Confederate Monuments are Welcome at Beauvoir

Originally published October 2017 · pp. 1–2

BILOXI, Miss.—Beauvoir, the Jefferson Davis Home and the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum, is making a public plea for help. We want the public to assist us in our quest to speak the truth about Southern History. As part of that we want to locate monuments meant for removal. Once located, we would like help in identifying contact numbers for those responsible for the removal and disposition of the monuments. We believe these monuments were erected to depict the iconic figures of our Civil War. Good, bad or ugly, in some eyes, these monuments deserve preservation and historical interpretation. We would like to take care of these monuments because, not only are they iconic reminders of our country’s past, but they are pieces of art. Our goal is to prevent these monuments from lying in storage units, junk yards, scrap heaps, or museums of “contempt.” We would like to house them here on the Beauvoir property where we can interpret them in an historical setting. At a minimum, these are historical pieces of art. We want them brought to a place where the people who feel the same can enjoy them from an historical and educational viewpoint. We are not speaking to the extremists. We are not speaking to the far left or the far right. We are reaching out to the reasonable people in this country who have no agenda, people who are not interested in being divisive. At the end of the day, all of this has absolutely nothing to do with the Civil War or why the Civil War took place. It is an agenda by some extremists to divide Americans. Our goal is to bring these historical monuments to the Beauvoir campus where they can be interpreted them for the history in which they represent. We want to be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem, and we believe by doing that, we can take some of the heat out of the divisiveness and factionalism. If we can take the heat out, then we can focus a genuine light on our history. We want to face it in a very honest and forthright manner. Reasonable people can understand it and move on. There are far more reasonable people who care about their family and heritage, who love their country and are patriotic people than there are people who do not.

The front of Jefferson Davis’s home, Beauvoir, that faces the Gulf. The problem is not about race or racism. These monuments and images, such as the Confederate Battle Flag, were hijacked by racists and have been used as their symbols; we will not stand by and allow it. We’re not going to let something that was created as an appropriate, genuine, iconic symbol of the Confederate soldier and the Confederacy and allow others to make that something ugly. The way we deal with that ugliness is by using light instead of heat. We want to point out the facts surrounding these

The Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum.

Confederate images and monuments, so that reasonable Americans will understand. We believe that when seeing the truth, they will know that the monuments and era are not objects of hate but enlightenment and points for discussion. If we allow these images to be hijacked, then we need to take down all the crosses in the churches because the Ku Klux Klan burned crosses. We would have to take the American flag down because the Ku Klux Klan carried that flag. Evil people have hijacked symbols of the Confederacy and we shouldn’t give in and let them win. We should take these symbols back, and that is what Beauvoir is trying to do. We will not get involved with politics; that is not our job. Our job is education and commemoration. When you come to the Beauvoir property, we will tell you the truth—the unvarnished truth—about Confederate President Jefferson Davis, about his role in the secession of the State of Mississippi, about why he did it, and why he felt it was right. We will be a thermostat instead of a thermometer. We are going to turn down the heat. Therefore, we are making a public plea. We are asking citizens of the United States. We are asking the mayors of these cities. We are asking political leaders of those states that are removing Confederate monuments. We ask that these pieces of art not be destroyed, but brought to the Beauvoir campus. The Beauvoir property will take any and all Confederate monuments that a city or jurisdiction has decided to take down. We want to interpret them in an historical manner. In addition, we want to follow through with our mission statement—to educate and commemorate President Jefferson Davis and the Confederate soldier and maintain our Southern Legacy. Dr. Tom Payne Executive Director / General Counsel Beauvoir, the Jefferson Davis Home & Presidential Library To donate to Beauvoir’s Legacy Campaign: Beauvoir’s Legacy Campaign gf.me/u/cfknnu Mail donations: Beauvoir’s Legacy Campaign 2244 Beach Blvd. Biloxi, Ms. 39531 (228) 388-4400

Marker at Beauvoir.

(Peggy Melton)