Statues of the National Statuary Hall Collection facts for kids

Part of the National Statuary Hall Collection in the National Statuary Hall, 2016

The National Statuary Hall Collection is a special group of statues located in the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C.. Each of the United States has donated two statues to this collection. These statues honor important people from their state's history. Currently, there are 99 statues in total, with most states having two, except for Virginia which has one.

The idea for the National Statuary Hall started on July 2, 1864. The Congress decided that states could send up to two statues. These statues had to be made of marble or bronze. They were meant to honor people who were famous or had done great things for their state or country. The first statue was put in place in 1870. By 1971, every state had at least one statue in the collection.

Over time, the rules changed. In 1933, Congress decided that only one statue from each state could be in the main Statuary Hall. The other statues would be placed in different parts of the Capitol building. In 2000, states were allowed to replace their statues. So far, 13 statues have been removed and new ones have taken their place. Kansas was the first state to replace a statue in 2003, and the first to replace both of its statues in 2022.

Most of the statues are made of bronze (57 of them), while others are made of marble (42 of them). Some sculptors have created many statues for the collection. For example, Charles Henry Niehaus made eight statues that have been part of the collection. It's important to know that the states themselves decide if a statue should be removed or replaced, not the U.S. Congress.

Statues in the Collection

The National Statuary Hall Collection features statues of many important figures. These individuals are celebrated for their contributions to their home states and the nation.

Current Statues by State

Here are some of the statues currently displayed in the collection, organized by the state that donated them:

Table featuring sculptures in the National Statuary Hall Collection

State	Person Honored	Image	Material	Location
Alabama	Helen Keller		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
	Joseph Wheeler		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
Alaska	Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett		Bronze	House corridor, 2nd floor
	Ernest Gruening		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
Arizona	Barry Goldwater		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
	Eusebio Kino		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
Arkansas	James Paul Clarke		Marble	Capitol Visitor Center
	Daisy Bates		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
California	Ronald Reagan		Bronze	Rotunda
	Junípero Serra		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
Colorado	Florence R. Sabin		Bronze	Hall of Columns
	Jack Swigert		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
Connecticut	Roger Sherman		Marble	Crypt
	Jonathan Trumbull		Marble	House corridor, 2nd floor
Delaware	John M. Clayton		Marble	Capitol Visitor Center
	Caesar Rodney		Marble	Crypt
Florida	John Gorrie		Marble	National Statuary Hall
	Mary McLeod Bethune		Marble	National Statuary Hall
Georgia	Crawford Long		Marble	Crypt
	Alexander H. Stephens		Marble	National Statuary Hall
Hawaii	Father Damien		Bronze	Hall of Columns
	Kamehameha I		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
Idaho	William Borah		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
	George L. Shoup		Marble	National Statuary Hall
Illinois	James Shields		Bronze	Hall of Columns
	Frances Willard		Marble	National Statuary Hall
Indiana	Oliver P. Morton		Marble	Senate Wing, 1st floor
	Lew Wallace		Marble	National Statuary Hall
Iowa	Norman Borlaug		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
	Samuel J. Kirkwood		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
Kansas	Dwight D. Eisenhower		Bronze	Rotunda
	Amelia Earhart		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
Kentucky	Henry Clay		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
	Ephraim McDowell		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
Louisiana	Huey Long		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
	Edward Douglass White		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
Maine	Hannibal Hamlin		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
	William King		Marble	House corridor, 2nd floor
Maryland	Charles Carroll of Carrollton		Bronze	Crypt
	John Hanson		Bronze	Senate corridor, 2nd floor
Massachusetts	Samuel Adams		Marble	Crypt
	John Winthrop		Marble	Hall of Columns
Michigan	Lewis Cass		Marble	National Statuary Hall
	Gerald Ford		Bronze	Rotunda
Minnesota	Henry Mower Rice		Marble	National Statuary Hall
	Maria Sanford		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
Mississippi	Jefferson Davis		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
	James Z. George		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
Missouri	Harry S. Truman		Bronze	Rotunda
	Francis Preston Blair Jr.		Marble	Hall of Columns
Montana	Jeannette Rankin		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
	Charles Marion Russell		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
Nebraska	Standing Bear		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
	Willa Cather		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
Nevada	Pat McCarran		Bronze	Senate Wing, 2nd floor
	Sarah Winnemucca		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
New Hampshire	John Stark		Marble	Crypt
	Daniel Webster		Marble	National Statuary Hall
New Jersey	Philip Kearny		Bronze	Hall of Columns
	Richard Stockton		Marble	Crypt
New Mexico	Dennis Chávez		Bronze	Senate Wing, 2nd floor
	Po'pay		Marble	Capitol Visitor Center
New York	George Clinton		Bronze	Senate Wing, 2nd floor
	Robert R. Livingston		Bronze	Crypt
North Carolina	Charles Brantley Aycock		Bronze	Crypt
	Zebulon Baird Vance		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
North Dakota	John Burke		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
	Sakakawea		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
Ohio	Thomas Edison		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
	James A. Garfield		Marble	Rotunda
Oklahoma	Will Rogers		Bronze	House corridor, 2nd floor
	Sequoyah		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
Oregon	Jason Lee		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
	John McLoughlin		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
Pennsylvania	Robert Fulton		Marble	National Statuary Hall
	Peter Muhlenberg		Marble	Crypt
Rhode Island	Nathanael Greene		Marble	Crypt
	Roger Williams		Marble	Senate corridor, 2nd floor
South Carolina	John C. Calhoun		Marble	Crypt
	Wade Hampton III		Marble	Capitol Visitor Center
South Dakota	William Henry Harrison Beadle		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
	Joseph Ward		Marble	Capitol Visitor Center
Tennessee	Andrew Jackson		Bronze	Rotunda
	John Sevier		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
Texas	Stephen F. Austin		Marble	Hall of Columns
	Sam Houston		Marble	National Statuary Hall
Utah	Philo Farnsworth		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
	Brigham Young		Marble	National Statuary Hall
Vermont	Ethan Allen		Marble	National Statuary Hall
	Jacob Collamer		Marble	Senate Wing, 1st floor
Virginia	George Washington		Bronze	Rotunda
Washington	Mother Joseph Pariseau		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center
	Marcus Whitman		Bronze	National Statuary Hall
West Virginia	John E. Kenna		Marble	Hall of Columns
	Francis Harrison Pierpont		Marble	National Statuary Hall
Wisconsin	Robert M. La Follette		Marble	National Statuary Hall
	Jacques Marquette		Marble	House corridor, 2nd floor
Wyoming	Esther Hobart Morris		Bronze	Hall of Columns
	Washakie		Bronze	Capitol Visitor Center

Replaced Statues

States can choose to replace their statues with new ones. Here are some of the statues that have been replaced over the years:

Table featuring sculptures formerly in the National Statuary Hall Collection

State	Former Statue	Image	Replaced by
Alabama	Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry		Helen Keller
Arizona	John Campbell Greenway		Barry Goldwater
Arkansas	Uriah M. Rose		Daisy Bates
California	Thomas Starr King		Ronald Reagan
Florida	Edmund Kirby Smith		Mary McLeod Bethune
Iowa	James Harlan		Norman Borlaug
Kansas	George Washington Glick	–	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Kansas	John James Ingalls		Amelia Earhart
Michigan	Zachariah Chandler		Gerald Ford
Missouri	Thomas Hart Benton		Harry S. Truman
Nebraska	William Jennings Bryan		Standing Bear
Nebraska	Julius Sterling Morton		Willa Cather
Ohio	William Allen		Thomas Edison
Virginia	Robert E. Lee		Barbara Rose Johns (future)

See also

• United States Senate Vice Presidential Bust Collection