With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Jefferson Davis Memorial Chair Stolen from Alabama Cemetery Found in New Orleans, 2 Arrested

New Orleans police arrested two people and are searching for a third in connection to a Confederate monument stolen from Old Live Oak Cemetery in Selma, Ala.

According to NOPD, Alabama's Dallas County Sheriff's Office  received a tip that the concrete chair, known as the Jefferson Davis Memorial Chair, was in New Orleans.

Police found the chair near the corner of Feliciana and North Galvez Streets on Thursday, April 8, seemingly undamaged. Police say the monument has since been returned to its owners.

The Jefferson Davis Memorial Chair was reported missing on March 20 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

According to Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson, an email signed "White Lies Matter" was sent to media outlets after the monument's theft threatening to turn the chair into a toilet if the United Daughters of the Confederacy didn't display a banner at the Virginia headquarters with a quote from a Black Liberation Army activist on the anniversary of the South's surrender in the Civil War.

"Jefferson Davis doesn't need it anymore. He's long dead. ... Like most Confederate monuments, it mostly exists to remind those who's freedom had to be purchased in blood, that there still exists a portion of our country that is more than willing to continue to spill blood to avoid paying that debt down," the note said.

Read entire article at WWLTV