National Statuary Collection
July 29, 2016 5:50 PM Subscribe
"...the President is hereby authorized to invite each and all the States to provide and furnish statues..." Each state can send up to two statues to the collection, representing notable people from that state. The statues may be rendered in either marble or bronze.
Notables:
Will Rogers is outside of the House Chambers, so that he can “…keep an eye on them.”
Rosa Parks’ statue does not represent a state. She was honored individually by an act of Congress. She’s sitting, of course.
Personal Favorites (statues, not necessarily people):
Norman Borlaug
Philo T. Farnsworth
Chief Washakie
Jack Swigert
Notables:
Will Rogers is outside of the House Chambers, so that he can “…keep an eye on them.”
Rosa Parks’ statue does not represent a state. She was honored individually by an act of Congress. She’s sitting, of course.
Personal Favorites (statues, not necessarily people):
Norman Borlaug
Philo T. Farnsworth
Chief Washakie
Jack Swigert
Oh, sweet! I wonder what statues California has!
...
...Oh.
posted by KChasm at 6:18 PM on July 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
...
...Oh.
posted by KChasm at 6:18 PM on July 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
The statues may be rendered in either marble
Texas should swing from politics by Rocking.
posted by thomcatspike at 6:20 PM on July 29, 2016
Texas should swing from politics by Rocking.
posted by thomcatspike at 6:20 PM on July 29, 2016
Oh, sweet! I wonder what statues California has!
...probably John Wayne...whose burial is unmarked - though many Native and Foreign Immigrant Americans may be a choice too...
posted by thomcatspike at 6:23 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
...probably John Wayne...whose burial is unmarked - though many Native and Foreign Immigrant Americans may be a choice too...
posted by thomcatspike at 6:23 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
The answer for California, for anyone who doesn't want to scroll through it, is Ronald Reagan (one of 6 statues in the Rotunda, of Presidents) and Father Junipero Serra.
posted by thefoxgod at 6:32 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by thefoxgod at 6:32 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
In Oregon, no one could decide on only 2 statutes, so the plan is to make 3:
Mark O. Hatfield, Abigail Scott Duniway, and Chief Joseph, then send Hatfield and Duniway to the Capitol.
After which, we try and convince Idaho to use our Chief Joseph statute in place of one of their statues in the Capitol.
If that doesn't work, after 10 years, we bring back Hatfield, stick him in our Capitol Building, and send Chief Joseph in his place thereby setting up a rotation.
(Personally, I would have picked Tom McCall over St. Mark, but the public has spoken.)
posted by madajb at 6:35 PM on July 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
Mark O. Hatfield, Abigail Scott Duniway, and Chief Joseph, then send Hatfield and Duniway to the Capitol.
After which, we try and convince Idaho to use our Chief Joseph statute in place of one of their statues in the Capitol.
If that doesn't work, after 10 years, we bring back Hatfield, stick him in our Capitol Building, and send Chief Joseph in his place thereby setting up a rotation.
(Personally, I would have picked Tom McCall over St. Mark, but the public has spoken.)
posted by madajb at 6:35 PM on July 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
Ronald Reagan
He is from Tampico, Illinois...
posted by thomcatspike at 6:44 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
He is from Tampico, Illinois...
posted by thomcatspike at 6:44 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
California: *disgusted noise*
posted by Hermione Granger at 6:52 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Hermione Granger at 6:52 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
Can we talk about Montana's Jeannette Rankin? She was the first woman elected to federal office, joining the House of Representatives in 1914. That was six years before the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. She was an affirmed pacifist and voted against joining both WWI and WWII. She was the only vote refusing to declare war on Japan after Pearl Harbor.
From her Wikipedia article:
After the vote, a crowd of reporters pursued Rankin into a cloakroom, where she was forced to take refuge in a phone booth until Capitol Police arrived to escort her to her office.[19][20] There, she was inundated with angry telegrams and phone calls, including one from her brother, who said, "Montana is 100 percent against you."[21] A wire service photo of Rankin sequestered in the phone booth, calling for assistance, appeared the following day in newspapers across the country.[22] While her action was widely ridiculed in the press, William Allen White, writing in the Kansas Emporia Gazette, acknowledged her courage in taking it:
Probably a hundred men in Congress would have liked to do what she did. Not one of them had the courage to do it. The Gazette entirely disagrees with the wisdom of her position. But Lord, it was a brave thing! And its bravery someway discounted its folly. When, in a hundred years from now, courage, sheer courage based upon moral indignation is celebrated in this country, the name of Jeannette Rankin, who stood firm in folly for her faith, will be written in monumental bronze, not for what she did, but for the way she did it.[23]
posted by Alison at 7:05 PM on July 29, 2016 [13 favorites]
From her Wikipedia article:
After the vote, a crowd of reporters pursued Rankin into a cloakroom, where she was forced to take refuge in a phone booth until Capitol Police arrived to escort her to her office.[19][20] There, she was inundated with angry telegrams and phone calls, including one from her brother, who said, "Montana is 100 percent against you."[21] A wire service photo of Rankin sequestered in the phone booth, calling for assistance, appeared the following day in newspapers across the country.[22] While her action was widely ridiculed in the press, William Allen White, writing in the Kansas Emporia Gazette, acknowledged her courage in taking it:
Probably a hundred men in Congress would have liked to do what she did. Not one of them had the courage to do it. The Gazette entirely disagrees with the wisdom of her position. But Lord, it was a brave thing! And its bravery someway discounted its folly. When, in a hundred years from now, courage, sheer courage based upon moral indignation is celebrated in this country, the name of Jeannette Rankin, who stood firm in folly for her faith, will be written in monumental bronze, not for what she did, but for the way she did it.[23]
posted by Alison at 7:05 PM on July 29, 2016 [13 favorites]
While he is the only saint, Junipero Serra isn't the only Catholic missionary priest representing his state: the Jesuit, Father Kino, represents Arizona.
posted by resurrexit at 7:15 PM on July 29, 2016
posted by resurrexit at 7:15 PM on July 29, 2016
Whoa, Alison, did not know that. Amazing! And prophetic of the Gazette guy.
posted by resurrexit at 7:16 PM on July 29, 2016
posted by resurrexit at 7:16 PM on July 29, 2016
I think my favorite part of the collection is that they're all kind of pointed in different directions and in random places so it looks like someone just medusa'ed a crowd.
posted by The Whelk at 7:20 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 7:20 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
Random connection story time. Chief Washakie defeated the Crow leader Big Robber at Crowheart Butte in Wyoming. A place named after the battle when Washakie paraded his Big Robber's heart around on a spear and then ate it. The actor Matthew Fox of TV's Lost and Party of Five grew up in the nearby settlement of Crowheart.
posted by humanfont at 7:41 PM on July 29, 2016
posted by humanfont at 7:41 PM on July 29, 2016
And of course Wyoming's other statue is Esther Hobart Morris the first woman to hold judicial office in the modern world.
posted by humanfont at 7:49 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by humanfont at 7:49 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
I guess it was way too much to hope Indiana would do a Eugene Debs statue.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:50 PM on July 29, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 7:50 PM on July 29, 2016 [8 favorites]
There's a lot of eye rolling, but the fact that Mississippi thought their great contribution to America is Jefferson Davis says a lot about Mississippi.
posted by thecjm at 8:02 PM on July 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by thecjm at 8:02 PM on July 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
We visited the collection a month ago while wandering around the capitol. Sitting right next to a glorious statue of Rosa Parks is my home state's (Florida) contribution: Dr John Gorrie, inventor of air conditioning. *face palm*
posted by photoslob at 8:12 PM on July 29, 2016
posted by photoslob at 8:12 PM on July 29, 2016
The only one you're allowed to touch: Helen Keller (it's also amusing that Alabama honors a straight-up Socialist, because her story has been so intentionally anodyned over the years).
posted by Etrigan at 8:29 PM on July 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 8:29 PM on July 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
Minnesota's choices aren't that impressive. We should consider replacing one of them with a statue of Prince.
posted by Alluring Mouthbreather at 9:29 PM on July 29, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by Alluring Mouthbreather at 9:29 PM on July 29, 2016 [10 favorites]
I went to a wedding in the Norman E. Borlaug World Food Prize Hall of Laureates last year (it's in Des Moines, in what was once a public library building). It has lovely art deco statues of agricultural staples and was a cool place to see someone get married.
Missouri's are...eh. I'm a little disappointed that they picked the politician Thomas Hart Benton and not the painter, who was also born in Missouri. I feel like we could switch out Blair for Truman, or perhaps Charlie Parker.
posted by dismas at 9:39 PM on July 29, 2016
Missouri's are...eh. I'm a little disappointed that they picked the politician Thomas Hart Benton and not the painter, who was also born in Missouri. I feel like we could switch out Blair for Truman, or perhaps Charlie Parker.
posted by dismas at 9:39 PM on July 29, 2016
Although I will say I am glad both of the Missouri statues were anti-slavery politicians. I didn't realize until I left the state how...wishy-washy some of the Civil War battlefields and memorials are about the Confederacy. (As opposed to Massachusetts, for instance, which has a number of delightful statues with inscriptions about the brave soldiers who nobly fought to save the Union.)
posted by dismas at 9:43 PM on July 29, 2016
posted by dismas at 9:43 PM on July 29, 2016
Yeah, California's are bad. Not that Reagan and Serra didn't do some awful stuff, but... what if they chose Nixon? All I'm saying is that it could have been much worse.
I agree that it would be cool if Eugene Debs were represented. He and Hellen Keller were buddies in real life, so put their statues next to each other.
posted by dfm500 at 10:01 PM on July 29, 2016
I agree that it would be cool if Eugene Debs were represented. He and Hellen Keller were buddies in real life, so put their statues next to each other.
posted by dfm500 at 10:01 PM on July 29, 2016
new york's are okay i guess
at least it wasn't old pegleg
posted by poffin boffin at 10:46 PM on July 29, 2016
at least it wasn't old pegleg
posted by poffin boffin at 10:46 PM on July 29, 2016
For all of the ribbing I may give my home state (Montana), our selections are excellent - Jeanette Rankin, the first woman to be elected to Congress and a devoted pacifist (she cast a Nay vote on the declarations of war for both World Wars); and CM Russell, the artist who created many works documenting the West.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:46 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:46 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
I think my favorite part of the collection is that they're all kind of pointed in different directions and in random places so it looks like someone just medusa'ed a crowd.
Part of the reason for that is simple logistics (and physics) - several of the statues, such as Hawaii's statue of Kamehameha (which is the current NSG heavyweight champion) are so heavy that they have to be located in places that can handle the weight in Congress.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:49 PM on July 29, 2016
Part of the reason for that is simple logistics (and physics) - several of the statues, such as Hawaii's statue of Kamehameha (which is the current NSG heavyweight champion) are so heavy that they have to be located in places that can handle the weight in Congress.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:49 PM on July 29, 2016
John Calhoun? Robert E. Lee?
posted by persona au gratin at 12:06 AM on July 30, 2016
posted by persona au gratin at 12:06 AM on July 30, 2016
Hmmm.. I'm gonna have to find out who I have to lobby to get one of Alaska's picks replaced with Elizabeth Peratrovich.
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:38 AM on July 30, 2016
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:38 AM on July 30, 2016
Pennsylvania is fine I guess but really... Muhlenberg, Schmuhlenberg. Give us Mr. Rogers.
(non-lumpy though, please)
posted by notquitemaryann at 5:18 AM on July 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
(non-lumpy though, please)
posted by notquitemaryann at 5:18 AM on July 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
So many white dudes.
posted by ocherdraco at 6:30 AM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ocherdraco at 6:30 AM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
My home state, the highest in the country: an astronaut (Swigert) and an educator/scientist (Florence Sabin). Could have been worse. We have a lot of stuff around Colorado named after Indian-killers.
posted by kozad at 8:00 AM on July 30, 2016
posted by kozad at 8:00 AM on July 30, 2016
Btw, the Alexander Stephens speech I linked above is a refutation of the idea that the Civil War wasn't about slavery. It's really jaw-dropping.
posted by persona au gratin at 10:12 AM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by persona au gratin at 10:12 AM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Minnesota's choices aren't that impressive. We should consider replacing one of them with a statue of Prince.
Only if the statue is allowed to wear a replica of the Purple Rain suit.
posted by nathan_teske at 11:12 AM on July 30, 2016
Only if the statue is allowed to wear a replica of the Purple Rain suit.
posted by nathan_teske at 11:12 AM on July 30, 2016
It really should just be routine to rotate them every couple of years. Apart from anything else, it would be a great jobs program! California, go get some people started on marble statues of prominent West Coast rappers.
posted by ostro at 3:52 PM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ostro at 3:52 PM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm embarrassed by my birth state sending a Confederate and a white supremacist
Was hoping this was not the state I call home, but alas...
posted by Sweetie Darling at 5:19 PM on July 30, 2016
Was hoping this was not the state I call home, but alas...
posted by Sweetie Darling at 5:19 PM on July 30, 2016
It's a really neat collection. My favorite is Kamehameha, from Hawai'i. I did have to wonder why so many Southern states sent failed Civil War leaders. Is it an intentional fuck you to the national government, or just honoring Southern Pride? (Why not both?)
posted by Nelson at 5:36 AM on July 31, 2016
posted by Nelson at 5:36 AM on July 31, 2016
I'd say both, but (especially at the time those were sent) honoring those people was standard in the South. North Carolina has, I think four counties named for Confederates, and one of statute people (Zebulon Vance) has a county and two different towns named after him (Zebulon and Vanceboro). It's what we do, as appalling as it is.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:02 AM on July 31, 2016
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:02 AM on July 31, 2016
We were on the Capitol tour in April and saw these. I liked the notion that any state can just send in a new one whenever they like. I assume it would just require a law being passed to approve the cost, so I wonder if an enterprising sculptor could maybe prank the Capitol staff...
posted by wenestvedt at 7:22 AM on July 31, 2016
posted by wenestvedt at 7:22 AM on July 31, 2016
Yes, Po'Pay! New Mexico represent! I had never heard about the Pueblo Revolt until I moved here.
posted by mon-ma-tron at 10:12 AM on July 31, 2016
posted by mon-ma-tron at 10:12 AM on July 31, 2016
I did have to wonder why so many Southern states sent failed Civil War leaders. Is it an intentional fuck you to the national government, or just honoring Southern Pride? (Why not both?)
Statuary has played a major role in the Lost Cause Movement, both as symbols of the movement and as social control.
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:24 PM on July 31, 2016 [3 favorites]
Statuary has played a major role in the Lost Cause Movement, both as symbols of the movement and as social control.
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:24 PM on July 31, 2016 [3 favorites]
Really, so many white dudes. This really puts into perspective why I found the DNC so damn inspiring last week. It's not just in contrast with the white supremacist shitshow that was the RNC, but also with the way we generally tell our history in America. This is so much the norm. UGH, CALIFORNIA.
That said, I do have a soft spot for Philo Farnsworth (person and statue).
posted by sunset in snow country at 10:41 AM on August 1, 2016
That said, I do have a soft spot for Philo Farnsworth (person and statue).
posted by sunset in snow country at 10:41 AM on August 1, 2016
Statuary has played a major role in the Lost Cause Movement, both as symbols of the movement and as social control.
Yes, see Stone Mountain which has a carving of Jefferson Davis, Robert E Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. They do laser light shows on it in summer. (I grew up there, and remember watching them as a kid. They do a thing where they "animate" the Confederate "heroes" so you can see them in action or whatever).
Stone Mountain is a big rock/mountain protrusion in an area that is mostly flat with a few hills, so its the only "mountain" in the area (thus quite visible from a ways away). You can walk up it relatively easily though, its only ~1600 ft tall.
posted by thefoxgod at 12:38 PM on August 1, 2016
Yes, see Stone Mountain which has a carving of Jefferson Davis, Robert E Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. They do laser light shows on it in summer. (I grew up there, and remember watching them as a kid. They do a thing where they "animate" the Confederate "heroes" so you can see them in action or whatever).
Stone Mountain is a big rock/mountain protrusion in an area that is mostly flat with a few hills, so its the only "mountain" in the area (thus quite visible from a ways away). You can walk up it relatively easily though, its only ~1600 ft tall.
posted by thefoxgod at 12:38 PM on August 1, 2016
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Another awesome state thing denied to DC, too. I assume we'd go with Duke Ellington for one.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 6:17 PM on July 29, 2016