Stamps
Jefferson Davis postage stamps
J. Davis on Stone Mountain 1970 issue
Davis appeared on several postage stamps issued by the Confederacy, including its first postage stamp (issued in 1861). In 1995, his portrait appeared on a United States postage stamp, part of a series of 20 stamps commemorating the 130th anniversary of the end of the Civil War.[28][29] Davis was also celebrated on the six-cent Stone Mountain Memorial Carving commemorative on September 19, 1970, at Stone Mountain, Georgia. The stamp portrayed Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson on horseback. It depicts a replica of the actual memorial, carved into the side of Stone Mountain at 400 feet (120 m) above ground level, the largest high-relief sculpture in the world.[30]
Holidays
The birthday of Jefferson Davis is commemorated in several states. His actual birthday, June 3, is celebrated in Florida,[31] Kentucky,[32] Louisiana[33] and Tennessee;[34] in Alabama, it is celebrated on the first Monday in June.[35] In Mississippi, the last Monday of May (Memorial Day) is celebrated as "National Memorial Day and Jefferson Davis's Birthday".[36] In Texas, "Confederate Heroes Day" is celebrated on January 19, Robert E. Lee's birthday;[34] Jefferson Davis's birthday had been officially celebrated on June 3 but was combined with Lee's in 1973.[37]
Miscellaneous
- The Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum, on the grounds of Davis' last home, Beauvoir, at Biloxi, Mississippi,[13] includes a bronze statue of Davis by Mississippi artist Bill Beckwith.[38] From 1903 until 1957, Beauvoir served as a Confederate Veterans Home.[39] The house and library were damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005; the renovated home reopened in 2008.[40] Bertram Hayes-Davis, Davis's great-great grandson, served as executive director of Beauvoir, which is owned by the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.[41] Bertram Hayes-Davis resigned in 2014.[42] The original Jefferson Davis presidential library suffered irreparable damage from Hurricane Katrina; consequently, a new library was constructed and opened June 3, 2013.[43]
- Jefferson Davis Memorial Park is located in Fitzgerald, Georgia.[44]
- The state of Alabama celebrates Jefferson Davis's birthday on the first Monday in June. The state of Mississippi observes Davis's birthday in conjunction with the Memorial Day Federal holiday.
- In the States of Florida and Kentucky, Jefferson Davis's birthday, June 3, is a legal holiday and public holiday.[45][46]
- Jefferson Davis was honorarily inducted into the Kappa Sigma Fraternity (Virginia Military Institute – Xi chapter) following his son's death. He is currently the only honorary member of the fraternity.
- Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution barred from office anyone who had violated their oath to protect the Constitution by serving in the Confederacy. That prohibition included Davis. In 1978, pursuant to authority granted to Congress under the same section of the Amendment, Congress posthumously removed the ban on Davis with a two-thirds vote of each house and President Jimmy Carter signed it. These actions were spearheaded by Congressman Trent Lott of Mississippi. Congress had previously taken similar action on behalf of Robert E. Lee.[47]
- The desk used by Jefferson Davis on the floor of the U.S. Senate, repaired after Union soldiers damaged it during the Civil War, is reserved by Senate Rules for the senior Senator from Mississippi (currently Senator Roger Wicker).[48]
- The former transnational Jefferson Davis Highway was named in his honor. In 1913, the United Daughters of the Confederacy conceived the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway, a transcontinental highway to be built through the South.[49][50] Portions of the highway's route in Virginia, Alabama and other states still bear the name of Jefferson Davis.[49] However, in Alexandria, Virginia, the city council voted unanimously to rename the highway and has solicited public suggestions for a new name.[51] In Arlington County, Virginia, that portion of the highway was renamed Richmond Highway in 2019.[52] A Sons of Confederate Veterans owned "park" alongside Interstate 5 between Vancouver and Ridgefield, containing the two granite markers which used to reside at each end of the Jefferson Davis Highway in Washington state is named in honor of Davis.[53]
Memorial of Jefferson Davis's final speech.
- In 2009, a bronze plaque was dedicated at the site of the old courthouse in Mississippi City, Mississippi, to memorialize the final speech delivered by Jefferson Davis, where he pleaded for unity of all U.S. citizens after the American Civil War.
- Jeff Davis Peak, a variant name of Doso Doyabi, the second highest summit in the Snake Range in Nevada, was named in honor of Jefferson Davis in 1855. Davis was then serving as Secretary of War in the United States government.[54]
- Jefferson Davis Hospital began operations in 1924 and was the first centralized municipal hospital to treat indigent patients in Houston, Texas.[55] The building was designated as a protected historic landmark on November 13, 2013, by the Houston City Council and is monitored by the Historic Preservation Office of the City of Houston Department of Planning and Development.[56] The hospital was named for Jefferson Davis, former president of the Confederacy, in honor of the Confederate soldiers who had been buried in the cemetery and as a means to console the families of the deceased.[57]
- The United Daughters of the Confederacy monument to Jefferson Davis at the Fort Crawford Cemetery in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Davis was stationed at Fort Crawford, Michigan Territory in 1831.[58]
- Fort Davis National Historic Site began as a frontier military post in October 1854, in the mountains of western Texas. It was named after then-United States Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. That fort gave its name to the surrounding Davis Mountains range, and the town of Fort Davis. The surrounding area was designated Jeff Davis County in 1887, with the town of Fort Davis as the county seat. Other states containing a Jefferson (or Jeff) Davis County/Parish include Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
- When Davis evacuated Richmond, his belongings continued on the train bound for Cedar Key, Florida. They were first hidden at Senator David Levy Yulee's plantation in Florida, then placed in the care of a railroad agent in Waldo. On June 15, 1865, Union soldiers seized Davis's personal baggage from the agent, together with some of the Confederate government's records. A historical marker was erected to commemorate this site.[59][60][61]
- The Papers of Jefferson Davis is an editing project based at Rice University in Houston, Texas to publish documents related to Davis. Since the early 1960s, it has published 14 volumes, the first in 1971 and the most recent in 2015;[62] more volumes are planned. The project has roughly 100,000 documents in its archives.[citation needed]
- The Confederate Memorial Hall Museum has a portrait of Pope Pius IX that he sent to Davis after he was captured. It is inscribed with the Latin words "Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis, et ego reficiam vos, dicit Dominus", which correspond to the Biblical passage of Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all you that labor, and are burdened, and I will refresh you, sayeth the Lord".[63] A hand-woven crown of thorns that was probably woven by Davis's wife encircles it.[64]
Controversy
In response to lobbying by activists for the removal of statues and memorials honoring the Confederacy, some of Jefferson's have been taken down based both on his support for slavery as well as his support for secession.[65] Some have argued that these removals devalue his other accomplishments.[66][67][failed verification]
