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National
Statuary Hall |
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National Statuary Hall Viewed from the South
Office of the Curator, April 2001
Photo
courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol
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History of Statuary Hall
The concept
of a National Statuary Hall began in the middle of the nineteenth century.
The completion of the present House wing in 1857 allowed the House of Representatives
to move into its new and larger chamber. The old, vacant, semicircular,
marble columned chamber became a cluttered thoroughfare between the Rotunda
and the House wing.
Suggestions for the
use of the old chamber were made as early as 1853 by Gouverneur Kemble,
a former Member of the House, who pressed for its use as a gallery for
historical paintings. The space between the columns seemed too limited
for such a purpose but was considered more suited for the display of busts
and statuary.
On April 19, 1864,
the Honorable Justin S. Morrill in the House of Representatives proposed:
"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?"
This proposal was
enacted into the law creating the National Statuary Hall, July 2, 1864
(sec. 1814 of the Revised Statutes), the essential part of which provides:
"And 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."
By 1935, 65 statues
were crowded into Statuary Hall. In some places they were lined three
deep which was aesthetically displeasing. More important, however, the
structure of the chamber would not accommodate the excessive weight and
there were statues yet to come.
On February 24, 1933,
Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution No. 47 to provide for the
relocation of statues and to govern the future reception and location
of statues.
"Resolved
by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Architect
of the Capitol, upon the approval of the Joint Committee of 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 other statues were located prominently
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 reduce overcrowding and to improve the aesthetic quality
and orderliness of the physical arrangement of the National Statuary Hall
Collection. Statues were placed in the East Central Hall of the east front
extension on the first floor of the Capitol. Other statues were relocated
within the corridors, Hall of Columns and Statuary Hall.
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