What are your thoughts on the removal of the Jefferson Davis memorial from the Capitol Rotunda?
The time has come for the removal of the Jefferson Davis statue from the Capitol Rotunda. As President of the Confederate States of America, Davis was on the wrong side of history, and honoring him in our state’s most public building offends a significant portion of our population.
The Civil War will continue to be an important part of heritage tourism, and Frankfort should be the first stop for researchers and enthusiasts to learn about our Commonwealth’s role in shaping the outcome of the war. It is a unique circumstance that the leaders of the Union and Confederate governments were both Kentuckians.
That, along with being a border state, reflects the complexity of our state during the Civil War. The story is appropriately presented at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, the Capital City Museum, and the Kentucky Military History Museum. The Capitol Rotunda is not the place to do it.