913
Sponsored jointly by UNC alumni and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, this statue was designed by John Wilson and cast by the Gorham Co. of New York. Sam is considered “silent” because, although armed, he does not wear a cartridge box. Three hundred twenty one UNC students, alumni, and faculty died fighting for the Confederacy.
Buy Autographed Copy: $29.95 plus $4.95 Shipping

Write Your Personalization in the Order Notes.
North Carolina Civil War Monuments - Fifty State Summits and a Dream to Reach Them All - Mountaineering Books - Hiking Books - Climbing Books - Douglas Butler

About the Author

Dr. Douglas Butler is an independent scholar and practicing physician living in northwestern North Carolina. For twenty years this award-winning photographer explored remote areas across five continents, sharing these adventures through prose and image. During the past five years his travels have been closer to home as he studied the history of North Carolina’s Civil War monuments and photographed each of the state’s 109 commemorations raised in the century after Appomattox. North Carolina Civil War Monuments: An Illustrated History (McFarland, 2013), a carefully researched and fully documented book with photographs of each monument, is the result—as is a traveling photo exhibition. Butler’s work has been featured in regional and national publications, and he has written two previous books, Ashe County: Discovering the Lost Province (1992, out of print) and A Walk Atop America: Fifty State Summits and a Dream to Reach Them All (Parkway, 2007).

Other Books by Douglas Butler

A Walk Atop America

Appearances and Events

Lecture and Book Signing:
After Appomattox: North Carolina Civil War Monuments
Lewisville Historical Society
Lewisville Branch Public Library
6490 Shallowford Road
Lewisville, NC 27023
336-703-2940
Monday May 13, 2019; 6:00 p.m.

Memorial Day Presentation:
After Appomattox: North Carolina Civil War Monuments
Old Stokes County Courthouse
1012 Main St.
Danbury, NC 27016
Sunday May 26, 2019; 3:00 p.m.

Book Signing and Photography Sale:
Art on the Mountain
Ashe County Arts Council
303 School Ave.
West Jefferson, NC 28694
336-846-2787
Saturday September 28, 2019; 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

Lecture and Book Signing:
After Appomattox: North Carolina Civil War Monuments
Yadkin County Public Library
233 E. Main St.
Yadkinville, NC 27055
336-679-8792
Tuesday October 8, 2019; 12:00 p.m.

Veterans Presentation and Book Signing:
After Appomattox: North Carolina Civil War Monuments
Ashe County Public Library
148 Library Rd.
West Jefferson, NC 28694
336-846-2041
Wednesday November 13, 2019; 11:00 a.m.

Lecture and Book Signing:
After Appomattox: North Carolina Civil War Monuments
Alleghany County Public Library
115 Atwood St.
Sparta, NC 28675
336-372-5573
Thursday May 28, 2020; 6:30 p.m.
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Memberships & Links

A Walk Atop America
Highpointers
North Carolina Humanities Council Speakers Bureau
Muddy River Art
Associated Artists of Winston-Salem

Douglas J. Butler

Author and Photographer

5754 US Highway 221 N
Crumpler, NC 28617-9403

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North Carolina Civil War Monuments-An Illustrated History
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