Craig Fehrman: Jefferson Davis' "Presidential" Library

Craig Fehrman is working on a book on presidents and their books.

This spring will be remembered, by history junkies at least, for the opening of a major new institution, one named after a polarizing leader, devoted to a divisive period, subsidized by taxpayers and stationed in the South. I'm not talking about the presidential library of George W. Bush but the "presidential library" of Jefferson Davis, the one and only chief executive of the Confederate States of America, which will be dedicated Monday in Biloxi, Miss.

The Davis library, of course, is not one of the 13 official libraries overseen by the National Archives and Records Administration. After all, Jefferson Davis was not exactly an American president. But that hasn't stopped the Sons of Confederate Veterans, an influential Southern heritage group, from co-opting the idea of a presidential library.

For the Sons, the library is a chance to defend a man who's been mocked since the end of the Civil War, when Northerners delighted in rumors that Davis was captured wearing women's clothing. For the rest of us, it's a reminder that history, and especially the sort of public history you'll encounter this summer on vacation, is shaped and supported by powerful interests. Best to apply some skepticism with your sunscreen....