Confederate Memorial Hall Museum is a museum located in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

which contains historical artifacts related to 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 ...

(C.S.A.) and the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. It is historically also known as "Memorial Hall". It houses the second-largest collection of Confederate Civil War items in the world, behind the

American Civil War Museum The American Civil War Museum is a multi-site museum in the Greater Richmond Region of central Virginia, dedicated to the history of the American Civil War. The museum operates three sites: White House of the Confederacy, The White House of the Con ...

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. The museum has been advertised as ''Louisiana's Civil War Museum'' and as ''Louisiana's Oldest Museum''. This "Adjunct of the Howard Memorial Library Association", according to Frank T. Howard's letter of 8 Jan. 1891, was placed in the "possession" the Board of Governors of the

Louisiana Historical Association The Louisiana Historical Association is an organization established in 1889 in Louisiana to collect and preserve the history of Louisiana and its archives. The organization was formed, in part, for the operation of New Orleans' Memorial Hall A m ...

"to be set apart forever for the use of" that organization. Sully & Toledano designed the hall, which was completed in 1888, following the

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

style of the Howard Library designed by

H.H. Richardson Henry Hobson Richardson, FAIA (September 29, 1838 – April 27, 1886) was an American architect, best known for his work in a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one ...

Collections

The Confederate Memorial Hall contains over 5,000 historical artifacts including several rare Civil War items. It holds the personal effects and uniforms of Confederate generals

Braxton Bragg Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817 – September 27, 1876) was an American army officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War and Confederate general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, serving in the Weste ...

and

P.G.T. Beauregard Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard (May 28, 1818 - February 20, 1893) was a Confederate general officer of Louisiana Creole descent who started the American Civil War by leading the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Today, he is commonly ...

, as well as over 140

regimental A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

and other C.S.A. flags. Jefferson Davis' wife

Varina Davis Varina Anne Banks Howell Davis (May 7, 1826 – October 16, 1906) was the only First Lady of the Confederate States of America, and the longtime second wife of President Jefferson Davis. She moved to a White House of the Confederacy, house in ...

donated several of her late husband's belongings to the museum including items of clothing, his Bible and saddle, plus a crown of thorns from

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

19th-century history

Confederate Memorial Hall was established in 1891 by New Orleans philanthropist Frank T. Howard, to house the historical collections of the

. The museum quickly accumulated a vast collection of Civil War items, mostly in the form of personal donations by veterans. On 29 May 1893, the exhumed body of

Confederate President The president of the Confederate States was the head of state and head of government of the Confederate States. The president was the chief executive of the federal government and was the commander-in-chief of the Confederate Army and the Confe ...

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 ...

was mourned by over 60,000 people as it lay in state in the hall, before being moved to his final resting place in

Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia) Hollywood Cemetery is a large, sprawling cemetery located next to Richmond, Virginia's Oregon Hill neighborhood at 412 South Cherry Street. Characterized by rolling hills and winding paths overlooking the James River, it is the resting place of ...

Ownership dispute

For much of its existence the Confederate Memorial Hall's building has been the subject of an ownership dispute that has involved numerous court battles and the involvement of several Louisiana political figures including Governors

Huey Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...

and Mike Foster. The dispute has revolved around Howard's original donation of the building to the

, which read "It is with deep satisfaction that I perform the act of formally putting into your possession the Building, which, while it is an Adjunct of the Howard Memorial Library Association, is to be set apart forever for the use of your organization." In 1930 the adjoining Howard Library sought the museum's building space to store portions of their collection. Governor Long negotiated a compromise in which the museum permitted the library to store some of its books in their basement. In the 1940s the Howard Library outgrew its facilities and relocated to

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

. Its building was sold shortly afterwards and, after transferring to several owners, was donated to the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...

in the early 1990s. The old Howard Library building and a nearby property neighboring the Confederate Memorial Hall were then converted into the

Ogden Museum of Southern Art The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is located in the Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1999, and in Stephen Goldring Hall at 925 Camp Street since 2003. The building The Ogden consists of two main buildin ...

by UNO. The location of Memorial Hall in between the two Ogden buildings gave rise to the latest dispute over the property, as visitors to the Ogden museums would have to exit each building and travel outdoors around the Memorial Hall to reach the remainder of the collection. A solution was proposed in which a tunnel between the two buildings through the Memorial Hall basement would be constructed and a proposal was drafted by Confederate Memorial Hall, but UNO withdrew from the negotiations in 1998.

21st century

In 2000, Tulane University, having absorbed the Howard Library, sold its title to the Memorial Hall building to UNO, which it claimed to possess as the former owner of the Howard Library properties. In 2001 the UNO foundation announced its claims to the Confederate Memorial Hall building and initiated efforts to remove the museum from the premises. A series of court battles ensued in which title ownership to the property was granted to UNO, however efforts to evict the museum were stayed by the courts on bonds. As the case proceeded through the appellate processes, Governor Mike Foster intervened in the dispute and assisted in the drafting of a compromise between UNO and the museum that would allow Confederate Memorial Hall to remain in its historic building. In August 2003, at Foster's direction, both parties agreed to drop pending lawsuits to the building in exchange for fulfillment of a compromise agreement. Per the agreement, UNO is required to cede its title claims to the Confederate Memorial Hall museum's land and building in exchange for the construction of a connecting tunnel through the basement as was proposed in the 1997 plan. The compromise is to be implemented in full within 10 years time, or upon the completion of the tunnel, depending upon which comes first. In 2011, a

Confederate Battle Flag The flags of the Confederate States of America have a history of three successive designs during the American Civil War. The flags were known as the "Stars and Bars", used from 1861 to 1863; the "Stainless Banner", used from 1863 to 1865; and ...

from the 14th Louisiana Infantry Regiment, stolen from the museum in the 1980s by a volunteer, was recovered from a collector who reportedly purchased the flag in 2004 without knowing it had been stolen.

References

External links

Official siteFrank Turner Howard (1855–1911)
in