The Jefferson Davis Memorial was a memorial for

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 ...

(1808–1889), president of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

from 1861 to 1865, installed along

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

Monument Avenue Monument Avenue is a tree-lined grassy mall dividing the eastbound and westbound traffic in Richmond, Virginia, originally named for its emblematic complex of structures honoring those who fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil Wa ...

, in the United States. The monument was unveiled on Davis' birthday, June 3, 1907, a day celebrated in Virginia and many other Southern states as

Confederate Memorial Day Confederate Memorial Day (called Confederate Heroes Day in Texas and Florida, and Confederate Decoration Day in Tennessee) is a holiday observed in several Southern U.S. states on various dates since the end of the American Civil War. The holi ...

. It consisted of a bronze statue of Davis by Richmond sculptor Edward Valentine surrounded by a colonnade of 13 columns representing the Southern states, and a tall Doric column topped by a bronze statue, also by Valentine, representing Southern womanhood. The statue of Davis was toppled by protesters during the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...

in June 2020. The rest of the monument was taken down in February 2022. Being polled for the issue among several organizations, state residents were split among full removal of the monuments and leaving them in place and adding informative context such as signage.

Description

The east-facing monument sported a

Doric column The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

topped by a female bronze figure called Vindicatrix, an allegorical representation of Southern womanhood. There were thirteen columns, eleven bronze

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

representing the seceding states and two representing states that sent troops for the Confederacy. Two square piers at either end of the colonnade are topped with eagles and faced with plaques. The bronze statues, Vindacatrix and Jefferson Davis in the center – the latter situated atop a block of

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

– were designed by

Edward Virginius Valentine Edward Virginius Valentine (November 12, 1838 - October 19, 1930) was an American sculptor from Richmond, Virginia. Early life and education Edward Virginius Valentine was born on November 12, 1838, in Richmond, Virginia, to Elizabeth (née Mosb ...

; the arrangement was planned by William C. Noland. The statue of Davis shows him with an outstretched arm, lecturing from a history book. The

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

carries words Jefferson Davis spoke in his farewell address to the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

on January 21, 1861. The plaque on the left end of the monument reads oth plaques originally all in caps The plaque on the right end of the monument reads:

History

During the many years required to raise the funds needed for the memorial, various designs and placements in the city were considered.Foster, Gaines N. (1987) ''Ghosts of the Confederacy: Defeat, the Lost Cause. and the Emergence of the New South 1865-1913''. pp.121, 158-159. New York: Oxford University Press. Unveiled in 1907 on

– June 3 – on what would have been Davis' 99th birthday, the monument was funded by the Jefferson Davis Monument Association and the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, a ...

. The unveiling was scheduled in conjunction with a reunion of the

United Confederate Veterans The United Confederate Veterans (UCV, or simply Confederate Veterans) was an American Civil War veterans' organization headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was organized on June 10, 1889, by ex-soldiers and sailors of the Confederate Sta ...

, and attracted a large crowd of between 80,000 and 200,000 people. A parade of veterans followed by prayers and speeches preceded the unveiling, which was effected by one of Davis's daughters, Margaret Davis Hayes, and two of his grandchildren. A local newspaper said of the memorial at the time, "The entire monument ... typifies the vindication of Mr. Davis and the cause of the Confederacy for which he stood before the world..."

Removal

During the

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

in the wake of the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

, the bronze statue of Davis was torn down by protesters on June 10, 2020. The statue of Vindicatrix, representing Southern womanhood, on top of the central column, was removed by the City of Richmond on July 8, 2020. The remainder of the monument, including the main column and colonnade, was dismantled altogether in February 2022. A time capsule was found while the work took place. No trace of the monument now remains on its original site. The vandalized Davis statue is currently displayed at

The Valentine The Valentine is a museum in Richmond, Virginia dedicated to collecting, preserving and interpreting Richmond's history. Founded by Mann S. Valentine II 1898, it was the first museum in Richmond. In the early 21st century, The Valentine offers ...

in Richmond—a museum whose first president was Edward Virginius Valentine, the statue's sculptor—as part of the museum's "This is Richmond, Virginia" exhibit. The statue is on loan from the

Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia (BHMVA) is an American 501(c)(3) organization and museum established in 1981 and focused on the history of Black and African Americans in the state of Virginia. It is located in the Leigh ...

. It will be displayed lying horizontally in its "2020 state": there is damage to the statue's head and right arm, and splatters of pink paint remain on the statue, as well as torn pieces of toilet paper around the statue's collar. Valentine curator Christina Vida stated that, "we wanted to make sure that paint stays applied. That the damage that occurred to it when it was pulled down by protesters that it stays just that way."

Gallery

Confederate Reunion Parade Richmond.jpg,

George Washington Custis Lee George Washington Custis Lee (September 16, 1832 – February 18, 1913), also known as Custis Lee, was the eldest son of Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee. His grandfather, George Washington Parke Custis was the grandson of Marth ...

on horseback, with staff reviewing Confederate Reunion Parade on June 3, 1907, in front of the monument Jefferson Davis Monument, Monument Ave Richmond VA - panoramio.jpg, Detail of the statue of

Davis Memorial Removed.jpg, The memorial as it stood in July, 2020 after the removal of the Davis statue

References

Informational notes Citations

External links

* {{Monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests 1907 establishments in Virginia 1907 sculptures 2020 disestablishments in Virginia 2022 disestablishments in Virginia Allegorical sculptures in the United States Buildings and structures in Richmond, Virginia Monument Avenue Monuments and memorials in Virginia