Florence County Council Votes To Rescind Confederate Statue

After the promises of community voices and local organizations to fight against the placement of a statue of General Williams W. Harllee, a Confederate leader, on the grounds of the Florence County Museum, the Florence County Council voted to rescind its July vote.

The council’s July vote was 5 to 4 in support of placing the statue on the grounds of the Florence County Museum, despite an earlier vote by the museum’s board of directors to not host the statue on the museum’s grounds.

But it seems like some members of Florence County Council had a change of heart after the Florence National Association for the Advancement of Color People (NAACP) led by Jerry Keith, Jr., and others spoke up regarding the placement of the statue. Florence City Councilperson Pat Gilson Hye Moore joined a group of local residents who asked to address the Florence County Council at its August meeting, but she was denied in an email. Others, though, were allowed to speak at this August meeting.

The Harllee Memorial Sculpture Committee sent a letter to the Florence County Council requesting that the council rescind its first vote. But it still took the community’s strong outcry to force the council to rescind its first vote.

“This is an example of people standing up for what is right. I think this is an awareness, a consciousness, and a wakefulness,” said Jerry Keith.