162 Years Ago Today

 

     Jefferson Davis stood at (or near) the top of the stairs leading to the front doors of The Alabama Capitol Building in Montgomery and took the oath of office as President of the confederacy...the group of states that wanted to succeed from the United States.

     The photo on the left is one of the few surviving from that day. There were few cameras back then, and few people who knew how to use them as well.

     The low resolution of the photo doesn't allow much zooming in, but it's still a fascinating image from February 18, 1861. There's no flag atop the capitol, since the "new government" hadn't developed one yet. Lots of children playing on the (then grass, now marble), a horse drawn carriage parked in front, lots of women in hoop skirts.

(left) The marker embedded in the marble by the daughters of the confederacy.(A newspaper account of the swearing-in suggests he actually stood on a wooden platform over the stairs.)
 

 

 

 The building now has mostly marble stairs leading from the street up to the final steps and the building itself.

 

The beautiful wooden front doors of the 1852 Alabama Capitol Building in Montgomery.

(right) A statue of Davis stands in front of the Alabama Capitol. 

In 2020 a statue of him in the Kentucky Capitol building was removed.

Kentucky is ALSO considering ending Confederate holidays.

You can read Davis's inaugural address HERE.