Ongoing Display
Briscoe Center for American History, Austin, Texas
Hall Gallery
Commissioned in 1919 by university regent Major George W. Littlefield, this statue of Jefferson Davis was envisioned as part of a much larger allegorical memorial, the Littlefield Fountain. Intended to honor Texans who died in the Civil War and World War I, while also addressing the reconciliation of the northern and southern states between those wars, the memorial and its campus setting and cultural context changed significantly over the course of its development. No longer an object of commemoration, the statue was relocated from the University’s South Mall in 2015 and now forms part of an exhibition that explores the statue’s history and context, as well as its significance as both a work of art and evidence of the past.
