What happened to the Jefferson Davis statue ousted from the Kentucky Capitol?
The controversial Jefferson Davis statue, gone from the Kentucky Capitol, has not yet reached its intended destination.
Jill Midkiff, a spokeswoman for the state Finance and Administration Cabinet, said Monday the 5-ton statue has been placed into temporary storage until it can be moved to the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site in Todd County.
In the interest of security, Midkfiff said, the state has not released the temporary location of the 15-foot, marble Davis statue.
“It is being stored inside a secure building while preparations for receiving it are made at the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site,” she said.
The statue is insured by the Division of State Risk for both its storage and transport, she added.
The statue, placed in the Capitol Rotunda in December 1936 at the request of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, was taken out of the Capitol Saturday. The action came after the Historic Properties Advisory Commission voted 11-1 last Friday to do so at Gov. Andy Beshear’s request.
Beshear said the statue was a divisive symbol because of Davis’ support for slavery. He campaigned against the statue in the Capitol in last year’s race for governor and momentum to remove it accelerated with recent protests in the country and Kentucky against racial injustice.
Midkiff said the state Division of Historic Properties, in partnership with the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, “will oversee the safe transfer of the statue to its future location” at the Todd County site, Davis’ birthplace.
After it was removed from the Capitol Saturday, she said, it was placed “into temporary storage while the Fairview site is readied to receive and install the statue in an appropriate historical context.”
David K. Smith, director of the Todd County site, referred questions Monday to the state Tourism Cabinet.
It said details relating to the relocation of the statue have not been finalized.
The Jefferson Davis State Historic Site is located off U.S. Highway 68-80 near Fairview. The site includes a museum, gift shop and a 351-foot obelisk constructed on a foundation of solid Kentucky limestone.
An elevator takes visitors to the top for a bird’s eye view of the countryside but the site’s website says monument tours have been suspended until further notice due to mechanical issues with the elevator.
