Discover

The 'National Statuary Hall Collection' in the United States Capitol is comprised of 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.

Contents

History

Collection

External links

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.''

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 (), enacted in 2000, permits states to provide replacements and repossess the earlier one.

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.

External links

★ Official website of the National Statuary Hall Collection

★ Official information on the origin of the National Statuary Hall Collection