Lee Office Plaque
Lee Office Plaque
This bronze plaque marked the second-floor room in Payne Hall that served as Robert E. Lee’s first office as president of Washington College from 1865 until the completion of the chapel in 1868. The marker was installed in connection with the 2010–11 restoration of Payne Hall and the Colonnade.
Erected: c. July 2011, during the Colonnade restoration
Removed: July 2023
Originally Located In: Payne Hall
Current Status: Unknown
Commissioned By: The Class of 1959
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Following his inauguration as president of Washington College on October 2, 1865, Robert E. Lee occupied an office adjoining the second-floor classroom in the South Hall where he had taken his oath. From this room, Lee directed the College's recovery and expansion following the Civil War. He continued working there until the completion of the chapel in 1868, when his office moved to the new building.
As part of its fiftieth reunion in 2009, the Washington and Lee Class of 1959 contributed to the restoration of the University's historic Colonnade. Before construction began, the University announced that the class had specifically chosen to support “the renovation of Payne Hall and President Robert E. Lee's first office,” and that its contribution would be recognized in “the second-floor office that Lee used prior to the completion of Lee Chapel.” Payne Hall underwent an extensive restoration between 2010-2011, preserving its historic character while modernizing its classrooms and offices. A commemorative plaque recognizing the Class of 1959's contribution was installed on the doorway over Lee's former office around July 2011, when the building reopened.
University officials removed the plaque from Payne Hall in July 2023, alongside another marker identifying the room where Lee took his oath of office. The University announced that both plaques would be incorporated into a new historical exhibit in the chapel museum. That exhibit was never installed.
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ROBERT E. LEE, PRESIDENT OF
WASHINGTON COLLEGE,
OCCUPIED THIS OFFICE FROM
1865 UNTIL HE MOVED TO THE
NEWLY CONSTRUCTED
LEE CHAPEL, WHICH WAS
DEDICATED IN JUNE, 1868 -
In a July 16, 2023, statement, Washington and Lee University declared that its campus was “neither a museum nor an appropriate repository for Confederate artifacts.” The university identified four historical plaques recently removed from campus, including two from Payne Hall and two memorials to Traveller, which it announced were “being installed” in a “new permanent exhibit” in Lee Chapel titled The Power of Memory: Remembering Robert E. Lee.The university never installed the promised exhibition. When the renovated chapel galleries reopened in June 2026, none of the four plaques appeared on display. In an August 21 response to The Generals Redoubt, Museum Director Matt Davis explained that “the exhibition plans changed with the establishment of the Department of Institutional History Museum and Galleries in July 2024.”
The university has not responded to subsequent TGR inquiries concerning the whereabouts and future exhibition of removed plaques. However, in September 2026 correspondence with The W&L Spectator, Davis stated: “Our storage facility is not open to the public, nor do we make a list of our collections inventory available to the public.” He further explained that “the size and weight of some of these artifacts are not conducive to public viewing.” Regarding their future exhibition, Davis wrote: “It is possible that some or all of these artifacts will eventually be incorporated into temporary or permanent exhibits once the new museum is open, and we hope to have online databases and viewing rooms in the future.”
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