- Magnolia Tribune brings you the first Bill of the Day for the 2025 Mississippi legislative session that just may pique your interest.
The State of Mississippi provided the statues of Jefferson Davis and James Zachariah George to represent the state in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol in 1931.
While other states have changed or replaced their historic figures on display in the collection over the years, Mississippi has not, despite calls from various groups who would see the two Civil War-era figures replaced.
Now, State Senator David Blount (D) is proposing that lawmakers form The National Statuary Hall Selection Commission to consider the change in SB 2001.
“In the spirit of unity and for the sake of displaying to our nation historic figures who bring honor to all Mississippians,” Senator Blount’s bill proposes that 9-member Commission be established to collect, examine and consider all information that it determines may be helpful in making recommendations for two new historic figures to represent Mississippi in the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Three commissioners would be appointed by the Lt. Governor and Speaker of the House. Another three commissioners would be appointed by the Governor but would come from the Mississippi Economic Council, Mississippi Arts Commission, and Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
Blount’s bill would have the Commission make written recommendations for the selection of two new figures for the National Statuary Hall Collection to the Governor and the Legislature by November 30, 2025.
The legislation has been referred to the Senate Rules Committee.
About Davis and George
Davis, who served in the U.S. Army, was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate who represented Mississippi. He ran unsuccessfully for Governor but went on to serve as Secretary of War under former President Franklin Pierce.
Perhaps most notably, Davis later became the President of the Confederate States during the Civil War. Davis had his U.S. citizenship posthumously restored in 1978 under then President Jimmy Carter.
George, known as Mississippi’s “Great Commoner,” served in the U.S. and Confederate Army and later became an U.S. Senator representing the Magnolia State as a Democrat after the Civil War.
Once considered one of the youngest attorneys in the state, George served as a state Senator and rose to be a state Supreme Court Justice. He is recognized as a key writer of the 1890 Mississippi state constitution which has been heavily criticized as it laid the groundwork for the Jim Crow era.
George was also part of the group that founded Mississippi A&M, which later became Mississippi State University.
Stay tuned for more Bill of the Day recaps on some of the more interesting pieces of legislation filed in the 2025 legislative session.
