National Statuary Hall: Guidebook for a walking tour - Softcover

9780964532113: National Statuary Hall: Guidebook for a walking tour

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0964532115 ISBN 13: 9780964532113

The term "Statuary Hall" has several meanings and uses. More properly "National Statuary Hall," that term refers to the statuary presented by the individual states to the Federal government in response to the 1864 legislation sponsored by Congressman (later Senator) Justin Morrill of Vermont. The old House of Representatives chamber had been vacated in favor of the newly-designed and constructed House Chamber and there had been several proposals for the use of the old chamber. It had been used as a portrait gallery, but the portraits were visually lost among the marble columns of the room. Senator Morrill suggested that statues be donated by each state to commemorate not more than two citizens of illustrious renown. At the time, there were few states in the Union and it was probably supposed that the Hall could accommodate all of them, with room to spare. As the number of states in the Union grew, however, it became apparent that the number of statues which could be accommodated in "Statuary Hall" (the room) would have to be limited. In 1933, the situation became intolerable. Statues were stacked three deep in some places and it was not possible to properly view the various figures. Congress then directed the Architect of the Capitol to make suitable arrangements to disburse the statues in other areas of the Capitol building. As the reader can imagine, this was not an easy process since it was decided that the 65 statues then in "Statuary Hall" would be reduced to 38. Today, the "National Statuary Hall" collection consists of 95 statues by 61 different sculptors in 10 different areas of the U.S. Capitol building. The list below shows their locations and the order in which this guidebook is laid out. See the building map on the back cover of this book. The subjects of the statues range from the legendary (George Washington) to the truly obscure (John Burke)

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