Notices in newspapers tell of events held there: the United Sons of Confederate Veterans, a "musical entertainment" in 1909;[2] the Children of the Confederacy hosted in 1913;[3] the women's auxiliary, a benefit concert in 1914;[1] the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a reception in 1916[4] and a benefit card party in 1917;[5] open house in 1917 for those attending "the annual pilgrimage of Confederate veterans to Arlington".

[10][11] "As the 20th century drew to a close, the CMA was sponsoring magnificent white tie grand balls, barbecues, horse events, and a myriad of activities that showcase Southern culture and its inherent good manners and abiding respect for others.

[18] Richard T. Hines was a former South Carolina state legislator, U.S. General Services Administration official, commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter in Washington, and "a major neo-Confederate",[19][better source needed] who "in 1984...penned a paean to Preston Brooks, the secessionist South Carolina congressman who caned Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts on the Senate floor in 1854 for his speeches against slavery.

In 1990, Hurley filed a $5 million suit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, charging Hines and others with perjury, mail fraud, and money-laundering, "among other misdeeds".

In a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno, he linked government corruption and retribution for his whistleblowing, with the efforts to force members onto the Association's board and thus seize its building.

[25] To no avail, Hurley also reported the federal judge deciding his case, John H. Bayly Jr., to the District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure.

[26] He alleged that Bayly "hired the plaintiffs to sue him", and feared "his own 'probable assassination' by the government as payback for his uncovering court complicity in cocaine trafficking.

"[21] According to Hurley, his "bizarre court odyssey" began in the 1980s when he canceled an Oliver North "Freedom Fighter" fund-raising event, to be held at Confederate Memorial Hall, for "denizens of the Reagan Doctrine, a peculiar gathering of Nicaraguan contras, Afghan-based mujahedeen and members of the Angolan guerrilla group UNITA, which was funded by the South African apartheid regime.

"[20] He said he took this action because the Tax Code prohibited such political activity by his tax-exempt organization; in fact, Hurley's Association lost its 501 (c)(3) status for a few years but regained it.