From: ”The Village Tippler” [Email him]

I thought you might be interested in this article. People that had nothing to do with slavery or ”white supremacy” are controversial here now.

This is about the Ackland Museum, established at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill by the bequest of a man named William Ackland in 1940.

”The museum’s controversy stems from William Ackland’s wealth, which was used to build the structure and house his personal art collection. The endowment still contributes to art acquisitions. Before marriage to his father and Ackland’s birth, his mother, Adelicia Acklen, became the wealthiest woman in the state of Tennessee upon the death of her first husband, Isaac Franklin.” 

[Blood, Sweat and Money: UNC-CH Reckons With Names Tied to Enslavement, by Michelle Cassell, Local Reporter, February 16]

While apparently some of Ackland’s relatives owned slaves, the story says that ”However, while Ackland grew up on the family plantations and benefitted from the riches, he himself was not engaged in the slave trade.” Maybe because he was TEN YEARS OLD when the Civil War ended?

See an earlier letter from the same reader.