The Confederate Memorial Hall (sometimes calling itself the "Confederate Embassy") was a museum, library, and social club owned by the Confederate Memorial Association and located at 1322 Vermont Avenue NW in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
The
brownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material.
Ty ...
that housed it, just off
Logan Circle, became a private residence in 1997.
Description
The Hall was originally the Confederate Memorial Home,
[ a residence and gathering place for Confederate veterans. In 1919, 54 years after the ]Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
's end, with few veterans still alive, it was converted into the Confederate Memorial Hall, no longer a residence but a library, museum, and "social hall for white politicians from the South". Notices in newspapers tell of events held there: the United Sons of Confederate Veterans, a "musical entertainment" in 1909; the Children of the Confederacy hosted in 1913; the women's auxiliary, a benefit concert in 1914; the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a reception in 1916
and a benefit card party in 1917; open house in 1917 for those attending "the annual pilgrimage of Confederate veterans to Arlington".
According to a 1997 web page kept active, the Hall had oil portraits of Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...
and Generals Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...
, Stonewall Jackson
Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general and military officer who served during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the eastern the ...
, Sterling Price
Sterling Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was an American politician and military officer who was a senior General officers in the Confederate States Army, officer of the Confederate States Army, fighting in both the Weste ...
, Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was an American military officer who served in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the Seminole Wars. After Virginia declared secession from ...
, and Fitzhugh Lee.[ Also on display were an original print of the Burial of Latane">illiamLatane, a marble bust of General Robert E. Lee by " Lost Cause" sculptor Herbert Barbee, a Jefferson Davis ]sideboard
A sideboard, also called a buffet, is an item of furniture traditionally used in the dining room for serving food, for displaying serving dishes, and for storage. It usually consists of a set of cabinets, or cupboards, and one or more drawers ...
, two chairs once the property of General Beauregard, "numerous battle flags", and the First National Flag of the Confederacy that flew during the siege of Atlanta. The library contained over 1,000 books. The Hall had a collection of Civil War-era musical instruments on which small concerts of Civil War-era music were performed, "a copy of Lee's farewell order to his troops after the Battle of Appomattox...as well as a yellowed legal copy of Davis' bail bond".
During the 1960s and 70s, the building and the association fell on hard times. Membership declined, and the hall became a refuge for vagrants. Hurley, whose father was a member, stepped in and helped refurbish the building, partly with his own money.[
]
Activities
"As the 20th century drew to a close, the CMA was sponsoring magnificent white tie
White tie, also called full evening dress or a dress suit, is the most formal evening Western dress code. For men, it consists of a black tail coat (alternatively referred to as a dress coat, usually by tailors) worn over a white dress shir ...
grand balls, barbecues, horse events, and a myriad of activities that showcase Southern culture and its inherent good manners and abiding respect for others." On January 17, 1987, the date chosen because Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...
's birthday was January 19, the Association held an $80 ()–per–couple ball and fundraiser. It featured "period dancing to Stephen Foster
Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Folk music, folk music during the Romantic music, Romantic period. He wr ...
melodies played on antique instruments." In March 1989, there was a fox hunt
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, normally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of hounds" ...
in Virginia. "In June there is a grand ball to celebrate the birthday of Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...
." It claimed a membership of several thousand, but the only visible member is its president, John Edward Hurley (who calls it "my...organization"). Hurley, who is described as a White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
correspondent on the website of the Justice Integrity Project, and is also member of a lobbying
Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...
group, has been president since the 1980s. Sarah McClendon was on the Association's board.
Legal saga resulting in its closure
Richard T. Hines was a former South Carolina state legislator, U.S. General Services Administration
The General Services Administration (GSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. G ...
official, commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter in Washington, and "a major neo-Confederate", who "in 1984...penned a paean to Preston Brooks
Preston Smith Brooks (August 5, 1819 – January 27, 1857) was an American slaver, politician, and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina, serving as a member of the Democratic Party from 1853 until his resignation i ...
, the secessionist
Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...
South Carolina congressman who caned Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts on the Senate floor in 1854 for his speeches against slavery
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
."[ In 1987, he filed suit seeking to dismiss Hurley and the association's vice president, Mrs. John Tilden Rogers. Hines complained, among other things, that Hurley operated the building for personal gain, renting out rooms and pocketing the proceeds.
"In one of the most bizarre cases to ever come before the courts",][ Hurley and Mrs. Rogers responded by suing Hines and six others, claiming they were victims of a legal coup. Hines and his followers countered with a $250,000 suit against Hurley and Mrs. Rogers. In 1990, Hurley filed a $5 million suit under the ]Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
RICO was e ...
, charging Hines and others with perjury, mail fraud, and money-laundering, "among other misdeeds". The suit was dismissed with prejudice, and defendants were awarded $69,066 in attorneys' fees. Over several years, Hurley also accused various people and federal agencies of corruption and a variety of financial crimes, as well as drug trafficking. In a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno
Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) was an American lawyer and public official who served as the 78th United States Attorney General, United States attorney general from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. A member of ...
, he linked government corruption and retribution for his whistleblowing
Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...
, with the efforts to force members onto the Association's board and thus seize its building.
Hurley said his life was threatened on several occasions.[ There was a fight inside the Memorial Hall in which the shirt of one of Hurley's rivals was torn from his body...and the fracas "nearly led to bloodshed." "They call my wife and threaten her or threaten me and put notes on my door. That's ]Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
stuff."[ "I'm relatively conservative myself... t their conservatism is off the chart as far as I'm concerned."][ He was jailed briefly for contempt of court and fined $30,000 in court costs during this extended battle, "because he had failed to obey he judge'sprevious order requiring that Hurley add new members to the organization's board of directors". "According to Hurley, the individuals the judge had ordered on the board had affiliations with ]Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel.
A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Sec ...
's Contra operations." What "the North/Republican operatives" really wanted was..."a beautiful front behind which it can run a nasty military/intelligence operation".
To no avail, Hurley also reported the federal judge deciding his case, John H. Bayly Jr., to the District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure. He alleged that Bayly "hired the plaintiffs to sue him", and feared "his own 'probable assassination' by the government as payback for his uncovering court complicity in cocaine trafficking."
According to Hurley, his "bizarre court odyssey" began in the 1980s when he canceled an Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel.
A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Sec ...
"Freedom Fighter" fund-raising event, to be held at Confederate Memorial Hall, for "denizens of the Reagan Doctrine, a peculiar gathering of Nicaraguan contras
In the history of Nicaragua, the Contras (Spanish: ''La contrarrevolución'', the counter-revolution) were the right-wing militias who waged anti-communist guerilla warfare (1979–1990) against the Marxist governments of the Sandinista Na ...
, Afghan-based mujahedeen and members of the Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
n guerrilla group UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Liberat ...
, which was funded by the South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
n apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
regime." He said he took this action because the Tax Code prohibited such political activity by his tax-exempt organization; in fact, Hurley's Association lost its 501 (c)(3) status for a few years but regained it. "Hurley said that after ten years of litigation he can prove beyond a shadow of doubt that members of Oliver North's operation was icusing a Mid-Atlantic Credit Union account in Gaithersburg, Maryland
Gaithersburg ( ) is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the third-largest incorporated city and the ninth-most populous communit ...
, and a review of this account would prove the costs imposed on Hurley were fraudulent. Judge Bayly, however, quashed subpoenas for both Oliver North and the account without explanation. Hurley said that the board of trustees of his organization, which included those trustees that Judge Bayly had ordered on the board, had voted to sell the museum to cover the fines and costs that were being imposed by the courts."[
The building was seized and sold in 1997 to pay $500,000 in contempt of court fines that Hurley received in District of Columbia courts for undisclosed reasons.] It then became a private residence.
"'Constitutional government
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
is a thing of the past', Hurley sadly observed."[
]
References
{{Reflist
1997 disestablishments in Washington, D.C.
Lost Cause of the Confederacy
1885 establishments in Washington, D.C.
1907 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Confederate States of America monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C.
Buildings and structures in Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.)
Museums disestablished in 1997
Defunct museums in Washington, D.C.
Former library buildings in the United States
Libraries disestablished in 1997
Houses in Washington, D.C.
Clubhouses in Washington, D.C.
Iran–Contra affair
Removed Confederate States of America monuments and memorials
American Civil War museums in Washington, D.C.
White American culture in Washington, D.C.