The faces of Statuary Hall: a state-by-state look at the collection

1887-1974

Ernest Gruening pursued a career in journalism before becoming a politician. He was editor of The Nation and the New York Post but changed careers when he was appointed to the U.S. delegation to the 1933 Inter-American Conference. In 1939, he was appointed Governor of Alaska Territory, a position he held for 14 years. Pending Alaskan statehood, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1958. He served as a senator for 10 years.

Located in the Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 1977

1854-1916

Democrat James Clarke was governor of Arkansas before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1903, where he served as president pro tempore during the 63rd and 64th Congresses. As a Senator, he broke with his party and supported President Theodore Roosevelt's push to build the Panama Canal. Clarke was also a supporter of workmen's compensation legislation and an opponent of literacy tests for immigrants.

Located in the Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 1921

1931-1982

Astronaut Jack Swigert was one of three people abroad the Apollo 13 moon mission. Though it was aborted mid-mission due to the rupture of an oxygen tank onboard the spaceship, Swigert spent nearly six days in space. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 but died shortly before he would have taken office.

Located in the Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 1997

1728-1784

Revolutionary War supporter Caesar Rodney was elected the first president of Delaware in 1778. He participated in the First and Second Congressional Congresses, voted in favor of the Declaration of Independence and pushed for Delaware to ratify the the Articles of the Confederation.

1824-1893

Confederate Gen. Edmund Smith resigned from the U.S. Army in 1861 to help organize the Confederate Army of the Shenandoah. He was wounded in Manassas, Va., during the first major land battle of the Civil War. After the war, he pursued a career in academics, working as chancellor of the University of Nasville and a mathematics professor.

Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 1922

1812-1883

Vice President of the Confederacy Alexander Stephens initially opposed secession. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives before and after the Civil War.

Located in Statuary Hall; donated in 1927

1836-1904

George Shoup served as the first Governor of Idaho, a position he held for only two months before becoming a U.S. Senator instead. Prior to Idaho's statehood, he was governor of Idaho Territory and a member of the Idaho Republican National Committee.

Located in Statuary Hall; donated in 1910

Approximately 1758-1819

King Kamehameaha I united the Hawaiian islands for the first time and established the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810. He encouraged trade among the various islands and developed alliances with Pacific colonial powers to preserve Hawaii's independence during his rule. Kamehameha's statue weighs more than six tons, making it one of the heaviest in the Statuary Hall Collection. Every year on June 11, which is known as Kamehameha Day in Hawaii, the statue in the draped with Hawaiian leis and hula dancers perform in the Capitol Visitor Center.

Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 1969

1839-1898

Social reformer Frances Willard founded and served as president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. She was also president of the Evanston College for Women from 1871 to 1874.

Located in the Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 1905

1827-1905

Union Army Gen. Lewis Wallace and his troops are credited with protecting Cincinnati from Confederate advances in September 1862. He is the author of Ben Hur.

Located in the Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 1969

1845-1921

Confederate Army soldier Edward White was appointed Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court by President William Howard Taft in 1910. He sat on the Louisiana State Supreme Court, was elected to the U.S. Seante and served as a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice before being elevated to the Chief Justice position.

Located in Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 1955

1768-1852

William King helped the people of Maine to separate from Massachusetts and form their own state in 1820. After Maine was granted statehood, King was elected its first governor, a position he held for one year. King was also a successful merchant.

Located in House wing; donated in 1878

1715-1783

In 1781 and 1782 John Hanson, served as President of the United States in Congress Assembled under the government established by the Articles of the Confederation. He contributed to the development of the first Post Office department, the national bank, the adoption of a uniform coinage system and the establishment of the first U.S. consular service.

Located in the Hall of Columns; donated in 1903

1836-1920

Academic Maria Sanford was one of the first women to become a college professor in the U.S. She taught at Swarthmore College from 1871 to 1880 and later joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota. She advocated for women's rights and supported equal education opportunities for African Americans.

Located in the Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 1958

1826-1897

During the Civil War, lawyer James George served as a colonel in the Confederate Army. He was captured twice in battle and, while imprisoned, taught a law course to fellow detainees. After the war, he was appointed chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Statue placed: 1969, Capitol Visitor Center; placed in

1832-1902

J. Sterling Morton is the founder of Arbor Day. He served as President Grover Cleveland's secretary of agriculture and encouraged the administration to establish national forest reservations.

Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 1937

1876-1954

As a U.S. senator, Patrick McCarran was one of the chamber's most vocal anti-communists. He sponsored bills that required Communists to register themselves and banned Communists from working in the federal government. A senator for 22 years, he was also responsible for legislation that tightened American immigration policies.

Located in the Hall of Columns; donated in 1960

1730-1781

Richard Stockton attended the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. After the congress adjourned, Stockton was captured by the British and imprisoned for one month.

Located in the Crypt; donated in 1888

1888-1962

Sen. Dennis Chavez supported the rights of Native Americans and Puerto Ricans. He advocated for new trade agreements with Latin America and he was a strong supporter of the Fair Employment Practices Commission, which mandated that companies selected for government contracts do not discriminate on the basis of race or religion. Chavez is the only Latino depicted in the Statuary Hall Collection.

Located in the Senate wing; donated in 1966

1746-1813

Robert Livingston helped to write the Declaration of Independence. He was the first secretary of foreign affairs, serving during President George Washington's administration. He negotiated the Lousiana Purchase from France for President Thomas Jefferson in 1803.

Located in Statuary Hall; donated in 1875

Approximately 1788-1812

Sakakawea, a name that means "Bird Woman," traveled west with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. She guided them along their route; established contact between local Native Americans and the expedition team; and helped to identify edible plants and berries. Her son, Jean Baptiste, the baby she is depicted carrying, was born during the journey.

Located in the Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 2003

1784-1857

Canadian John McLoughlin chose to become an American citizen and move to Oregon City, near the end of the Oregon Trail. There he ran a store that catered to new settlers. He is known as "The Father of Oregon," a title that was officially bestowed upon him by the Oregon Legislative Assembly in 1957.

Located in the Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 1953

1846-1807

Continental Army Maj. Gen. John Muhlenberg commanded a regiment from the Shenandoah Valley during the Revolutionary War. Following the war, he served in the Pennsylvania legislature and as the state's vice president from 1785 to 1788.

Located in the Crypt; donated in 1889

Approximately 1603-1683

English-born Puritan Roger Williams moved to the Massachusetts Bay Colony because he believed that the Puritans should separate themselves from the Church of England, which had power in his homeland. Williams' teachings, however, were too radical for the other settlers. He was banished from Massachusetts and founded Rhode Island Colony.

Located in the Hall of Columns; donated in 1872

1818-1902

Confederate Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton traded his cotton for horses and arms and started a cavalry legion of Civil War troops. He and his men fought in many battles, including Gettysburg. After the war, he served as governor of South Carolina from 1876-1879 and was elected to the U.S. Senate at the conclusion of his gubernatorial term.

Located in Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 1929

1801-1877

Bringham Young, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, coordinated the emigration of some 70,000 Mormons to Utah's Salt Lake Valley in 1847. He also helped to establish the city of Nauvoo, Ill., in the 1840s.

Located in Statuary Hall; donated in 1950

1732-1799

Comdr. of the Continental Army George Washington was unanimously selected as the first president of the United States by the Electoral College in 1789. He served two terms before declining a third, setting a precendent for future commanders-in-chief. He attended the First and Second Continental Congresses; the Annapolis Convention, which called for a constutional convention to replace the Articles of Confederation; and the 1787 Constitutional Convention.

Located in the Rotunda; donated in 1934

1802-1847

Doctor Marcus Whitman and his wife founded a settlement called Waiilatp near present-day Walla Walla, Wash. He provided medical care to Native Americans in the area. He also assisted with the Great Migration of 1843 to the West, which paved the way for the Oregon Trail. The Whitmans were murdered in their home on Nov. 29. 1847, by Indians who believed that Whitman's medical treatment was responsible for the deaths of their loved ones.

Located in Statuary Hall; donated in 1953

1814-1899

After Virginia succeeded, Francis Pierpont organized Unionists to break away from the Confederacy. Under Pierpont's leadership, the group pushed for recognition as a new state. West Virginia was admitted into the Union in 1863.

Located in Statuary Hall; donated in 1910

1637-1675

Missionary and explorer Jacques Marquette reached the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers in 1673. Warned by Native Americans about the Spanish settlers to the south, he turned back north to avoid being captured. He established a settlement in Kaskaskia, present-day Illinois, in October 1674.

Located in the House wing; donated in 1896

Approximately 1800-1900

Native American warrior Washakie negotiated with western Army leaders to ensure that more than 3 million acres in Wyoming's Wind River country be preserved for his people, who remain in control of this land today. He was the first known Native American to receive a full military funeral.

Located in the Capitol Visitor Center; donated in 2000