National Statuary Hall Collection

The National Statuary Hall Collection in the Capitol of Washington DC includes statues of prominent citizens of the United States that have been donated by their home states in recognition of their achievements. Originally the collection in the old debating chamber of the House of Representatives has been shown to today's National Statuary Hall; now the growing collection in the entire Capitol is distributed.

Since 2006, the collection consists of 100 statues, which were donated by the 50 states. The second statue of New Mexico completed the collection. A few years after Congress had approved the exchange of statues, Alabama, California and Kansas changed from one of its two statues.

On 1 December, Congress passed a law for making a statue of Rosa Parks, and certain in the law, that this statue in Statuary Hall of the National to obtain a suitable permanent location.

History

The concept of a National Statuary Hall was built in the mid-19th century, even before the completion of the present building wing of the House of Representatives in 1857. Those days took the House of Representatives in its new, larger plenary hall and empty old room was the passage of the rotunda to new part of the building. 1853 Before the deputy governor Kemble of New York has already made proposals for a new use of the premises. He spoke in favor of its use as a gallery for historical paintings. The space between the columns appeared for this purpose, however, too small, but the room was suitable for the exhibition of busts and statues.

On April 19, 1864 Justin Smith Morrill of Vermont deputies proposed the creation of the National Statuary Hall. His proposal was adopted on 2 July 1864 as law. This Act authorized the President to call on all states to put statues of bronze or marble are available. These statues should represent deceased citizens who had used in a special way for the corresponding country. These statues, a maximum of two per state, should according to the law in the Old Assembly Hall of the House of Representatives, the National Statuary Hall, be set up.

Originally, all statues have been placed in the National Statuary Hall. However, the aesthetic appearance of the hall under the overcrowding began to suffer until the situation became unbearable in 1933. At the time were 65 statues in the hall, some in three rows. More important was that the building would become incapable of withstanding the weight of other statues. Therefore, the Architect of the Capitol was commissioned in 1933 to distribute, subject to the approval of the Joint Committee on the Library, with the help of the Commission of Fine Arts, the existing and still following statues on the Capitol. As a result, it was decided that only one statue from every state in the National Statuary Hall is situated. The others should be placed at prominent locations in selected areas and corridors.

A second rearrangement of the statues was approved by the Committee on the Library in 1976. In order to eliminate the overcrowded appearance of the collection, were 83 statues, sorted by size and material, newly erected in Statuary Hall. Statues representing ten of the 13 colonies were placed in the central hall of the eastern cultivation of the Capitol. The rest of the statues was distributed in the Capitol, especially in the Column Hall and the connecting passages to the House of Representatives and the Senate wing. In 2005, a law was passed, according to which the collection may take up a statue of every member of the outer areas of the United States. Another law allows the District of Columbia to participate.

Each statue is a gift of any state, not an individual or group of citizens. The procedure for the donation of a statue usually starts in the parliament of the states in which a resolution is adopted, which is called to honorable person and their qualifications for the award, a committee or a commission to select the sculptor determined and opportunities for the provision of the required agent calls. In recent years, the statues were unveiled at a ceremony in the Rotunda and then issued for six months there. They were then placed in their final location, which was selected by the Committee on the Library. A congressional law permits since 2000, the exchange of statues.

Collection

* Note: On 31 August 2006, the government of California ruled that the statue of Thomas Starr King in the National Statuary Hall Collection is replaced by a statue of Ronald Reagan. It was unveiled on 3 June 2009. 2007, the government decided of Michigan, that the statue of Zachariah Chandler to be replaced by a statue of Gerald Ford. Chandlers statue remains until replacement in the Capitol.

Exchange of statues

Since 2003, it is through a change in the law allows the states statues exchange. Since then, three states have a change carried out a fourth exchange is planned:

• Kansas replaced its statue of George Glick by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2003. Glick The statue is now in the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka.
• California replaced its statue of Thomas Starr King by one of Ronald Reagan in 2009. The King statue is now in the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
• Alabama replaced its statue of Jabez Curry by one of Helen Keller.
• Michigan will replace its statue of Zachariah Chandler by one of Gerald Ford.

The sculptor Charles Niehaus with seven statues more than any other artist in the exhibition. Even if the statue of Chandler is replaced, he still has the most statues.