Cornerstone Celebration

Plaque at base of monument: “TRIBUTE TO THE RANK AND FILE OF THE ARMIES OF THE SOUTH BY THE KENTUCKY WOMAN’S CONFEDERATE MONUMENT ASSOCIATION. 1895.”

The Kentucky Woman’s Confederate Monument Association wanted to lay the cornerstone of the Louisville Confederate Monument on October 15, 1895. For unknown reasons, possibly the Yandell controversy, the cornerstone celebration did not occur until May 25, 1895. The Association celebrated the day with a parade, a band and an address by Confederate General Basil W. Duke. Beneath the monument, the women placed a cooper box containing thousands of dollars of Confederate currency, current newspapers, a cigar Jefferson Davis allegedly almost smoke while in Louisville, and pictures of Davis and General Robert E. Lee. The day of festivities included a dedication by Louisville’s Mayor, Charles Jacob. Several Kentucky Confederate regiments also went to see the cornerstone laid. After the conclusion of ceremony, the crowd traveled to Cave Hill to decorate the graves of the Confederate dead.