By Catherine M. Welch
Wilmington, NC – It's been 110 years Monday since the bloody overthrow of Wilmington's elected black government. Hundreds of residents and local leaders gathered over the weekend to dedicate the 1898 Memorial, marking the only coup d'etat in U.S. history. Many who came to see the memorial called it a step toward reconciliation. And it wasn't lost on Reverend John Veasey that the dedication came less than a week after the U.S. elected its first black president.
"I'm just glad to see what has happened and is going to happen, not only in Wilmington but also in the United States and in the world. Because it's letting the world know who we really are, we are Americans, and so I'm very proud of this day, I'm very proud of my country."
The 1898 Memorial took 12 years to be built. And it was funded entirely from Wilmington businesses and residents, including descendents of the men who planned the bloody coup.
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