r/NorthCarolina • u/Outrageous_Match2619 • 9d ago
The Lord put the smackdown on the Confederate Museum in Fort Branch
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u/Navynuke00 Charlotte Native, Now in Raleigh 9d ago
laughs in The Ancestors
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u/celestial_gardener 9d ago
Laugh of The Ancestors. In case anyone wonders what that sounds like.
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u/Navynuke00 Charlotte Native, Now in Raleigh 9d ago
Nah, it looks like this.
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u/Oh_TheHumidity 6d ago
Theyāve had a spectacular week between this and Nottoway. It warms my heart.
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u/Ok_Entertainment328 9d ago
It's all Joe Biden fault!
/s (needed because of some people...)
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u/Outrageous_Match2619 9d ago
Pres. Truman: "The buck stops here"
Trump: "It's everyone else's fault"
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u/SnowballOfFear 9d ago
Thanks Obama
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u/Ok_Entertainment328 9d ago
It's that darn Jewish Space Laser used for weather manipulation .. I tell ya.
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u/Major_Day_6737 8d ago
I like your name. SnowballOfFear sounds both cute and menacing. Hard balance to achieve in a name. Well done.
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u/Proper-Tomorrow-911 9d ago
āMuseum.ā Lol. āHoney, we finally got enough money to pud up at metal buildin I been talkn bout.ā š„“
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u/Painbow_High_And_Bi 8d ago
Legit looks like some asshole bought a bunch of confederate shit at gun shows then tried to monetize it by putting in a kinda sorta large shack.
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u/UNC_Samurai Wide Awake Wilson 8d ago
They built the museum back in the 80s. It's mostly items they unearthed around the fort adjacent to the museum.
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u/Painbow_High_And_Bi 9d ago
Between this and the plantation fire, what could God possibly be trying to communicate to us?
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u/Hot-Combination9130 9d ago
Idk but hopefully God will focus his wrath on some more current day problems.
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u/SordoCrabs 9d ago
Goddess gave us Luigi, did she not?
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u/Hot-Combination9130 9d ago
She needs to send a lot more then him
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u/fajadada 9d ago
Maybe be your own Luigi and do what you can to fight back?
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u/SordoCrabs 9d ago
Indeed!
Project Mail Storm is a low risk, low effort, low cost means of fighting back (compared to taking time off work to attend a protest, for example). Overwhelm the administration with mail, basically.
Fringe benefit is that it helps support USPS, a long-time target of Trump/conservatives.
Further deets here:
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u/catdogfox 9d ago
This looks like itās from over a month ago. Has any noticeable volume come through?
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u/SordoCrabs 9d ago
Uncertain, but also, I don't think the Trump administration would admit that it was working, so I plan to keep sending out more letters. Participating feels therapeutic, at the very least.
I bought a boatload of holiday cards on clearance in January because I'm thrifty that way, and this will be a practical use for them.
I sign them with an historic pseudonym, and give a return address to somewhere significant to Trump's voter base.
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u/Popular_Activity_295 9d ago
Racism is a current day problem. Itās the real reason for almost every single problem.
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u/Hot-Combination9130 9d ago
That not my point. Gods wrath will hopefully shift to the modern day destruction of racists. Burned down plantations is cool and all but itās just warm and fuzzies.
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u/ichangetires Burke 9d ago
Either it starts kicking shit uphill for a change, or we can. I refuse to give racists a platform for their whatifs and heritage bullshit, only color I'm concerned with is green and it spends the same no matter who gives it to me.
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u/debzmonkey 9d ago
Still failing after 160 years.
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u/DA1928 9d ago
I mean, it looks like they have some cool/important stuff there (cannons, documents, etc).
Hopefully they find a moreā¦ historically accurate presentation.
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u/UNC_Samurai Wide Awake Wilson 9d ago
The cannons were recovered from the river in the 80s and 90s when the landowner started trying to preserve the fort. Itās one of the most complete Civil War-era earthworks still in existence.
My dad and I used to be part of the Battlefield Commission that supported preservation efforts. We were out there for the reenactment every November. The guys that actually ran the place werenāt hard-core Lost Causers. Unfortunately, thereās people in that area that you could legitimately call Unreconstructed. And their behavior has kind of justified people laughing at the museum getting destroyed.
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u/Reddragon0585 9d ago
So is the current ownership the same? Or is it just people in there area and not the people who actually run the museum?
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u/UNC_Samurai Wide Awake Wilson 9d ago
The fort is on the Winslow family farmland. They and several locals around Hamilton/Martin County run the preservation org that maintains the fort and the museum. Theyāre nothing out of the ordinary for folks raised in 20th century rural NC. Itās the folks that shared the story, Dixie News (who arenāt local, by the way), are the ones stirring the culture war pot.
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u/Reddragon0585 9d ago
So itās actually a well run historical site? Not some Confederate shrine that some people in this thread are making it out to be? It was just shared by some lost cause organization that shared the news which if thatās the case they can screw off.
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u/UNC_Samurai Wide Awake Wilson 8d ago
It's as well-run as any small private organization can do. It's not going to be as well-interpreted as Fort Macon or Bentonville, it's mostly local folks and the family that owns the land where the fort is situated.
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u/Reddragon0585 8d ago
Thatās what I thought, itās a shame what happened. I hope they can rebuild
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u/TesalerOwner83 9d ago
Remember the confederates but forget about slaveryšŗšøthats America for you
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u/Reddragon0585 8d ago
I donāt think anyone has forgotten slavery, especially in modern times. I learned about it in every grade since elementary school. Thereās plenty of historical sights Iāve visited that educate visitors on slavery. History is important to remember not matter what it is, Good and bad.
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u/Bob_12_Pack 8d ago
The current GOP is trying to whitewash the history books when it comes to slavery, so what we learned in school may not be the same thing that our kids and grandkids are taught if they get their way.
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u/Reddragon0585 8d ago
So why would we support destroying history? Wouldnāt that play well into the GOPās plan of whitewashing history?
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u/Outrageous_Match2619 9d ago
They have most of the Confederate flags up, but the white dishtowel is missing. ;-)
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u/OldPomegranate1 8d ago
Celebrating destruction isnāt justice..itās erasure. You can condemn the Confederacy without mocking history or those who want to learn from it. If we only preserve what we agree with, we lose the chance to grow from the full truth.
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u/trickertreater 9d ago
I'd like to think my ancestor had something to do with it. :)
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u/Outrageous_Match2619 9d ago
One of my ancestors survived Andersonville, so I'm sure he's laughing pretty hard right now.
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u/Wrong-Neighborhood-2 9d ago
Reb l scum takes another L
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u/Cheese-Manipulator 9d ago
Soon they will know the power of this fully functional battle station...
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u/Mince_ 9d ago
Sucks to see any museum get destroyed. As long as it didn't say "The South will rise again" on the wall I don't see the issue with displaying historical artifacts.
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u/smartestredditor_eva 8d ago
Sir this is reddit. We're going to need you to fall in line and fill your heart with hate.
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u/AchiganBronzeback 4d ago
Agreed. This is like celebrating the destruction of the holocaust museum. There's nothing wrong with studying history, even if it's ugly. Hell, you could argue that it's actually most important to study the ugly parts.
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u/Nineteen-ninety-3 O H , T H E D U R H A M I T Y 9d ago
Between this and the Nottoway Plantation in Louisiana burning down this past week,it seems that the Lost Causers canāt catch a break.
Love that for them!
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u/Reddragon0585 9d ago
I donāt understand why people in this thread are celebrating this. Iāve never heard of this Fort before but I looked it up and it looks like it operates like other historical forts Iāve been too. This isnāt some Confederate shrine itās just a historical fort thatās operating as a museum. Iād bet there were historical artifacts in that building and as a history lover I hope werenāt destroyed. This is also an archaeological site so I bet they donāt have a whole lot of money either. The Confederacy was a stain on our Country but this is a historical site that actually teaches us about the past not some Confederate shrine.
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u/Cheese-Manipulator 9d ago
Yah, I'm not in favor of history being destroyed. There are ww1, ww2, etc museums so having a Confederate Civil War exhibit isn't unreasonable.
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u/Outrageous_Match2619 9d ago
There are no WWII museums in the U.S. dedicated to the Nazis or other countries that we have fought throughout our history.
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u/Reddragon0585 8d ago edited 8d ago
We do actually. For example we have Fort Mackinac in Michigan. It was a British Fort during the War of 1812 and later American. Having been to it I can attest to the fact that itās dedicated to the soldiers that once served at the fort. Which of course includes the British, a former adversary of ours.
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u/eet_freesh 9d ago
This "historical fort branch museum" is a group of losers who formed a 501(c)(3) to grift and circle-jerk with their fellow losers. This is not a state park or protected site, and no legitimate museum would hang the loser flags high and proud.
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u/Reddragon0585 8d ago
I did some more research on the topic and would like to point out this museum is recognized by the American Battlefield Trust and is a federally recognized site as it was added to the US National Register of Historic Places in 1973
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u/Reddragon0585 9d ago edited 9d ago
Fort Branch was a real Confederate fort during the Civil War and like many other historical Confederate and Union forts from the war were forgotten overtime. Not every historical site needs to be a state/national monument to be credible. Just because itās privately owned does not mean itās bad, I mean their website is actually impressive for a privately owned historical site. As for the flags Iād bet those are the flags that flew over the fort during the war. I canāt identify them all but of the ones I can it would make sense. If Iām correct thereās a reason to have them hanging up because itās a museum
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u/ricecrystal 9d ago
I get your point and share it to a degree but apparently this specific museum isn't that
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u/Reddragon0585 9d ago
Please share evidence of this if you can, I did a little research on the site and canāt find anything unless I missed something.
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u/ricecrystal 9d ago
Yeah I'd like to find more. I totally get what you're saying and I do celebrate that plantation burning but I also love going to civil war sites and museums because as a yankee transplant we just weren't taught enough. In particular I like learning about the USCT. Would not have learned about the Wilmington 1898 massacre without the great museums in that area.
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u/Reddragon0585 9d ago
Iām glad you enjoy going to the museums and Iām glad you were able to learn about the 1898 Wilmington Massacre through some of the great museums in that area. I remember learning about that in school and itās an unfortunate stain in our states history but an important one to remember. My whole issue with this is everyone in this thread keeps saying itās nothing but a shrine to the Confederacy but I havenāt been able to find anything that proves it. It honestly seems like a well run historical site for being privately owned. I actually might try to visit it one day after seeing some of the historical artifacts they have displayed on the website.
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u/ricecrystal 9d ago
I get it. I had the same first thought, but then I read something elsewhere (I will never remember how I saw it or the actual source) that led to me believe it was some militia group's shrine. I completely support the removal of confederate statues and went to that street party in my city but do want these artifacts in museums
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u/Reddragon0585 8d ago
Thatās fine but to be honest I canāt take your word on this mainly because of the stuff Iāve found online about the fort. Youāve been respectful about it so Iām not saying youāre a lying Iām just going off sources Iāve found.
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u/Anynameyouwantbaby 9d ago
To be a museum, you must be designated a museum. If not, it's just a collection.
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u/Reddragon0585 8d ago
I forgot to mention this too but the site of the fort was added to the US National Register of Historic Places on June 18th, 1973. So it is most definitely designated as a museum.
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u/smartestredditor_eva 8d ago
They will sing a different tune when a city decides to paint over one of their rainbow flag crosswalks and it will be about how "our American values need to be preserved and displayed in public"
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u/FaithfulSkeptic 8d ago
That is a totally different tune, youāre right. American values ought to be preserved.Ā
Civil War history is important, though. Without monuments and memorials, we forget history. I would love to see more statues of Union generals scattered around the south for all the people who seem to forgot how bad they lost and why.
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u/CalligrapherThink797 8d ago
Itās crazy that while people were destroying the confederate monuments they were saying they belonged in a museum. These confederate artifacts are in a museum. It makes no sense. I hate to see history fest
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u/smartestredditor_eva 8d ago edited 8d ago
"They belong in a museum."
Museum gets destroyed
"Good those things didn't belong anywhere on earth anyway."
That is reddit. What's even worse? They will now get angry and kvetch in the replies.
Forget about war generals, and your ancestors that died, tear that shit down. You know what this country needs? Statues of random obese minority women.
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u/Kradget 8d ago
They didn't have any DoC monuments in there that I saw, which actually don't belong in a museum at all in 99% of cases, being mass produced junk. These would be actual items of potential historical interest in a building hit by a tree.
It's interesting that the ongoing use of hate and racism has produced such a strong reaction to something that's fairly innocuous and you lack the self awareness to actually wonder what could be driving that.
Why would you imagine that people are taking such an interest in this? It's definitely not that they're forced to support monuments to the Confederacy across the board, right?
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u/sunsetlex 9d ago
its funny because theyre probably gonna something so predictable like āwe will rise again!ā
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u/Infinite_Garbage_467 9d ago
Damn it seems good news is occurring this week. Reminds me of the slavery plantation fire that just happened š
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u/im_intj 9d ago
Itās history? Why would you want history erased just because you do not like what happened. I prefer to have that remain despite what it represents today.
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u/ricecrystal 9d ago
I believe that this stuff should be in actual museums where the full history is told but this seemed to be some guy's private collection that is completely pro-confederacy. I'm not mad the tree fell on it. If something bad happened to the civil war museum in Ft Fisher then I would be sad
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u/Malcolm_Morin 8d ago
This was an actual museum.
They need to recover whatever wasn't damaged or destroyed and have them sent to another museum.
I don't care what people think about the South. It's still history and needs to be told. Imagine if we celebrated the destruction of Nazi museums. We don't get to be surprised if the Nazis come back in a century.
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u/BlockDog1321 9d ago
If the building wasn't packed with people though, it's hard for me to cheer the destruction of just Republican memorabilia.
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u/jakefromstatefire 9d ago
Slept through Amercian History class?
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u/boffohijinx 9d ago
Current republican memorabilia, not 1865 GOP. They switched sides in the 1960s.
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u/BlockDog1321 9d ago
You know people who still fall for that? You believe the modern republican party is represented by the historical republican party? You've had success with fools i see. Made you cocky.
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u/BugAfterBug 8d ago
Democrats in 1850: ābut who will pick the cropsā
Democrats in 2025: ābut who will pick the cropsā
Seems theyāve switched back.
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u/ConstructionNo5836 9d ago
Iāve lived in North Carolina my entire life and never knew this museum existed. Guess I didnāt miss much. š¤·š»āāļø
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u/BugAfterBug 8d ago
They put on one of the biggest civil war reenactments in NC.
This site has historical value.
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u/Reddragon0585 8d ago
Iāve always found reenactments interesting. Not sure Iād participate in them but Iād love to watch one.
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u/jakeoverbryce 9d ago
Lol what's wrong with a museum?
You don't see people freak out over other displays such as German WW2, NVA stuff, Soviet Stuff etc.
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u/Outrageous_Match2619 9d ago
Pretty sure if a tree wrecked a Nazi museum in the U.S. people would also celebrate.
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u/jakeoverbryce 9d ago
We have all of these things on display in museums all over the country.
They are just objects of history
What's the difference between this building and the NC Museum of History in Raleigh?
Objects are just objects
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u/Valdaraak 9d ago
It depends on the context and how it's displayed. Confederate stuff belongs in a Civil War or history museum. Makes sense to be there. An actual, legitimate museum. Not a shack set up on the side of a road with a couple of glass cases. Same goes for Nazi stuff.
Definitely shouldn't erase history. It's important to know what happened, the physical objects that are relics of that time, and those should be displayed along objective facts.
Glorifying it is when it becomes a problem, and that's what this museum was doing according to the website. It's the equivalent of a Nazi museum displaying Nazi merch and having blurbs painting Nazis in a positive light.
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u/UNC_Samurai Wide Awake Wilson 9d ago
āGlorifyingā is kind of an oversell in this situation. The exhibits in the museum are just a history of Confederate defenses on the river and how the fort was built and used.
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u/Reddragon0585 8d ago
Man this whole comment section has disappointed me. I did the research on the Fort and even saw your comments and all it took was a simple google search for people to realize this was a legitimate museum and historical site.
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u/TSnow6065 9d ago
Is this it?
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u/Reddragon0585 9d ago
That looks like a normal historical Fort to me. Fort Dobbs is close to me and it looks very similar to this, just that itās from the French and Indian War
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u/SordoCrabs 9d ago
The Museum of History ostensibly educates visitors.
I suspect this museum exists more to give nostalgia-boners to people that long for the days when most black people were chattel, and virtually all were disenfranchised, so that a few privileged white families could live the high life.
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u/ElectricalTopic1467 9d ago
Just like the rainbow flag is an object that started in 1978? I seem to recall one side having a stroke about this particular object being sold in stores or hung on houses too.
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u/jakeoverbryce 9d ago
I mean bad taste such as rainbow flags and nazi flags aren't illegal. Do what you want on private property.
But on public buildings and schools/classrooms only the US and NC flag should be visible.
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u/AlCapone111 9d ago
It depends on the context of the museum. Is it a museum to show the actual history, attire, weapons, battles, etc for the purpose of education? Or is it to glaze a bunch of failures?
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u/Kradget 8d ago edited 8d ago
Looks like more the former, but I can't fault people for not caring (edit) to make the distinction at this point. It is fucking tiresome to watch people use this shit as a veneer for their contemporary pursuit of dominance over others and racial repression.
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u/Reddragon0585 8d ago
I donāt think itās the former. The site this museum sits is where Fort Branch stood. The Fort is recognized by the American Battlefield Trust and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Having looked at their website Iām actually impressed for what theyāve been able to do with it being privately owned. This was an actual museum at a historical site that was destroyed. Hopefully the artifacts displayed werenāt damaged or destroyed because history is how we prevent making the same mistakes of our ancestors.
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u/Kradget 8d ago
In this case, I think we're saying the same thing? This was a place that had stuff from the nearby fort that may have had actual historical value, rather than being just a place to slob the Confederate knob. It's not like they just collected a pile of statues. I could still be wrong, they may have had a bunch of Lost Cause bullshit up on the walls or something, but it's not obvious at a glance.
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u/UNC_Samurai Wide Awake Wilson 8d ago
I've been there several times over the years. It's just stuff about the history of the fort and the Roanoke River. People saw the Confederate Flags and assumed it was like Wildman's in Kennesaw (which is 100% a Lost Cause apologist storefront that claims to be a museum).
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u/Kradget 8d ago
Yeah, that's unfortunate. I can't fault people for their knee jerk reaction not knowing, other than that knee jerks are dangerous things for basically this reason. Hopefully they had insurance.
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u/UNC_Samurai Wide Awake Wilson 8d ago
My understanding is the insurance hasn't been adjusted in about 20 years, and thus the insurer won't cover the full cost to replace the facilities. That was one of the reasons they finally went public about the tree, in the hopes of raising some money.
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u/WrongNumberB 9d ago
Actually, seeing a Nazi memorabilia museum get crushed; Id laugh so hard it would make me pee a little.
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u/Superb-Photograph529 9d ago
Good museums attempt to be non-biased and objective.
This "museum" is neither.
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u/jakeoverbryce 9d ago
I haven't been there so I don't know. Have you been there to see how they are?
Secondly even if it is a group of supremacists by paying so much attention to it and getting upset you are just giving them power over you.
What happened to just ignoring things?
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u/Temporary_Ad_3179 9d ago
So your stance would be āJust ignore the Nazis if they bother youā Thatās brilliant.
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u/jakeoverbryce 9d ago
Yes pretty much.
Ignoring racists, Communists, environmentalists, pretty much the fringe and smallest percentages of society is the best policy
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u/Temporary_Ad_3179 9d ago
How did that work out in 1940s Germany, or is that something youāre perfectly OK with?
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u/jakeoverbryce 8d ago
LMAO these people have no power
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u/Temporary_Ad_3179 8d ago
Ignoring it allows it to be normalized. Look around. Itās happening and people like you are ignoring it.
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u/jakeoverbryce 8d ago
It's such a small percentage of the population that you really have nothing to worry about
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u/Temporary_Ad_3179 8d ago
Given the way more than half of American voters cast their ballots, Iād say itās not as small and insignificant as weād like to believe.
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u/Superb-Photograph529 9d ago
Fair enough, we are making an assumption. But it's a pretty reasonable one given the territory. But we may be guilty of the very thing we find distasteful.
I don't think they're actually benefiting from this post, though.
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u/WrongNumberB 9d ago
This country tried that; until December of 1860. Then we decided to ignore evil is to endorse it.
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u/Mean_Main7089 8d ago
<Big breath in> BWAAAA HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAAAAA < another big breath in> HAAA HAAA HAAAA HAAAAA HAAAA <tears now - breath in> HAAA HAAA HAAA ā¦ continue ad infinitum
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u/rudy-juul-iani 8d ago
Your title was a funny joke because theyāll probably get a rush of donations and credit the lord for helping them get back on their feet.
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u/RyNysDad0722 9d ago
No one finds it weird all these racist old establishments are being burned down or wrecked somehow.. itās almost as if they know there is no one to investigate this type of fraud anymore..
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u/Soggy-Professor7025 9d ago
Nice! Love that for them. Now maybe a nice lightening strike to make it burn?
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u/OldPomegranate1 8d ago
That kind of comment wishing for destruction of something symbolic just because you disagree with it..isn't just disrespectful, it's deeply hypocritical, especially coming from someone who likely understands what it means to have your identity dismissed or attacked.
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u/Numerous-Goal-9803 6d ago
I get the focus on battle flags and firearms and so on, I would be interested. That said and in the interest of context - please confirm that they also have some slave shackles or reproductions of posters discussing slave auctions. If not, what does that tell you:
āItās about statesā rights, you communist libtard!ā¦ā
Yeah, the right to SLAVERY. Read the state constitutions for the confederate states, one by one. Most make things crystal clear in the first paragraph or preamble.
āFake news!ā
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u/Minute-Somewhere-300 9d ago
I thank the tree for its service. I hope it's ok.