CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — It’s been five years since the statue of John C. Calhoun was removed from Marion Square.

And as of June 2025, the statue remains in an undisclosed location, entangled in lawsuits and intergovernmental negotiations.

A U.S. vice president and defender of slavery, Calhoun was a divisive figure and his monument, a flashpoint.

“Calhoun was a giant in his time; he was vice president of the United States. When he died, the funeral was a gigantic funeral. They put the statue together [after his death], it took 50 years to get it built,” said Robert Rosen with the City of Charleston History Commission. “He certainly was one of the great symbols of the pro-slavery argument. And, I can understand why people were upset about that.”

In the early hours of June 24, 2020, amid nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd, the city made the historic decision to take it down following a unanimous vote by the Charleston City Council.

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“I think a lot of people thought it was a long time coming,” said Marcus McDonald, the lead organizer for Charleston Black Lives Matter. “My granddad, who was one of the first black managers at Francis Marion, he remembers protesting the John C. Calvin statue in like the sixties.”

Crowds gathered to watch Calhoun be removed from his perch in June 2020, some in tears, others cheering. For many, it was more than just the removal of a monument. Now the statue is gone, but supporters of the statue’s removal say systemic issues remain.

“Five years later, a lot of the ideals that John C. Calhoun stood for, they have not only persisted, but they have actually increasing in power since the statue was taken down,” McDonald said. “The power structure that John C. Calhoun represented, the white, rich, powerful sources, the billionaires of Charleston, today they’ve only gotten stronger.”

Attorneys say the statue is in storage at an undisclosed location. For 124 years, the towering bronze likeness of John C. Calhoun watched over downtown Charleston. Efforts to place it in museums, like in California and the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, have all stalled.

“The statue was supposed to be put in a museum and the state museum wouldn’t take it, and the Charleston Museum wouldn’t take it,” Rosen said. “Nobody wants the criticism. I mean, it’s cancel culture. This is a perfect example of it.”

In November 2023, plaintiffs, made up of Calhoun descendants, the Fourth Brigade Militia, and other advocacy group,s filed another lawsuit alleging breach of a charitable trust; they’re pushing to have the statue returned within Charleston.

Then in early 2024, a suit by private groups aiming to force its reinstallation was dismissed due to lack of standing, as only the state attorney general may enforce the Heritage Act. City council met in April 2025, discussing the legal settlement in executive session—but took no public action on repatriating or relocating the statue. Historians say taking down monuments doesn’t change the past.

“When you erase and cancel things like that, it just means that people walking by don’t know the history of the town,” Rosen said.

The City and State Museum are discussing a long-term loan of the statue but negotiations are stalled because of the active lawsuits. The South Carolina Attorney General has filed an amicus brief supporting its return, but the court hasn’t ruled in their favor yet. The courts will need to decide if the statue is bound by a charitable trust or if the Attorney General can compel its return. Attorneys say even if legally cleared, the council must vote publicly on next steps whether to relocate the monument within Charleston or elsewhere, display it in a museum, or return it to Marion Square.

“To remove all of the reminders and to remove all the monuments, I think it just gives you a false impression of the history of the city,” Rosen said.

While the general public still does not know where Calhoun is, supporters of the statue’s removal, historians, and descendants all agree future placement will include educational context.

“I believe that it should find a resting spot somewhere,” McDonald said. “If it’s in Charleston, that’s fine. But I think that there needs to be more attention on what we can rebuild.”