the monument was put up at a time when houston was a re-segregated city; the city had enacted separate streetcar compartments for whites and blacks in 1903, and "the following year, thousands of black voters were removed from the electorate when the city adopted a $2.50 poll tax". at the unveiling, joseph chappell hutcheson, a confederate veteran and democratic representative in the texas house of representatives and the united states house of representatives, said, "look upon this masterpiece wrought in bronze, this marvel of art to typify the spirit and genius of that confederacy we once so fondly loved and still so fondly cherish". a 1911 history of the city said it has "done much to preserve the memory of the confederate soldiers who have passed over the river and to care for and comfort those who are still on this side".