The White
House of the Confederacy, sandwiched amongst the bustling VCU medical school
buildings in Richmond’s Court End neighborhood is certainly a uniquely situated
historical artifact. After parking my car on level P3 of the VCU hospital
parking deck located about a half block down the street from the White House of
the Confederacy, taking a packed elevator up to level P8 (street level),
walking past nurses, doctors, and ambulances, I finally reached the entrance to
the Museum of the Confederacy. Once inside, I noticed immediately that the
Museum itself had a unique feel; essentially a shrine to the Confederate States
of America and all of the individuals who lived in the South during the war. I
arrived a few minutes early and was told to wait in the lobby (where the Gift
Shop chock full of Confederate flags, books, and memorabilia was located) for
the 1pm tour.
| Early Confederate Flag |
The White House tour is given
hourly from about 10am-3pm (the daily schedule varies), and it starts with a
quick walk across the path from the Museum of the Confederacy to the
underground entrance of the White House.
The tour begins with a tour guide leading us into the unrestored
basement and wine cellar area of the house, proving the authenticity of the
site very early on. While in the wine cellar, the tour guide goes through a
brief history of the White House and a quick biographical background of its
residents—the first and only President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, and
his family. It seemed clear from the beginning
of the tour that the house is portrayed as, essentially, a reflection of pride to
the glory days of the South and the Confederacy. The tour guide stated solemnly
at the end of his historical background speech that the house had to be
relinquished to the “boys in blue” after the North won the Civil War.
| Jefferson Davis |
The next stop on the tour was the
main dining room, an extremely elegant restoration of a space that the tour guide
referred to as the “social political and military center of the Confederacy”. The
main dining room was a place where the Davis’ entertained, Jefferson himself
had military meetings, and various famous guests and visitors such as Robert E.
Lee and Abraham Lincoln were said to have visited during and after the Civil
War. The tour guide also made it a point to notify visitors that this room, as
well as the entire house, is 50% authentic original antique furniture from the
house, and that the remaining furniture had been chosen by historians as the
“best guess” as to what was most likely in the house during its prime time of
use. A room that especially charmed me
was the small parlor adjacent to the dining room, a tiny room with a wrought
iron painted fireplace and a couple of beautifully decorated antique chairs for
sitting, and a small tea table. This small room was said to be where Abraham
Lincoln came for tea and crumpets to discuss post-war reconstruction plans for
the South.
| Formal Dining Room |
The next part of the tour took us
up a narrow spiral staircase to the second story of the house, where the
bedrooms and personal offices are located. This part of the house was certainly
more personal than the downstairs guest/entertaining areas, but Davis’ personal
office upstairs became a public meeting space as he aged and his health began
to fail. The final stop on the tour was the nursery, where Davis’ children
lived. This room had almost a eerie feeling to it, as the tour guide described
the unfortunate fate of the Davis children—all but one died prematurely—one son
even dying at the age of 5 in his crib in the nursery. I thought that it was an interesting choice to end the tour with this room, as it was a strikingly somber finish to a tour
that was predominately a nostalgic glorification of the Davis family and the
Civil War South.
In sum, the White House of the
Confederacy was an extremely interesting historical site. I found the
authenticity of the house itself to be special; standing in Jefferson Davis’
bedroom or in a small parlor where Lincoln was said to have had tea is just a
neat feeling. The house is a reflective, memory inducing genuine artifact that
makes the visitor think back and picture what life was like in the South during
the Civil War. Just a hop, skip and a
jump from U of R campus (though parking is a hassle), the White House of the
Confederacy is certainly a site worth visiting for a taste of authentic,
tangible Civil War Southern history.
| White House Garden |
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