National Statuary Hall Collection
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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 2005, the collection consists of 99 statues contributed by 50 states. Forty-nine states have contributed two statues each. With the addition of Nevada's second statue in 2005, New Mexico is the only state to have donated only one statue to the Capitol. Kansas has replaced one of its first two.
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 |
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 B. Ives | 1872 | Senate north-south corridor, 1st fl. |
CT | Jonathan Trumbull | Marble | Chauncey B. Ives | 1872 | House corridor, 2nd fl. |
DE | John 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 H. 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 H. Niehaus | 1905 | National Statuary Hall |
KS | | Marble | Charles H. Niehaus | 1914 | removed |
KS | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Bronze | Jim Brothers | 2003 | Rotunda |
KY | Henry Clay | Bronze | Charles H. Niehaus | 1929 | National Statuary Hall |
KY | Ephraim McDowell | Bronze | Charles H. 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 | Julius S. 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 | 1960 | Rotunda (until a permanent location is chosen by the Joint Committee on the Library) |
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 |
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 H. Niehaus | 1886 | Rotunda |
OH | William Allen | Marble | Charles H. Niehaus | 1887 | National Statuary Hall |
OK | Sequoyah | Bronze | Vinnie Ream (completed by G. Julian Zolnay) | 1917 | 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. |
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.
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.
External links
- Official website of the National Statuary Hall Collection (http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/index.cfm)
- Official information on the origin of the National Statuary Hall Collection (http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/nsh_coll_origin.cfm)