What to do with the Jefferson Davis Statue in the Kentucky Capitol's Rotunda

By Charles H. Bogart · Originally published November 2017 · p. 43

In 1936, a statue of Jefferson Davis was placed in the Kentucky Capitol Building Rotunda during a period of heightened Klu Klux Klan activity and increased enforcement of Jim Crow laws. Cost of the Jefferson Davis statue was divided between state funding and private donations. Other statues in the rotunda in 2017 honor Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, Alvin Barkley, and Ephrain McDowell.

Two plaques grace the pedestal that supports the Jefferson Davis statue. The upper plaque reads: Jefferson Davis Born Fairview Kentucky June 3, 1808 Died December 6, 1889 The lower plaque reads; Patriot – Hero – Statesman June 3, 1808 - December 6, 1889 Transylvania University 1821 – 1824 West Point 1824 – 1828 Black Hawk War 1833 U.S. House of Representatives 1845 – 1846 Mexican War 1847 U.S. Senate 1847 – 1853 Secretary of War 1853 – 1857 U.S. Senate 1857 – 1861

President Confederate States of America 1861 – 1865 Recently, calls from all sides of Kentucky’s political spectrum have demanded the removal of the Jefferson Davis statue. The question being asked by many is why there is a statue of Jefferson Davis in the Kentucky State Capitol Rotunda in the first place. Yes, Davis was born in Kentucky and went to Transylvania College in Kentucky, but Davis was never elected to the United States House of Representatives or Senate by Kentucky, he was not appointed to West Point from Kentucky, he did not lead Kentucky troops in the Black Hawk War or Mexican War, and Kentucky never joined the Confederacy. During Kentucky’s neutrality period in 1861, the Federal government kept its troops out of Kentucky and only sent them into the state after Confederate troops invaded Kentucky and began to construct fortifications at Columbus, Ky., on the Mississippi River. The answer to why a Jefferson Davis statue in the Kentucky Capitol Rotunda has to do with the Myth of the Lost Cause. Kentucky in 1866 had to re-invent itself as a Southern State as it had lost its Northern markets and the only market open for its goods were the defeated states of the Confederacy. Kentuckians also felt betrayed by the Federal government for in December 1865, the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery, was made law of the land. Kentucky had been a loyal slave owning state throughout the war, but at the war’s end it, like the vanquished Confederate states, her citizens were stripped of their property, slaves, without compensation by the Federal government. One suggestion about what to do with the Rotunda’s Jefferson Davis statue, that seems to be popular with the elected officials, is move the statue to the grounds of the Jefferson Davis Memorial at Fairview. In addition, it is proposed that the grounds of the Jefferson Davis Memorial be open for use as a depository for all unwanted Confederate memorials located within Kentucky. This collection of Confederate statues should be open to the general public under the title, “Art of The Lost Cause.” The collection of Confederate statues would be accompanied with signage explaining how the myth of the Lost Cause developed and its impact upon American society. At present a legislative committee is investigating what to do with the Jefferson Davis statue. This investigation began over two years ago, but as yet no proposal on what to do with the statue has been submitted by this committee. There is a strong minority that thinks the statue should be left in place as it is history, however, as the statue now stands there is no explanation of why it graces the floor of the Rotunda. Governor Bevin is on record as being against the removal of the statue, saying that the removal of the Davis statue is a “sanitization of history.” Those who want the statue removed have told the Governor that, “We disagree. The Jefferson Davis statue was actually placed in the Capitol Rotunda by the United Daughter of the Confederacy to sanitize history.” Representative Derrick Graham, who serves on the Kentucky African American Commission, wrote to Governor Bevin saying, “The United Daughter of the Confederacy lobbied for the inclusion of the statue, (in the Rotunda) at taxpayer expense, to shape memory and perpetuate Confederate ideals of race supremacy.” Rep. Graham went on to say that the statue should be removed at taxpayer expense from the Rotunda and be moved to the Jefferson Davis Memorial where its place in the history of Kentucky can be explained. As of this writing, no final decision has been made about what to do with the Kentucky Capitol Building’s Jefferson Davis statue.