Confederate Memorial Hall Confederate Memorial Hall is a museum located in New Orleans , Louisiana containing historical artifacts related to the Confederate States of America and the American Civil War . It is historically also known as " Memorial Hall " . It houses the second largest collection of Confederate Civil War items in the world , behind the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond , Virginia . The museum is also known as Louisiana ' s Civil War Museum at Confederate Memorial Hall . The museum ' s building is known as the " Battle Abbey of the South " due to its elaborate stained glass windows and distinctive church - like architecture . It is the oldest continually active museum in Louisiana . Collections . The Confederate Memorial Hall contains over 5 , 000 historical artifacts including several rare Civil War items . It holds the personal effects and uniforms of Confederate generals Braxton Bragg , P . G . T . Beauregard , and Franklin Gardner as well as 125 historical battle flags from the Civil War . Jefferson Davis ' wife Varina Davis donated several of her late husband ' s belongings to the museum including several items of clothing , his suitcase , his saddle , and a rare letter to Davis containing an enclosed crown of thorns from Pius IX . 19th century history . Confederate Memorial Hall was established in 1891 by New Orleans philanthropist Frank T . Howard to house the historical collections of the Louisiana Historical Association . The museum quickly accumulated a vast collection of Civil War items , mostly in the form of personal donations by veterans . In 1893 , the museum hosted a wake for the exhumed body of Confederate President Jefferson Davis attended by over 60 , 000 mourners before it was transported to Davis ' tomb in Richmond . A reunion held at the building attracted 30 , 000 Civil War veterans - one of the largest of such gatherings ever held . Ownership dispute . For much of its existence the Confederate Memorial Hall ' s building has been the subject of an ownership dispute that has involved numerous court battles and the involvement of several Louisiana political figures including Governors Huey Long and Mike Foster . The dispute has revolved around Howard ' s original donation of the building to the Louisiana Historical Association , which read " It is with deep satisfaction that I perform the act of formally putting into your possession the Building , which , while it is an Adjunct of the Howard Memorial Library Association , is to be set apart forever for the use of your organization . " In 1930 the adjoining Howard Library sought the museum ' s building space to store portions of their collection . Governor Long negotiated a compromise in which the museum permitted the library to store some of its books in their basement . In the 1940s the Howard Library outgrew its facilities and relocated to Tulane University . Its building was sold shortly afterwards and , after transferring to several owners , was donated to the University of New Orleans in the early 1990s . The old Howard Library building and a nearby property neighboring the Confederate Memorial Hall were then converted into the Ogden Museum of Southern Art by UNO . The location of Memorial Hall in between the two Ogden buildings gave rise to the latest dispute over the property , as visitors to the Ogden museums would have to exit each building and travel outdoors around the Memorial Hall to reach the remainder of the collection . A solution was proposed in which a tunnel between the two buildings through the Memorial Hall basement would be constructed and a proposal was drafted by Confederate Memorial Hall , but UNO withdrew from the negotiations in 1998 . Recent history . In 2000 , Tulane University , having absorbed the Howard Library , sold its title to the Memorial Hall building to UNO , which it claimed to possess as the former owner of the Howard Library properties . In 2001 the UNO foundation announced its claims to the Confederate Memorial Hall building and initiated efforts to remove the museum from the premises . A series of court battles ensued in which title ownership to the property was granted to UNO , however efforts to evict the museum were stayed by the courts on bonds . As the case proceeded through the appellate processes , Governor Mike Foster intervened in the dispute and assisted in the drafting of a compromise between UNO and the museum that would allow Confederate Memorial Hall to remain in its historic building . In August 2003 , at Foster ' s direction , both parties agreed to drop pending lawsuits to the building in exchange for fulfillment of a compromise agreement . Per the agreement , UNO is required to cede its title claims to the Confederate Memorial Hall museum ' s land and building in exchange for the construction of a connecting tunnel through the basement as was proposed in the 1997 plan . The compromise is to be implemented in full within 10 years time , or upon the completion of the tunnel , depending upon which comes first . In 2011 , a Confederate Battle Flag from the 14th Louisiana Infantry Regiment , stolen from the museum in the 1980s by a volunteer , was recovered from a collector who reportedly purchased the flag in 2004 without knowing it had been stolen .