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Size | 86,415 tweet identifiers (1.105 GB) |
Abstract | The #SilenceSam collected tweets contain tweets harvested from the Twitter (https://twitter.com) social media platform. During the 2017 to 2018 academic year, students and other activists organized protests calling for the removal of the Confederate monument (known as Silent Sam) on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus. The protests began with a rally on 22 August 2017 and a subsequent continuous sit-in until 31 August 2017. The following year, on August 20, 2018, a rally protesting the monument was held on McCorkle Place and on Franklin Street. Protestors toppled the monument at approximately 9:20pm on August 20, 2018. On 14 January 2019, Chancellor Carol Folt announced her resignation and ordered the removal of the monument pedestal. Activists and others from the community were also active on Twitter using two primary hashtags, #silencesam and #silentsam. Also included in this collection are captures of a few related hashtags (#boycottunc, #boycottunctownhall, #iaarchat, #silentsham) and two Twitter accounts (@Move_Silent_Sam and @dailytarheel). The data in this collection represents only a snapshot of tweets related to significant protests and events from August 2017 through December 2017, May 2018, August 2018 through September 2018, December 2018 through May 2019, August 2019, December 2019, and February 2020. |
Creator | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. University Archives. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. University Archives. |
Language | English |
This finding aid compiles archival collecting, description, and preservation work performed by: Jessica Venlet, February 2018
Encoded by: Jodi Berkowitz, February 2018
Revisions by Jessica Venlet and Laura Smith, June 2018, January 2019, and September 2019; Jessica Venlet and Nancy Kaiser, April 2020.
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
During the 2017 fall semester, students and other activists organized protests calling for the removal of the Confederate Monument (known as Silent Sam) on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus. The protests began with a rally on 22 August 2017 and a continuous sit-in until 31 August 2017. Following the sit-in, organizers continued to protest through demonstrations at South Building and Board of Trustees meetings, daily protests at the monument, a boycott of UNC student stores in September and October 2017, and more. On 30 April 2018, Maya Little, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, poured red ink and her blood on the monument in protest of the statue's existence on the University's campus. On 20 August 2018, a rally protesting the monument was held on McCorkle Place and on Franklin Street. Protesters toppled the monument at approximately 9:20 pm on 20 August 2018.
On 3 December 2018, The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees announced a proposal to build a $5.3 million facility to house the monument. In response to the proposal, teaching assistants organized a grade strike beginning on 7 December 2018. The strike ended on 17 December 2018 after the Board of Governors rejected the Trustees' proposal on 14 December 2018. On 14 January 2019, Chancellor Carol Folt announced her resignation and ordered the removal of the monument pedestal. The pedestal was removed on the evening of 14 January 2019. Protests and counter-protests by neo-confederate groups and anti-racist activists occurred on 3 December 2018, 23 February 2019, 16 March 2019, and 4 May 2019. During the protests on 16 March 2019, members of a neo-confederate group brought firearms onto campus, but no arrests were made. The UNC-Chapel Hill Unsung Founders memorial and an art installation outside the Hanes Art Center were vandalized on 31 March 2019. On 24 April 2019, anti-racist activists organized a rally, #StrikeBackUNC, to demonstrate against the behavior of police during protests and the treatment of student activists.
On 27 November 2019, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors announced a settlement regarding the disposition of the UNC-Chapel Hill Confederate monument known as "Silent Sam." Among other terms, the settlement granted the North Carolina Division Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc. ownership of the monument and a $2.5 million charitable trust for expenses related to care of the monument. On 12 February 2020, Orange County Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour overturned the settlement ruling that the NC SVC lacked standing to bring the lawsuit against UNC.
Back to TopThe #SilenceSam Twitter Collection contains tweets harvested from the Twitter (https://twitter.com) social media platform. Included in the collection are tweets containing the hashtags #silencesam and #silentsam. Also included in this collection are captures of a few related hashtags (#boycottunc, #boycottunctownhall, #iaarchat, #silentsham) and two Twitter accounts (@Move_Silent_Sam and @dailytarheel).
The protests were ongoing as of December 2019 and the data in this collection represents only a snapshot of tweets from August 2017 through December 2017, May 2018, August 2018 through September 2018, December 2018 through May 2019, August 2019, December 2019, and February 2020.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological within search.
This dataset contains Twitter JSON data for several Twitter search queries that were collected related to the Fall 2017 Confederate Monument protests. The tweets were collected using the twarc (https://github.com/edsu/twarc) python package that makes use of Twitter's API.
The following hashtags were captured between August 22, 2017 and December 15, 2017: #silentsam, #silencesam.
The following related accounts and hashtags were also captured though not as frequently as the #silentsam and #silencesam tags: #iaarchat: a Twitter chat hashtag organized by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute of African American Research during which three professors (Erika Wilson, Kenneth Andrews, and John Bowles) discussed how they are bringing Silent Sam and Charlottesville into their classroom discussions. Collected on 09/15/2017; #boycottunc: Organizers led a boycott of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill products from September 18, 2017 to October 18, 2017. This hashtag was part of the effort. Collected on 9/29/2017 and 10/20/2017; #boycottunctownhall: A Twitter chat facilitated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Black Congress and held on October 5, 2017. Collected on 10/6/2017.
Digital Folder DF-40486/1 |
Tweet identifier lists, Fall 2017 |
Acquisitions Information: RT 20180511.1.
This dataset contains Twitter data collected from the @Move_Silent_Sam account following Maya Little's protest on April 30, 2018. The tweets were collected using the twarc (https://github.com/edsu/twarc) python package that makes use of Twitter's search API. Tweets were collected on May 4, 2018 and May 11, 2018.
Digital Folder DF-40486/2 |
Tweet identifiers list, May 2018 |
Acquisitions Information: RT 20181008.1.
This dataset contains Twitter data collected from the @Move_Silent_Sam account, @dailytarheel account, and hashtags #silentsam and #silencesam following the protest and toppling of the Confederate monument known as Silent Sam on August 20, 2018.
The tweets were collected using the twarc (https://github.com/edsu/twarc) python package that makes use of Twitter's API. Tweets from @Move_Silent_Sam and the hashtags #silencesam and #silentsam were collected between 24 August 2018 and 21 September 2018. Tweets from @dailytarheel were collected once on 28 August 2018 in an effort to capture live tweeting of statements made by individuals at the demonstrations on 27 August 2018.
Digital Folder DF-40486/3 |
Tweet Identifiers lists, August-September 2018 |
Acquisitions Information: RT 20190808.3.
This dataset contains Twitter data collected from the @Move_Silent_Sam account and hashtags #silentsam and #silencesam, #StrikeBackUNC, and #StrikeDownSam. Several events prompted the collection of tweets between December 2018 and May 2019:
• Announcement of the Board of Trustees' proposal for the disposition of the monument on 3 December 2018
• The TA Grade Strike that started on 7 December 2018 (#StrikeDownSam)
• Removal of the monument pedestal by Chancellor Folt on 14 January 2019
• Protests and counter-protests by neo-confederate groups and anti-racist activists on 3 December 2018 and 23 February 2019
• Protests on 16 March 2019 during which members of a neo-confederate group were in possession of firearms on campus
• Vandalism of the Unsung Founders monument and an art installation outside the Hanes Art Center on 31 March 2019
• Rally and a new hashtag (#StrikeBackUNC) challenging campus policing at UNC-CH on 24 April 2019
• Protests and counter-protests by neo-confederate groups and anti-racist activists on 4 May 2019
The tweets were collected using the twarc (https://github.com/edsu/twarc) python package that makes use of Twitter's API. Tweets were collected in 2-3 week periods following events listed above. For specific dates when searches were performed view the documentation file available in the digital repository.
Digital Folder DF-40486/4 |
Tweet identifier lists, December 2018-May 2019 |
Acquisitions Information: RT 20200401.1
This dataset contains Twitter data from the hashtags #silentsam and #silentsham following the one year anniversary of the toppling of the Confederate monument, the November 2019 announcement of the Board of Governor's settlement with the North Carolina Division Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc., and the February 2020 hearing regarding the settlement.
The tweets were collected using the twarc (https://github.com/edsu/twarc) python package that makes use of Twitter's API. The #silentsam hashtag was collected on 23 August 2019. The #silentsam and #silentsham hashtags were collected on 6 December 2019, 13 December 2019, 20 December 2019, and 14 February 2020.
Digital Folder DF-40486/5 |
Tweet Identifier Lists, August 2019, December 2019, February 2020 |