In this artwork, how is the Later history discussed?
The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and other Confederate commemoration groups like the United Confederate Veterans, the Children of the Confederacy, and Sons of Confederate Veterans regularly held wreath-laying ceremonies at the Jefferson Davis statue at the U.S. Capitol in Statuary Hall to honor Jefferson Davis's June 3 birthday. Speeches were commonly given at the birthday celebration in Statuary Hall by members of the Confederate groups as well as public figures such as U.S. Representatives John Rankin (D-MS) in 1949 and Frank Ellis Smith (D-MS) in 1953. This wreath-laying ceremony at the Davis Statue was often part of larger Confederate Memorial Day celebrations.
At the 1942 wreath-laying ceremony, U.S. Representative Joseph R. Bryson (D-SC) gave a speech where he said of Jefferson Davis, "To be honored as a great man after the history of a lost cause has been written is to be truly great in the finest and most exact sense of the term." Georgetown University history professor Charles C. Tansill gave an address at the 1947 wreath-laying ceremony. In his speech, Tansill stated that "the responsibility of the Civil War rests securely upon one pair of shoulders and those shoulders belonged to Abraham Lincoln." These comments were condemned by the UDC president-general Mrs. John Wilcox who declared that Tansill's "allusions to Mr. Lincoln do not reflect our views. We think it is rather untimely that those remarks were made. We don't care to start up a controversy."
In 1954, U.S. Representative Charles E. Bennet (D-FL) spoke at the wreath-laying celebration in Statuary Hall where he characterized Jefferson Davis as "one of the finest Americans we could possibly select for consideration." He further stated that Davis was a "man of courage" and that "it takes courage today to stand out against centralized government ... and for people to insist that local governments take responsibility." The 1959 wreath-laying in Statuary Hall was preceded by the unveiling ceremony of a Jefferson Davis wax figure at the National Historic Wax Museum in Washington, D.C.In 1978, U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed congressional legislation posthumously restoring United States citizenship to Jefferson Davis. At the signing, Carter noted that "our nation needs to clear away the guilts and enmities of recriminations of the past." The Associated Press commented that this restoration of Davis was "proper considering the statues of [Jefferson Davis], Gen. Robert E. Lee and other Confederate leaders have adorned the [U.S.] Capitol for decades" and that the "South has risen again, in a sense, in Statuary Hall."As recently as 1997, Confederate hereditary associations placed wreaths at the statue of Davis.
Jefferson Davis wax figure Joseph R. Bryson John Rankin Charles C. Tansill United Daughters of the Confederacy Associated Press wreath-laying United Confederate Veterans Sons of Confederate Veterans Washington, D.C. United States Frank Ellis Smith legislation Confederate Memorial Day Jimmy Carter Abraham Lincoln Charles E. Bennet to stand out against centralized government George U.S. Representatives Children of the Confederacy Georgetown University