I received a letter from John Cornyn’s office today reporting that the Texas Department of Transportation has addressed my concerns about a highway in Texas being designated a Jeff Davis Highway.

Here’s the text of Cornyn’s letter:

Dear Mr. Raines:

After reviewing your concerns, the Texas Department of Transportation provided the enclosed response to my inquiry. I hope you find this information useful. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to assist in this matter.

It is a privilege to represent you in the United States Senate. Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

Sincerely,

signed

JOHN CORNYN
United State Senate

It’s interesting to note that Mr. Cornyn does not mention the actual issue I’d written him about. This was true in his original response, too (available here along with the no-response response from Kay Bailey-Hutchinson). He’s not successful as a politician for nothing. Care with words in important. And the Daughters of the Confederacy, the original placers of the stone marker in question, may be very powerful in parts of Texas. Nevertheless, it does make one wonder how one may ever begin to correct the wrongs of history. Maybe one may not. Here’s the letter from the Department of Transportation (heading omitted):

Dear Senator Cornyn:

Thank you for your recent letter regarding the “Jefferson Davis Highway #12″ marker located at the rest-stop outside of Victoria. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your constituent’s concerns.

To give you some historical perspective, the first designation of State Highway #13 as the Jefferson Davis Highway was by the State Highway Commission on November 20, 1917. Later in 1921, the 37th Legislature requested the designation by House Concurrent Resolution No. 28. During the early years, there was apparently much discussion over the actual name, and by permission from the State, in June of 1930, the William P. Rogers Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy placed the first Jefferson Davis Highway Marker in Texas just inside the Victoria County line on what was then State Highway #12. Over the years, the highway number changed and the Jefferson Davis Highway name was modified and relocated over other highways. Eventually, State Highway #12 was modified and renumbered to U.S. 59. The marker’s location was adjusted and moved to the rest area.

With the histoical nature of the marker, any movement would be subject to review in regards to several state and federal regulations. An environmental review process and coordination with the Texas Historical Commision would be required. The United Daughters of the Confederacy would also need to be consulted.

Due to the historical nature, the Texas Department of Transportation has no plans to move the marker from the rest area.

Sincerely,

Amadeo Saenz, Jr., P.E.
Executive Director

Not an acceptable outcome, in my opinion. The reference to “the historical nature” ignores the nature of the history the stone refers to. The Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Revolution was founded in 1896 in Victoria, right at the birth of the American apartheid movement known as Jim Crow. The stone was planted in the 1930’s, a time when Southerners were pushing to re-write history and romanticize the slavery period as a time of gallantry and honor rather than the horror that it was. I think the State of Texas can well afford to walk away and should feel no constraints from the UDC. According to the state chapter’s web site, it is an organization of 2,800 members, hardly owners of a majority view and hardly able interpreters of the state’s history. Take a look at the imitation Scarlett O’Hara’s they’ve put on their web site. This is the truth of the South in the period of slavery?

I think, however, that Mr. Saenz has written an nice summary of the marker and it would be useful and informative for describing the stone as a museum piece.