July 18, 2025 • 9 mins
Brett Berry with the American Heritage Association heads the group leading the fight to resurect the statue and has YUUUUGE news. Take a listen ...
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Background: City says John C. Calhoun statue must leave Charleston.The historic statue was removed in 2020 from Marion Square dowtown amidst protest nationwide to remove monuments of previous slave owners.
- Powered by Disaster Plus
Background: City says John C. Calhoun statue must leave Charleston.The historic statue was removed in 2020 from Marion Square dowtown amidst protest nationwide to remove monuments of previous slave owners.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
This is the Kelly Golden Show podcast powered by Disaster Plus.
On a Big Fail Friday.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Brett Berry, I celebrate wins, even on a Big Fail Friday.
And we'll get to the fails here coming up. But
there is a victory here to discuss when it comes
to history. Brett Berry, who are you and what is
American Heritage Association?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
First, I'm the president of the American Heritage Association, and
we are a nonprofit based here in Charleston, which is
dedicated to preserving our national memory, specifically making sure that
we do not lose our historic monuments and the ones
that we have lost, ensuring that they come back and
they're re erected.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
And we saw all across the country monuments and statues
being toppled, and it was the most horrifying site for
me to see. You do not have to agree with
history by canceling it and quite literally tearing it down.
And who have thought that we would see a statue
topple like it did in Marion Square with John C. Calhoun,
(01:06):
who was once a vice president of the United States.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
He was a vice president of the United States under
two different presidents and the only one to have done that.
I mean, Charleston is the city that pioneered the preservation movement.
I mean, you can't even change the appearance of your
house if you live downtown without approval from the city.
And here under the former Techlenberg administration, they jack hammered
(01:30):
that one hundred and thirty year old monument, which you know,
in addition to Calhoun's historic record of being in the Senate,
being a Secretary of War, and as you mentioned us
Vice president, it's a piece of artwork. The actual statue
was sculpted by famous Scottish American sculptor John Massey ryand
so it's not only a piece of history, it's a
(01:52):
piece of artwork. And then the story of the Charleston women,
the ladies that spent thirty years raising money to build
that monument, which if you adjusted for inflation, exceeds a
million dollars. It's a key piece of the Low Country
and it needs to be preserved well.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
In that also a time capsule in the base of it.
So here is the good news. You the American Heritage
Association with support Brett Berry, have really breaking news at
this point with regards to John C. Calhoun and this statue.
Where is it been, Who has it now? Where is
it going? You know me, I have all the questions,
(02:31):
but I know you have some really exciting answers.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Well, the headline is that John C. Calhoun monument has
been uncanceled. It will be re erected. It's going to
see the light of day, and it's going to be
in the hands of people who respect history. So that
is the good news. And it's going to provide momentum
for getting other monuments back up, because I believe South
Carolina will have the distinction of being the first state
(02:58):
to put a monument back since all the woke craziness
that occurred across the country in twenty twenty. So it
is a big day not only for Charleston, but also
for the monument movement across the country. We now have momentum,
now have a significant victory.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Let's hope the American Heritage Association leads the way in
this fight for the rest of the country to step
up and regain some sanity. Bread congratulations. This is as
the President's a huge It really truly is. And the
Calhoun statue. At one point, let's go on the wayback
machine here. You talked about the woke craziness. They were
actually discussing at city council. We're talking about within the
(03:39):
halls of government, of allowing the statue to be shipped
out to Los Angeles, California and the hands of a
bunch of crazies.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
That is actually what finally forced our hand to file
a lawsuit. That idea came about a year after they
took the monument down and I was having a discussion
with some of the Calhoun family members and we were
just fuming, and we said, that's it. We're filing a lawsuit.
And that started a three year adventure with the court system,
which cost a lot of money. But thanks to the
(04:10):
generosity of your listeners and a lot of people in Charleston,
we were able to fight that battle. And you know,
initially the court rolled that only Attorney General Allen Wilson
could enforce the Charitable Trust agreement that protected the monument.
That's what we alleged that they broke. That they violated
the charitable Trust agreement. So we appealed her rolling and
(04:32):
it was through that appeal that led to a negotiation
process with the new administration in Charleston, and we were
able to come to the settlement proposal, which isn't perfect,
but I think it was the best outcome that was
possible given the circumstances.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
So for those just waking up to learn about the
American Heritage Association at a dot orgon, go there now,
because this has been a battle in the making for
years and it's going to continue. Sadly, Brett, you mentioned
all the legal lees involved here. It's going to continue,
and we'll talk about that here coming up. Curious minds
want to know, though, where is the John C. Calhoun
(05:08):
statue now going to go?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
The short answer is to be determined. The terms of
the settlement agreement are now going to transfer the statue
and all the bronze plaques and everything else that's left
is going to transfer to a new nonprofit that was
created by the American Heriage Association and the PLAINUS, which
include members of the Calhoun family and the actual owners
(05:31):
of Marion Square. So we've all created this nonprofit. Cal
Stevens is the new president of that nonprofit and they're
going to be working on a plan to re erect
the monument locally and have it available for public viewing.
But the terms of the settlement prevent us from erecting
it in the city of Charleston, unfortunately, but that was
(05:55):
just the political reality of council. That's the best we
could do, and we wanted to get this momentum, get
Calhoun back up, rebuild the base, and really hopefully supercharge
the effort across the country to get more of these
monuments back up.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
So to be continued. UT's Brett Berry American Heritage Association.
So let's get into the fail here because we still
have other monuments, the General Robert E. Lee Memorial being
one of them. That what is going on here with that.
Let's start, by the way, with people who don't even
know about this memorial.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
In nineteen forty seven, the Robert E. Lee Memorial Highway
was created and that route runs from Greenville past the
State House to Charleston via King Street and it terminates
at the Battery. So part of that project, a granite
memorial to Lee, marking the Lee Memorial Highway was erected
(06:50):
at the former Rivers High School on Upper King Street,
which is now the Charleston School of Math and Science.
That monument is protected by the Heritage Act, but in
twenty twenty one, the superintendent of the school directed former
Mayor Tecklenberg and John Tecklenberg Charleston to remove the monument,
which violated state law. And we have now launched a
(07:13):
lawsuit against the school board and the school board. As
you recall, you know all the great work that Moms
for Liberty did to flip the school board to get
a conservative school board, we now have members of the
supposed conservative school board that are opposed, that are fighting
us in court trying to prevent us from re erecting
that monument. And it's shocking. We've gotten resistance from Chairman
(07:36):
Keith Grabowski and Pam McKinney, and we've gotten wishy washy
comments that a Leah Wattley, they can solve this thing
tomorrow simply by letting us re erect that monument. Because
here's some more breaking news. The city had removed the
Lee memorial, but we now have it in our possession.
We're ready to drop it off at the school and
have it put back up. So the balls in the
court of the school board.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Members well, and it's important to point out it yet again,
this is involving our tax dollars in lawsuit.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Yes, we're thinking of doing a foyer request to see
exactly how much they've spent on this wokeism by fighting
us in court with your tax dollars. We've heard that
their attorney's costing an excess of five hundred dollars an hour.
We don't know, but I can tell you from our
end this is a pricing endeavor.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
At least come to the negotiating table. Same with the
Calhoun Statue in the city of Charleston, where you were
able to put this to bed. If it's not back
at the school, where else along the Memorial Highway. There's
ways to like you said in this tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Well, you know, back in April, I was at the
Greater Low Country Republican Club meeting with the superintendent Huggins,
and she stood up next to me, put her arm
around me and said, Brett, we're going to work through this.
We'll come to a conclusion on this, and gave me
her gave me her cell phone number and said please
reach out to me. I called her three four times,
(08:57):
less voicemails. Never heard a thing, and they've basically just
told us to go pound saying it's not been we're
willing to even work with us or have a discussion.
So it's been been pretty disgusting.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
So fight continues. As the President would say, we are
one year past the fight.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Fight, Fight.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
It continues with the American Heritage Association dot org. I
employ you to go there. We will continue along this
ever evolving story with you, Brett Berry and the American
Heritage Association and protecting our history. My goodness, how many
times or ways can I say you don't have to
agree with our history, but canceling it means we're doomed
to repeat it. So wake up to the wokeism. It is,
(09:37):
whether we like it or not, not going away.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
This Big Fail Friday edition of That Kelly Golden Show
podcast is powered by Disaster Plus Buzz.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Don't us when You're a bus call seven Queen Bowl
of seven seven Disaster Plus
This is the Kelly Golden Show podcast powered by Disaster Plus.
On a Big Fail Friday.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Brett Berry, I celebrate wins, even on a Big Fail Friday.
And we'll get to the fails here coming up. But
there is a victory here to discuss when it comes
to history. Brett Berry, who are you and what is
American Heritage Association?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
First, I'm the president of the American Heritage Association, and
we are a nonprofit based here in Charleston, which is
dedicated to preserving our national memory, specifically making sure that
we do not lose our historic monuments and the ones
that we have lost, ensuring that they come back and
they're re erected.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
And we saw all across the country monuments and statues
being toppled, and it was the most horrifying site for
me to see. You do not have to agree with
history by canceling it and quite literally tearing it down.
And who have thought that we would see a statue
topple like it did in Marion Square with John C. Calhoun,
(01:06):
who was once a vice president of the United States.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
He was a vice president of the United States under
two different presidents and the only one to have done that.
I mean, Charleston is the city that pioneered the preservation movement.
I mean, you can't even change the appearance of your
house if you live downtown without approval from the city.
And here under the former Techlenberg administration, they jack hammered
(01:30):
that one hundred and thirty year old monument, which you know,
in addition to Calhoun's historic record of being in the Senate,
being a Secretary of War, and as you mentioned us
Vice president, it's a piece of artwork. The actual statue
was sculpted by famous Scottish American sculptor John Massey ryand
so it's not only a piece of history, it's a
(01:52):
piece of artwork. And then the story of the Charleston women,
the ladies that spent thirty years raising money to build
that monument, which if you adjusted for inflation, exceeds a
million dollars. It's a key piece of the Low Country
and it needs to be preserved well.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
In that also a time capsule in the base of it.
So here is the good news. You the American Heritage
Association with support Brett Berry, have really breaking news at
this point with regards to John C. Calhoun and this statue.
Where is it been, Who has it now? Where is
it going? You know me, I have all the questions,
(02:31):
but I know you have some really exciting answers.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Well, the headline is that John C. Calhoun monument has
been uncanceled. It will be re erected. It's going to
see the light of day, and it's going to be
in the hands of people who respect history. So that
is the good news. And it's going to provide momentum
for getting other monuments back up, because I believe South
Carolina will have the distinction of being the first state
(02:58):
to put a monument back since all the woke craziness
that occurred across the country in twenty twenty. So it
is a big day not only for Charleston, but also
for the monument movement across the country. We now have momentum,
now have a significant victory.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Let's hope the American Heritage Association leads the way in
this fight for the rest of the country to step
up and regain some sanity. Bread congratulations. This is as
the President's a huge It really truly is. And the
Calhoun statue. At one point, let's go on the wayback
machine here. You talked about the woke craziness. They were
actually discussing at city council. We're talking about within the
(03:39):
halls of government, of allowing the statue to be shipped
out to Los Angeles, California and the hands of a
bunch of crazies.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
That is actually what finally forced our hand to file
a lawsuit. That idea came about a year after they
took the monument down and I was having a discussion
with some of the Calhoun family members and we were
just fuming, and we said, that's it. We're filing a lawsuit.
And that started a three year adventure with the court system,
which cost a lot of money. But thanks to the
(04:10):
generosity of your listeners and a lot of people in Charleston,
we were able to fight that battle. And you know,
initially the court rolled that only Attorney General Allen Wilson
could enforce the Charitable Trust agreement that protected the monument.
That's what we alleged that they broke. That they violated
the charitable Trust agreement. So we appealed her rolling and
(04:32):
it was through that appeal that led to a negotiation
process with the new administration in Charleston, and we were
able to come to the settlement proposal, which isn't perfect,
but I think it was the best outcome that was
possible given the circumstances.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
So for those just waking up to learn about the
American Heritage Association at a dot orgon, go there now,
because this has been a battle in the making for
years and it's going to continue. Sadly, Brett, you mentioned
all the legal lees involved here. It's going to continue,
and we'll talk about that here coming up. Curious minds
want to know, though, where is the John C. Calhoun
(05:08):
statue now going to go?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
The short answer is to be determined. The terms of
the settlement agreement are now going to transfer the statue
and all the bronze plaques and everything else that's left
is going to transfer to a new nonprofit that was
created by the American Heriage Association and the PLAINUS, which
include members of the Calhoun family and the actual owners
(05:31):
of Marion Square. So we've all created this nonprofit. Cal
Stevens is the new president of that nonprofit and they're
going to be working on a plan to re erect
the monument locally and have it available for public viewing.
But the terms of the settlement prevent us from erecting
it in the city of Charleston, unfortunately, but that was
(05:55):
just the political reality of council. That's the best we
could do, and we wanted to get this momentum, get
Calhoun back up, rebuild the base, and really hopefully supercharge
the effort across the country to get more of these
monuments back up.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
So to be continued. UT's Brett Berry American Heritage Association.
So let's get into the fail here because we still
have other monuments, the General Robert E. Lee Memorial being
one of them. That what is going on here with that.
Let's start, by the way, with people who don't even
know about this memorial.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
In nineteen forty seven, the Robert E. Lee Memorial Highway
was created and that route runs from Greenville past the
State House to Charleston via King Street and it terminates
at the Battery. So part of that project, a granite
memorial to Lee, marking the Lee Memorial Highway was erected
(06:50):
at the former Rivers High School on Upper King Street,
which is now the Charleston School of Math and Science.
That monument is protected by the Heritage Act, but in
twenty twenty one, the superintendent of the school directed former
Mayor Tecklenberg and John Tecklenberg Charleston to remove the monument,
which violated state law. And we have now launched a
(07:13):
lawsuit against the school board and the school board. As
you recall, you know all the great work that Moms
for Liberty did to flip the school board to get
a conservative school board, we now have members of the
supposed conservative school board that are opposed, that are fighting
us in court trying to prevent us from re erecting
that monument. And it's shocking. We've gotten resistance from Chairman
(07:36):
Keith Grabowski and Pam McKinney, and we've gotten wishy washy
comments that a Leah Wattley, they can solve this thing
tomorrow simply by letting us re erect that monument. Because
here's some more breaking news. The city had removed the
Lee memorial, but we now have it in our possession.
We're ready to drop it off at the school and
have it put back up. So the balls in the
court of the school board.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Members well, and it's important to point out it yet again,
this is involving our tax dollars in lawsuit.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Yes, we're thinking of doing a foyer request to see
exactly how much they've spent on this wokeism by fighting
us in court with your tax dollars. We've heard that
their attorney's costing an excess of five hundred dollars an hour.
We don't know, but I can tell you from our
end this is a pricing endeavor.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
At least come to the negotiating table. Same with the
Calhoun Statue in the city of Charleston, where you were
able to put this to bed. If it's not back
at the school, where else along the Memorial Highway. There's
ways to like you said in this tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Well, you know, back in April, I was at the
Greater Low Country Republican Club meeting with the superintendent Huggins,
and she stood up next to me, put her arm
around me and said, Brett, we're going to work through this.
We'll come to a conclusion on this, and gave me
her gave me her cell phone number and said please
reach out to me. I called her three four times,
(08:57):
less voicemails. Never heard a thing, and they've basically just
told us to go pound saying it's not been we're
willing to even work with us or have a discussion.
So it's been been pretty disgusting.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
So fight continues. As the President would say, we are
one year past the fight.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Fight, Fight.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
It continues with the American Heritage Association dot org. I
employ you to go there. We will continue along this
ever evolving story with you, Brett Berry and the American
Heritage Association and protecting our history. My goodness, how many
times or ways can I say you don't have to
agree with our history, but canceling it means we're doomed
to repeat it. So wake up to the wokeism. It is,
(09:37):
whether we like it or not, not going away.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
This Big Fail Friday edition of That Kelly Golden Show
podcast is powered by Disaster Plus Buzz.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Don't us when You're a bus call seven Queen Bowl
of seven seven Disaster Plus
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