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The 'National Statuary Hall' is an area in the United States Capitol devoted to statues of people and symbols important in American history. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is the large, two-story, semicircular room south of the Rotunda. The meeting place of the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly 50 years (1807-1857),^[1] and now the main exhibition space for the National Statuary Hall Collection, this room is one of the most historic chambers in the Capitol.^[2]

Contents

Description of the Hall

History

Statues

References

External link

Description of the Hall

The Hall is built in the shape of an ancient amphitheater and is one of the earliest examples of Greek revival architecture in America. While most wall surfaces are painted plaster, the low gallery walls and pilasters are of sandstone. Around the room's perimeter stand colossal columns of variegated breccia marble quarried along the Potomac River. The Corinthian capitals of white marble were carved in Carrara, Italy. A lantern in the fireproof cast-steel ceiling admits natural light into the Hall. The chamber floor is laid with black and white marble tiles; the black marble was purchased specifically for the chamber, while the white marble was scrap material from the Capitol extension project. The four fireplaces on the south side of the room, in conjunction with an ingenious central heating system, warmed the room during cold months.

Visitors at the National Statuary Hall, 2007

Only two of the many statues presently in the room were commissioned for display in the original Hall of the House. Enrico Causici's neoclassical plaster ''Liberty and the Eagle'' looks out over the Hallfrom a niche above the colonnade behind what was once the Speaker's rostrum. The sandstone relief eagle in the frieze of the entablature below was carved by Giuseppe Valaperta. Above the door leading into the Rotunda is the ''Car of History'' by Carlo Franzoni. This neoclassical marble sculpture depicts Clio, the Muse of History, riding in the chariot of Time and recording events in the chamber below. The wheel of the chariot contains the chamber clock; the works are by Simon Willard.

History

This chamber is the second hall and third meeting place built for the House of Representatives in this location. Prior to this, the House members met in a squat, oval, temporary building known as "the Oven," which had been hastily erected in 1801. The first permanent Hall, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, was completed in 1807; however, it was destroyed when invading British troops burned the Capitol in August, 1814 during the War of 1812. The Hall was rebuilt in its present form by Latrobe and his successor, Charles Bulfinch, between 1815 and 1819. Unfortunately, the smooth, curved ceiling promoted annoying echoes, making it difficult to conduct business. Various attempts to improve the acoustics, including hanging draperies and reversing the seating arrangement, proved unsuccessful. The only solution to this problem was to build an entirely new Hall, one in which debates could be easily understood. In 1850, a new Hall was authorized, and the House moved into its present chamber in the new House wing in 1857.
Many important events took place in this Chamber while it served as the Hall of the House. It was in this room in 1824 that the Marquis de Lafayette became the first foreign citizen to address Congress. Presidents James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Millard Fillmore were inaugurated here. John Quincy Adams, in particular, has long been associated with the Chamber. It was here in 1824 that he was elected President by the House of Representatives, none of the candidates having secured a majority of electoral votes. Following his presidency, Adams served as a Member in the Hall for 17 years. It has been said that Adams took advantage of the Hall's acoustics to eavesdrop on other members conversing on the opposite side of the room. However, this is not possible as the Hall's floor was carpeted at that time and the unusual acoustics of the room were not discovered until the carpet was replaced with tile. He collapsed at his desk from a stroke on February 21, 1848, and died 2 days later in the adjoining office, at the time, of the Speaker of the House.

vaulted ceiling in National Statuary Hall

The fate of the vacated Hall remained uncertain for many years, although various proposals were put forth for its use. Perhaps the simplest was that it be converted into additional space for the Library of Congress, which was still housed in the Capitol. More drastic was the suggestion that the entire Hall be dismantled and replaced by two floors of committee rooms. Eventually, the idea of using the chamber as an art gallery was approved, and works intended for the Capitol extensions were put on exhibit; among these was the plaster model for the ''Statue of Freedom'', which was later cast in bronze for the Capitol dome. The lack of wall space effectively prevented the hanging of large paintings, but the room seemed well suited to the display of statuary.
In 1864, in accordance with legislation sponsored by Representative Justin Morrill, Congress invited each state to contribute two statues of prominent citizens for permanent display in the room, which was renamed National Statuary Hall. The legislation also provided for the replacement of the chamber's floor, which was leveled and covered with the marble tile currently in the Hall. This modification, along with the replacement of the original wooden ceiling (which was painted to simulate three-dimensional coffering) with the present one in the early 20th century, eliminated most of the echoes that earlier plagued the room.
The first statue was placed in 1870. By 1971 all 50 states had contributed at least one statue, and by 1990 all but five states had contributed two statues. Initially all of the state statues were placed in the Hall. As the collection expanded, however, it outgrew the Hall, and in 1933, Congress authorized the display of the statues throughout the building for both aesthetic and structural reasons. Presently, 38 statues are located in National Statuary Hall.
The room was partially restored in 1976 for the bicentennial celebration. At that time, the original fireplaces were uncovered and replicas of early mantels were installed. Reproductions of the chandelier, sconces, and red draperies were created for the restoration project based on ''The House of Representatives'', an oil painting by Samuel F.B. Morse done in 1822, which now hangs in the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Bronze markers were placed on the floor to honor the presidents who served in the House of Representatives while it met here.
Today, Statuary Hall is one of the most popular rooms in the Capitol. It is visited by thousands of tourists each day and continues to be used for ceremonial occasions. Special events held in the room include activities honoring foreign dignitaries and presidential luncheons.

Statues

National Statuary Hall

Main articles: National Statuary Hall Collection

The following is an alphabetical list of the people depicted in the statues, along with the state represented by each statue.

★ Samuel Adams, Massachusetts

★ Ethan Allen, Vermont

★ William Allen, Ohio

★ Stephen Austin, Texas

★ Charles Brantley Aycock, North Carolina

★ Edward Lewis Bartlett, Alaska

★ William Henry Harrison Beadle, South Dakota

★ Thomas Hart Benton, Missouri

★ Francis Preston Blair, Missouri

★ William Edgar Borah, Idaho

★ William Jennings Bryan, Nebraska

★ John Burke, North Dakota

★ John C. Calhoun, South Carolina

★ Charles Carroll, Maryland

★ Lewis Cass, Michigan

★ Zachariah Chandler, Michigan

★ Dennis Chavez, New Mexico

★ James Paul Clarke, Arkansas

★ Henry Clay, Kentucky

★ John M. Clayton, Delaware

★ George Clinton, New York

★ Jacob Collamer, Vermont

★ Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry, Alabama

★ Father Damien, Hawaii

★ Jefferson Davis, Mississippi

★ Dwight D. Eisenhower, Kansas

★ Philo T. Farnsworth, Utah

★ Robert Fulton, Pennsylvania

★ James A. Garfield, Ohio

★ James Zachariah George, Mississippi

★ George Washington Glick, Kansas (removed in favor of Dwight Eisenhower in 2003)

★ John Gorrie, Florida

★ Nathanael Greene, Rhode Island

★ John Campbell Greenway, Arizona

★ Ernest Gruening, Alaska

★ Hannibal Hamlin, Maine

★ Wade Hampton, South Carolina

★ John Hanson, Maryland

★ James Harlan, Iowa

★ Sam Houston, Texas

★ Kamehameha I, Hawaii

★ John James Ingalls, Kansas

★ Andrew Jackson, Tennessee

★ Mother Joseph, Washington

★ Philip Kearny, New Jersey

★ John E. Kenna, West Virginia

★ Thomas Starr King, California

★ William King, Maine

★ Eusebio Kino, Arizona

★ Samuel Jordan Kirkwood, Iowa

★ Robert M. La Follette, Sr., Wisconsin

★ Jason Lee, Oregon

★ Robert E. Lee, Virginia

★ Robert R. Livingston, New York

★ Crawford W. Long, Georgia

★ Huey Long, Louisiana

★ Father Jacques Marquette, Wisconsin

★ Patrick Anthony McCarran, Nevada

★ Ephraim McDowell, Kentucky

★ John McLoughlin, Oregon

★ Esther Hobart Morris, Wyoming

★ Julius Sterling Morton, Nebraska

★ Oliver Hazard Perry Morton, Indiana

★ John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania

★ Francis Harrison Pierpont, West Virginia

★ Po'pay, New Mexico

★ Jeanette Rankin, Montana

★ Henry Mower Rice, Minnesota

★ Caesar Rodney, Delaware

★ Will Rogers, Oklahoma

★ Uriah Milton Rose, Arkansas

★ Charles Marion Russell, Montana

★ Florence R. Sabin, Colorado

★ Sakakawea, North Dakota

★ Maria L. Sanford, Minnesota

★ Sequoyah, Oklahoma

★ Father Junipero Serra, California

★ John Sevier, Tennessee

★ Roger Sherman, Connecticut

★ James Shields, Illinois

★ George Laird Shoup, Idaho

★ Edmund Kirby Smith, Florida

★ John Stark, New Hampshire

★ Alexander H. Stephens, Georgia

★ Richard Stockton, New Jersey

★ John L. Swigert, Colorado

★ Jonathan Trumbull, Connecticut

★ Zebulon B. Vance, North Carolina

★ Lewis Wallace, Indiana

★ Joseph Ward, South Dakota

★ Washakie, Wyoming

★ George Washington, Virginia

★ Daniel Webster, New Hampshire

★ Joseph Wheeler, Alabama

★ Edward Douglass White, Louisiana

★ Marcus Whitman, Washington

★ Frances E. Willard, Illinois

★ Roger Williams, Rhode Island

★ Sarah Winnemucca, Nevada

★ John Winthrop, Massachusetts

★ Brigham Young, Utah

References

1. The Splendid Hall: The Hall of the House of Representatives (1807-1857)
2. National Statuary Hall (The Old Hall of the House)

External link

★ U.S. Capital website: National Statuary Hall