thumb|upright=1.5|The National Statuary Hall in 2011

The National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent Americans. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along the curved perimeter. It is located immediately south of the Rotunda. The meeting place of the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly 50 years (1807–1857), after a few years of disuse it was repurposed as a statuary hall in 1864; this is when the National Statuary Hall Collection was established. By 1933, the collection had outgrown this single room, and a number of statues are placed elsewhere within the Capitol.

Description

The Hall is built in the shape of an ancient amphitheater and is one of the earliest examples of Neoclassical architecture in America. While most wall surfaces are painted plaster, the low gallery walls and pilasters are sandstone. Around the room's perimeter stand colossal columns of variegated breccia marble quarried along the Potomac River. The Corinthian capitals of white marble were carved in Carrara, Italy. A lantern in the fireproof cast-steel ceiling admits natural light into the Hall. The chamber floor is laid with black and white marble tiles; the black marble was purchased specifically for the chamber, while the white marble was scrap material from the Capitol extension project. which had been hastily erected in 1801. The first permanent Hall, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, was completed in 1807; however, it was destroyed when invading British troops burned the Capitol in August 1814 during the War of 1812. The Hall was rebuilt in its present form by Latrobe and his successor, Charles Bulfinch, between 1815 and 1819. The smooth, curved ceiling promoted annoying echoes, making it difficult to conduct business. Various attempts to improve the acoustics, including hanging draperies and reversing the seating arrangement, proved unsuccessful. The only solution to this problem was to build an entirely new Hall, one in which debates could be easily understood. In 1850, a new Hall was authorized, and the House moved into its present chamber in the new House wing in 1857.

Three people have lain in state in the National Statuary Hall:

  • Elijah Cummings (October 24, 2019)
  • Ruth Bader Ginsburg (September 25, 2020)
  • Don Young (March 29, 2022)

Today, Statuary Hall is one of the most visited rooms in the Capitol. It is visited by hundreds of tourists each day and continues to be used for ceremonial occasions. Special events held in the room include activities honoring foreign dignitaries and every four years Congress hosts a newly inaugurated President of the United States for a luncheon.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Statue !! State

|-

|data-sort-value="Allen" | Statue of Ethan Allen || Vermont

|-

|data-sort-value="Bates" | Statue of Daisy Bates || Arkansas

|-

|data-sort-value="Beadle" | Statue of William Henry Harrison Beadle || South Dakota

|-

|data-sort-value="Bethune" | Statue of Mary McLeod Bethune || Florida

|-

|data-sort-value="Blair" | Statue of Francis Preston Blair Jr. || Missouri

|-

|data-sort-value="Borlaug" | Statue of Norman Borlaug || Iowa

|-

|data-sort-value="Burke" | Statue of John Burke || North Dakota

|-

|data-sort-value="Cass" | Statue of Lewis Cass || Michigan

|-

|data-sort-value="Clay" | Statue of Henry Clay || Kentucky

|-

|data-sort-value="Davis" | Statue of Jefferson Davis || Mississippi

|-

|data-sort-value="Earhart" | Statue of Amelia Earhart || Kansas

|-

|data-sort-value="Edison" | Statue of Thomas Edison || Ohio

|-

|data-sort-value="Fulton" | Statue of Robert Fulton || Pennsylvania

|-

|data-sort-value="Goldwater" | Statue of Barry Goldwater || Arizona

|-

|data-sort-value="Hamlin" | Statue of Hannibal Hamlin || Maine

|-

|data-sort-value="Houston" | Statue of Sam Houston || Texas

|-

|data-sort-value="La Follette" | Statue of Robert M. La Follette || Wisconsin

|-

|data-sort-value="Lee" | Statue of Jason Lee || Oregon

|-

|data-sort-value="Long" | Statue of Huey Long || Louisiana

|-

|data-sort-value="Parks" | Statue of Rosa Parks || Commissioned by Congress

|-

|data-sort-value="Pierpont" | Statue of Francis Harrison Pierpont || West Virginia

|-

|data-sort-value="Rice" | Statue of Henry Mower Rice || Minnesota

|-

|data-sort-value="Russell" | Statue of Charles Marion Russell || Montana

|-

|data-sort-value="Sequoyah" | Statue of Sequoyah || Oklahoma

|-

|data-sort-value="Serra" | Statue of Junípero Serra || California

|-

|data-sort-value="Sevier" | Statue of John Sevier || Tennessee

|-

|data-sort-value="Shoup" | Statue of George L. Shoup || Idaho

|-

|data-sort-value="Standing Bear" | Statue of Standing Bear || Nebraska

|-

|data-sort-value="Stephens" | Statue of Alexander H. Stephens || Georgia

|-

|data-sort-value="Vance" | Statue of Zebulon Baird Vance || North Carolina

|-

|data-sort-value="Wallace" | Statue of Lew Wallace || Indiana

|-

|data-sort-value="Webster" | Statue of Daniel Webster || New Hampshire

|-

|data-sort-value="Wheeler" | Statue of Joseph Wheeler || Alabama

|-

|data-sort-value="Whitman" | Statue of Marcus Whitman || Washington

|-

|data-sort-value="Willard" | Statue of Frances Willard || Illinois

|-

|data-sort-value="Young" | Statue of Brigham Young || Utah

|}

See also

  • Hall of Fame for Great Americans
  • National Garden of American Heroes

References

  • U.S. Capitol website: National Statuary Hall