Its commission was first suggested by Sumner Archibald Cunningham, the founding editor of Confederate Veteran.[1] It was designed by sculptor George Julian Zolnay.[1] Built with bronze, it is nine feet tall on top of a marble pedestal.[1] The western plaque includes lines from a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.[1] The monument cost almost $8,000 (equivalent to $271,289 in 2025[2]) to build.[3] The bronze sculpture cost $4,000 (equivalent to $135,644 in 2025[2]) and the marble pedestal $3,000 (equivalent to $101,733 in 2025[2]).[1]
The dedication was held on April 29, 1909.[1][4] It was attended by thousands (between 3,000 and 5,000), including members of the Davis family, Confederate veterans in uniform, and members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.[1] Major Eugene C. Lewis introduced Governor Malcolm R. Patterson, who gave a speech praising Davis.[1] Lewis then read a letter by Colonel Hume R. Field.[1] It was followed by a prayer by Reverend James Hugh McNeilly of Glen Leven Presbyterian Church.[1] Finally, Davis's grandniece, Elizabeth Ewing Davis, unveiled the statue by taking off the Confederate flags covering it.[1]
