National Statuary Hall Collection

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Part of the National Statuary Hall Collection
Part of the National Statuary Hall Collection

The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol comprises statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history. Originally set up in the old Hall of the House of Representatives, renamed National Statuary Hall, the expanding collection has since been spread throughout the Capitol.

As of 2006, the collection consists of 100 statues contributed by 50 states. With the addition of New Mexico's second statue in 2005, the collection is now complete. Kansas replaced one of its first two a few years after Congress authorized replacements.

A special act of Congress, signed on December 1, 2005, directs the Joint Committee on the Library to obtain a statue of Rosa Parks and to place the statue in the United States Capitol in National Statuary Hall in a suitable permanent location.

[edit] History

The concept of a National Statuary Hall originated in the middle of the nineteenth century, even before the completion of the present House wing in 1857. At that time, the House of Representatives moved into its new larger chamber and the old vacant chamber became a thoroughfare between the Rotunda and the House wing. Suggestions for the use of the chamber were made as early as 1853 by Gouverneur Kemble, a former member of the House, who pressed for its use as a gallery of historical paintings. The space between the columns seemed too limited for this purpose, but it was well suited for the display of busts and statuary.

On April 19, 1864, Representative Justin S. Morrill asked: "To what end more useful or grand, and at the same time simple and inexpensive, can we devote it [the Chamber] than to ordain that it shall be set apart for the reception of such statuary as each State shall elect to be deserving of in this lasting commemoration?" His proposal to create a National Statuary Hall became law on July 2, 1864:

...the President is hereby authorized to invite each and all the States to provide and furnish statues, in marble or bronze, not exceeding two in number for each State, of deceased persons who have been citizens thereof, and illustrious for their historic renown or for distinguished civic or military services such as each State may deem to be worthy of this national commemoration; and when so furnished the same shall be placed in the Old Hall of the House of Representatives, in the Capitol of the United States, which is set apart, or so much thereof as may be necessary, as a national statuary hall for the purpose herein indicated.

Originally, all state statues were placed in National Statuary Hall. However, the aesthetic appearance of the Hall began to suffer from overcrowding until, in 1933, the situation became unbearable. At that time the Hall held 65 statues, which stood, in some cases, three deep. More important, the structure of the chamber would not support the weight of any more statues. Thus, in 1933 Congress passed a resolution that:

the Architect of the Capitol, upon the approval of the Joint Committee on the Library, with the advice of the Commission of Fine Arts, is hereby authorized and directed to relocate within the Capitol any of the statues already received and placed in Statuary Hall, and to provide for the reception and location of the statues received hereafter from the States.
Unveiling and Dedication of the Po'pay statue, September 2005.  The 100th statue added to the collection. The man is sculptor Cliff Fragua.
Unveiling and Dedication of the Po'pay statue, September 2005. The 100th statue added to the collection. The man is sculptor Cliff Fragua.

Under authority of this resolution it was decided that only one statue from each state should be placed in Statuary Hall. The others would be given prominent locations in designated areas and corridors of the Capitol. A second rearrangement of the statues was made in 1976 by authorization of the Joint Committee on the Library. To improve the crowded appearance of the collection, thirty-eight statues were rearranged in Statuary Hall according to height and material. Statues representing ten of the thirteen original colonies were moved to the Central Hall of the East Front Extension on the first floor of the Capitol. The remainder of the statues were distributed throughout the Capitol, mainly in the Hall of Columns and the connecting corridors of the House and Senate wings. Legislation has been introduced in 2005 that would authorize the collection to include one statue from each U.S. Territory, and another bill provides for the District of Columbia to participate.

Each statue is the gift of a state, not of an individual or group of citizens. Proceedings for the donation of a statue usually begin in the state legislature with the enactment of a resolution that names the citizen to be commemorated and cites his or her qualifications, specifies a committee or commission to represent the state in selecting the sculptor, and provides for a method of obtaining the necessary funds to carry the resolution into effect. In recent years, the statues have been unveiled during ceremonies in the Rotunda and displayed there for up to six months. They are then moved to a permanent location approved by the Joint Committee on the Library. An act of Congress (2 U.S.C. § 2132), enacted in 2000, permits states to provide replacements and repossess the earlier one.

[edit] Collection

Honoree     Sculptor     Location
AL  Jabez L. M. Curry Marble   Dante Sodini 1908   Hall of Columns
AL Joseph Wheeler Bronze Berthold Nebel 1925 National Statuary Hall
AK Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett Bronze Felix W. de Weldon 1971 House corridor, 2nd fl.
AK Ernest Gruening Bronze George Anthonisen 1977 Hall of Columns
AZ John Campbell Greenway Bronze Gutzon Borglum 1930 National Statuary Hall.
AZ Eusebio F. Kino Bronze Suzanne Silvercruys 1965 Hall of Columns.
AR Uriah Milton Rose Marble Frederick Ruckstull 1917 National Statuary Hall.
AR James Paul Clarke Marble Pompeo Coppini 1921 vestibule north of Senate corridor, 1st floor.
CA Thomas Starr King Bronze Haig Patigian 1931 Hall of Columns (See note below.)
CA Fr. Junipero Serra Bronze Ettore Cadorin 1931 National Statuary Hall
CO Florence R. Sabin Bronze Joy Buba 1959 National Statuary Hall
CO John L. "Jack" Swigert Bronze George and
Mark Lundeen
1997 House corridor, 1st fl.
CT Roger Sherman Marble Chauncey Ives 1872 Senate north-south corridor, 1st fl.
CT Jonathan Trumbull Marble Chauncey Ives 1872 House corridor, 2nd fl.
DE John M. Clayton Marble Bryant Baker 1934 Senate corridor, 2nd fl.
DE Caesar Rodney Marble Bryant Baker 1934 the Crypt
FL John Gorrie Marble C. Adrian Pillars 1914 National Statuary Hall
FL Edmund Kirby Smith Bronze C. Adrian Pillars 1922 Hall of Columns
GA Crawford W. Long Marble J. Massey Rhind 1926 the Crypt
GA Alexander Stephens Marble Gutzon Borglum 1927 National Statuary Hall
HI Father Damien Bronze Marisol Escobar 1969 House corridor, 1st fl.
HI Kamehameha the Great Bronze Thomas R. Gould 1969 National Statuary Hall
ID George Laird Shoup Marble Frederick E. Triebel 1910 National Statuary Hall
ID William Edgar Borah Bronze Bryant Baker 1947 Senate corridor, 2nd fl.
IL James Shields Bronze Leonard W. Volk 1893 Hall of Columns
IL Frances E. Willard Marble Helen F. Mears 1905 National Statuary Hall
IN Oliver Hazard Perry Morton Marble Charles Niehaus 1900 Senate corridor, 1st fl.
IN Lewis Wallace Marble Andrew O'Connor 1910 National Statuary Hall
IA James Harlan Bronze Nellie V. Walker 1910 Hall of Columns
IA Samuel Jordan Kirkwood Bronze Vinnie Ream 1913 National Statuary Hall
KS John James Ingalls Marble Charles Niehaus 1905 National Statuary Hall
KS George W. Glick Marble Charles Niehaus 1914         removed
KS Dwight D. Eisenhower Bronze Jim Brothers 2003 Rotunda
KY Henry Clay Bronze Charles Niehaus 1929 National Statuary Hall
KY Ephraim McDowell Bronze Charles Niehaus 1929 Senate corridor, 2nd fl.
LA Huey Pierce Long Bronze Charles Keck 1941 National Statuary Hall
LA Edward Douglass White Bronze Arthur C. Morgan 1955 Senate corridor, 2nd fl.
ME William King Marble Franklin Simmons 1878 House corridor, 2nd fl.
ME Hannibal Hamlin Bronze Charles E. Tefft 1935 National Statuary Hall
MD  Charles Carroll Bronze Richard E. Brooks 1903 Hall of Columns
MD John Hanson Bronze Richard E. Brooks 1903 Senate corridor, 2nd fl.
MA Samuel Adams Marble Anne Whitney 1876 the Crypt
MA John Winthrop Marble Richard S. Greenough 1876 Hall of Columns
MI Lewis Cass Marble Daniel Chester French 1889 National Statuary Hall
MI Zachariah Chandler Marble Charles H. Niehaus 1913 Hall of Columns
MN Henry Mower Rice Marble Frederick E. Triebel 1916 National Statuary Hall
MN Maria L. Sanford Bronze Evelyn Raymond 1958 Senate corridor, 2nd fl.
MS Jefferson Davis Bronze Augustus Lukeman 1931 National Statuary Hall
MS James Z. George Bronze Augustus Lukeman 1931 Hall of Columns
MO Thomas Hart Benton Marble Alexander Doyle 1899 National Statuary Hall
MO Francis Preston Blair, Jr. Marble Alexander Doyle 1899 Hall of Columns
MT Charles Marion Russell Bronze John B. Weaver 1959 National Statuary Hall
MT Jeannette Rankin Bronze Terry Minmaugh 1985 House corridor, 1st fl.
NE William Jennings Bryan Bronze Rudulph Evans 1937 National Statuary Hall
NE J. Sterling Morton Bronze Rudulph Evans 1937 Hall of Columns
NV Patrick Anthony McCarran Bronze Yolande Jacobson 1960 National Statuary Hall
NV Sarah Winnemucca Bronze Benjamin Victor 2005 Hall of Columns
NH John Stark Marble Carl Conrads 1894 Vestibule north of Rotunda
NH Daniel Webster Marble Carl Conrads (after Thomas Ball) 1894 National Statuary Hall
NJ Philip Kearny Bronze Henry Kirke Brown 1888 Hall of Columns
NJ Richard Stockton Marble Henry Kirke Brown (completed by
H. K. Bush-Brown)
1888 vestibule north of Senate corridor, 1st fl.
NM Dennis Chavez Bronze Felix W. de Weldon 1966 Vestibule north of Rotunda
NM Po'pay Marble Cliff Fragua 2005 Rotunda (until a permanent location is chosen by the Joint Committee on the Library)
NY George Clinton Bronze Henry Kirke Brown 1873 Small House rotunda
NY Robert R. Livingston Bronze Erastus Dow Palmer 1875 the Crypt
NC Zebulon Baird Vance Bronze Gutzon Borglum 1916 National Statuary Hall
NC Charles Brantley Aycock Bronze Charles Keck 1932 Senate corridor, 1st fl.
ND John Burke Bronze Avard Fairbanks 1963 National Statuary Hall
ND Sakakawea Bronze Arizona Bronze Atelier (after Leonard Crunelle, 1909) 2003 Crypt
OH James A. Garfield Marble Charles Niehaus 1886 Rotunda
OH William Allen Marble Charles Niehaus 1887 National Statuary Hall
OK Sequoyah Bronze Vinnie Ream (completed by G. Julian Zolnay) 1917 National Statuary Hall
OK Will Rogers Bronze Jo Davidson 1939 House corridor, 2nd fl.
OR Jason Lee Bronze Gifford MacG. Proctor 1953 National Statuary Hall
OR John McLoughlin Bronze Gifford MacG. Proctor 1953 House corridor, 2nd fl.
PA Robert Fulton Marble Howard Roberts 1889 National Statuary Hall
PA John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg Marble Blanche Nevin 1889 Small House rotunda
RI Nathanael Greene Marble Henry Kirke Brown 1870 Hall of Columns
RI Roger Williams Marble Franklin Simmons 1872 Senate corridor, 2nd fl.
SC John C. Calhoun Marble Frederick Ruckstull 1910 the Crypt
SC Wade Hampton Marble Frederick Ruckstull 1929 House corridor, 2nd fl.
SD William Henry Harrison Beadle Bronze H. Daniel Webster 1938 National Statuary Hall
SD Joseph Ward Marble Bruno Beghé 1963 Hall of Columns
TN Andrew Jackson Bronze Belle Kinney Scholz
and Leopold F. Scholz
1928 Rotunda
TN John Sevier Bronze Belle Kinney Scholz
and Leopold F. Scholz
1931 National Statuary Hall
TX Stephen F. Austin Marble Elisabet Ney 1905 small House rotunda
TX Sam Houston Marble Elisabet Ney 1905 National Statuary Hall
UT Brigham Young Marble Mahonri Young 1950 National Statuary Hall
UT Philo T. Farnsworth Bronze James R. Avati 1990 House corridor, 1st fl.
VT Ethan Allen Marble Larkin G. Mead 1876 National Statuary Hall
VT Jacob Collamer Marble Preston Powers 1881 Hall of Columns
VA Robert E. Lee Bronze Edward V. Valentine 1934 National Statuary Hall
VA George Washington Bronze Jean Antoine Houdon 1934 Rotunda
WA Marcus Whitman Bronze Avard Fairbanks 1953 National Statuary Hall
WA Mother Joseph Bronze Felix W. de Weldon 1980 Hall of Columns
WV John E. Kenna Marble Alexander Doyle 1901 Hall of Columns
WV Francis Harrison Pierpont Marble Franklin Simmons 1910 National Statuary Hall
WI Jacques Marquette Marble Gaetano Trentanove 1896 House corridor, 2nd fl.
WI Robert M. La Follette, Sr. Marble Jo Davidson 1929 National Statuary Hall
WY Esther Hobart Morris Bronze Avard Fairbanks 1960 National Statuary Hall vestibule
WY Washakie Bronze Dave McGary 2000 House corridor, 1st fl.

Note: On August 31, 2006, the California Legislature approved a joint resolution to replace Thomas Starr King's statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection with a statue of Ronald Reagan. In 2007, the Michigan legislature approved a resolution to replace Zachariah Chandler's statue with Gerald Ford. Both statues remain in the Capitol pending replacement.

[edit] External links

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