There are several works of art in the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

honoring former leaders of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

and generals in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

, including eight statues in the

National Statuary Hall Collection The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol is composed of statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history. Limited to two statues per state, the collection was originally set up in the old ...

, busts and portraits. These include the President of the Confederacy,

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

, the Vice President,

Alexander H. Stephens Alexander Hamilton Stephens (February 11, 1812 – March 4, 1883) was an American politician who served as the vice president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, and later as the 50th governor of Georgia from 1882 until his death in 1 ...

, and former U.S. President

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president dire ...

, who sided with the Confederate cause and negotiated the terms for Virginia's entry into the Confederate States of America.

National Statuary Hall Collection

In the National Statuary Hall Collection in the

, each state has provided statues of two citizens that the state wants to honor. The following Confederate figures are among them, many in Confederate Army uniforms. Dates reflect when the statue was given to the collection: * ''

'' (Mississippi, 1931) * ''

James Z. George James Zachariah George (October 20, 1826August 14, 1897) was an American lawyer, writer, U.S. politician, Confederate politician, and military officer. He was known as Mississippi's "Great Commoner". He was also a slave owner. Biography James ...

'' (Mississippi, 1931) * ''

Wade Hampton III Wade Hampton III (March 28, 1818April 11, 1902) was an American military officer who served the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War and later a politician from South Carolina. He came from a wealthy planter family, and ...

'' (South Carolina, 1929) * ''

Uriah M. Rose Uriah Milton Rose (March 5, 1834 – August 12, 1913) was an American lawyer and Confederate sympathizer. "Approachable, affable, and kind," graceful and courteous, he was called "the most scholarly lawyer in America" and "one of the leading ...

'' (Arkansas, 1917) * ''

Edmund Kirby Smith General Edmund Kirby Smith (May 16, 1824March 28, 1893) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded the Trans-Mississippi Department (comprising Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, western Louisiana, Arizona Territory and the Indi ...

'' (Florida, 1922). On March 19, 2018, the Governor of Florida signed legislation replacing Smith with African-American educator and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

advocate

Mary McLeod Bethune Mary Jane McLeod Bethune ( McLeod; July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955) was an American educator, philanthropist, humanitarian, Womanism, womanist, and civil rights activist. Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women in 1935, established th ...

. * '' Alexander Hamilton Stephens'' (Georgia, 1927) *''

Zebulon Baird Vance Zebulon Baird Vance (May 13, 1830 – April 14, 1894) was the 37th and 43rd governor of North Carolina, a U.S. Senator from North Carolina, and a Confederate officer during the American Civil War. A prolific writer and noted public speake ...

'' (North Carolina, 1916) *''

Joseph Wheeler Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler (September 10, 1836 – January 25, 1906) was an American military commander and politician. He was a cavalry general in the Confederate States Army in the 1860s during the American Civil War, and then a general in ...

'' (Alabama, 1925)

Other art representing Confederates in the Capitol

* ''

Howell Cobb Howell Cobb (September 7, 1815 – October 9, 1868) was an American and later Confederate political figure. A southern Democrat, Cobb was a five-term member of the United States House of Representatives and the speaker of the House from 184 ...

'' (painting purchased by Congress, 1912) Cobb was a five-term member of the House of Representatives and Speaker of the House from 1849 to 1851. He was one of the founders of the Confederacy, was elected President of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, and later served as a major general in the CSA. He suggested the creation of Andersonville prison. *''

Charles Frederick Crisp Charles Frederick Crisp (January 29, 1845 – October 23, 1896) was a United States political figure. A Democrat, he was elected as a congressman from Georgia in 1882, and served until his death in 1896. From 1890 until his death, he led the Demo ...

'' (portrait purchased 1893) During the Civil War, Crisp served in the 10th Virginia Infantry as a lieutenant. Later he was elected to Congress and served as both leader of the Democratic Party and Speaker of the House. *''

'' (bust purchased by Congress, 1898) Former U.S. President Tyler headed the committee that negotiated the terms for Virginia's entry into the Confederate States, signed Virginia's Ordinance of Secession on June 14, 1861. Tyler was seated in the Confederate Congress on August 1, 1861, and he served until just before his death in 1862.

Recent removals

The

statue of Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry ''Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry'' is a marble sculpture depicting the American politician and diplomat of the same name by Dante Sodini. The statue was gifted to the National Statuary Hall Collection from the state of Alabama in 1908, but was replaced ...

(Alabama, 1908) was replaced by a

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

of Helen Keller in 2009. On June 18, 2020, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ordered four paintings of former Confederates removed from the Speaker's Gallery in the Capitol in the wake of the nationwide protests over the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

while in police custody. "We didn't know about this until we were taking inventory of the statues and the curator told us that there were four paintings of Speakers in the Capitol of the United States, four Speakers who had served in the Confederacy," Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. The

of Robert E. Lee (Virginia, 1909) was removed on December 21, 2020.

Unsuccessful legislation for removal

On July 22, 2020, in the midst of the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...

, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 305–113 to remove a bust of Chief Justice

Roger B. Taney Roger Brooke Taney (; March 17, 1777 – October 12, 1864) was the fifth chief justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. Although an opponent of slavery, believing it to be an evil practice, Taney belie ...

(as well as statues honoring figures who were part of the Confederacy during the Civil War) from the U.S. Capitol and replace it with a bust of Justice

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

. The bill called for removal of Taney's bust within 30 days after the law's passage. The bust had been mounted in the old robing room adjacent to the

Old Supreme Court Chamber The Old Supreme Court Chamber is the room on the ground floor of the North Wing of the United States Capitol. From 1800 to 1806, the room was the lower half of the first United States Senate chamber, and from 1810 to 1860, the courtroom for the Su ...

in the Capitol Building. The bill (H.R. 7573) also created a "process to obtain a bust of Marshall ... and place it there within a minimum of two years." After the bill reached the Republican-led Senate on 30 July 2020 (S.4382) it was referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration, but no further action on it was taken.

References

{{Portal bar, American Civil War, Visual arts Confederate States of America monuments and memorials Confederate States of America monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C. Confederate States of America-related lists Lost Cause of the Confederacy