The statue of Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis, which stood on the Main Mall of the University of Texas at Austin until it was removed two years ago, was unveiled in its new home today, an American history museum on campus, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The statue is now housed in the Briscoe Center for American History, which opened today following a major renovation.
University President Greg Fenves made the decision in August of 2015 to move the statue off the Mall in August of 2015. The statue had been vandalized and was the object of angry protests after South Carolina church killer Dylann Roof's use of Confederate imagery sparked a national debate over the place that Confederate memorials have in 21st Century America.
"As a public institution, the University of Texas has the responsibility to carefully examine the political and cultural messages its architecture and monuments communicate," said Dr. Don Carleton, who heads the Briscoe Center.
Carleton stressed that moving the statue off the Mall and into the American history museum does not in any way indicate Texas is trying to expunge its Confederate past, nor does it denigrate Texans who honor their ancestors who served in the Confederate Army.
"The Center is home to the papers of George Washington Littlefield, who commissioned the Davis Statue," he said.
Fenves also said the action does not erase Texas' history, in any way attempt to hide it.
"History matters, history is important, and our role as an educational institution is to understand history, put it into context, and teach it to our students," he said.
The Jeff Davis statue and many other Confederate memorials across the South were constructed as part of what was known as the 'Lost Cause' movement. Dating from the 1890s through the 1920s, as the leaders of the Confederacy and most of its soldier were dying, the 'Lost Cause' attempted to paint the Confederate leaders as righteous and brave but ultimately doomed fighters for a cause which included such abstract figures as 'Southern womanhood.'