Statue of Johnny Cash | |
---|---|
Artist | Kevin Kresse |
Year | 2024 |
Medium | Bronze sculpture |
Subject | Johnny Cash |
Location | Washington, DC, United States |
A statue of singer-songwriter Johnny Cash is installed in the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. [1] The sculpture was gifted by the U.S state of Arkansas, replacing the statue of James P. Clarke. [2] The statue depicts Johnny Cash with a guitar swung across his back with him carrying a bible in his right hand.
James Paul Clarke was a lawyer and politician from the Arkansas Delta during the Progressive Era. He served in public office over a period of almost 30 years, rising from the Arkansas General Assembly to Attorney General of Arkansas and later 18th Governor of Arkansas, ending his career in the United States Senate. In a period of Democratic Party hegemony known as the "Solid South", Clarke blended positions of the budding Populist movement, such as free silver and railroad regulation, with nationalism and his gifted skills as an orator to popularity and electoral success.
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.
The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol is composed of statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history. Limited to two statues per state, the collection was originally set up in the old Hall of the House of Representatives, which was then renamed National Statuary Hall. The expanding collection has since been spread throughout the Capitol and its visitor center.
The United States Capitol crypt is the large circular room filled with forty neoclassical Doric columns directly beneath the United States Capitol rotunda. It was built originally to support the rotunda as well as offer an entrance to Washington's Tomb. It currently serves as a museum and a repository for thirteen statues of the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Sakakawea is a monumental sized bronze sculpture created by Leonard Crunelle. It was dedicated on October 13, 1914 and stands on the grounds of the North Dakota State Capitol in Bismarck, North Dakota. A recasting was done in 2003 to place in the United States Capitol.
Barry Goldwater is a bronze sculpture depicting American politician and businessman of the same name by Deborah Copenhaver Fellows, installed at the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue was donated by the U.S. state of Arizona in 2015 and replaced a statue of John Campbell Greenway, which the state of Arizona gifted to the collection in 1930.
Jefferson Davis, created by Henry Augustus Lukeman, is a bronze sculpture of Jefferson Davis – a U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of War, plantation owner and the only President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War – commissioned by the U.S. State of Mississippi for inclusion in National Statuary Hall Collection at the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall, in Washington, D.C. The statue was controversial at the time of its unveiling and there have been multiple efforts to remove it from the Capitol since 2015.
William Jennings Bryan is a bronze sculpture depicting the American politician of the same name by Rudulph Evans, which was installed in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue was gifted by the U.S. state of Nebraska in 1937.
James Paul Clarke is a marble sculpture depicting the American politician of the same name by Pompeo Coppini, installed in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall Collection, in Washington, D.C., as one of two statues gifted by the U.S. state of Arkansas. The 6 foot 10 inch tall statue was placed in the Hall in 1921. The work cost $7,500. and was unveiled in Washington in 1921. In 2024, the statue was removed and replaced with a statue of Johnny Cash.
The National Statuary Hall Collection holds statues donated by each of the United States, portraying notable persons in the histories of the respective states. Displayed in the National Statuary Hall and other parts of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., the collection includes two statues from each state, except for Virginia which currently has one, making a total of 99.
Helen Keller is a bronze sculpture depicting the American author and political activist of the same name by Edward Hlavka, installed in the United States Capitol Visitor Center's Emancipation Hall, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue was gifted by the U.S. state of Alabama in 2009, and replaced one depicting Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry, which had been donated in 1908.
Philip Kearny is an 1888 bronze sculpture of Philip Kearny by Henry Kirke Brown, installed in the United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. It is one of two statues donated by the state of New Jersey.
Julius Sterling Morton, also known as J. Sterling Morton, is a 1937 bronze sculpture of Julius Sterling Morton by Rudulph Evans, installed in the United States Capitol Visitor Center, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. It is one of two statues donated by the state of Nebraska. The sculpture was accepted into the collection by Congressman Karl Stefan of Nebraska on April 27, 1937.
John Campbell Greenway is a 1930 bronze statue of John Campbell Greenway by Gutzon Borglum, one version of which was installed in the United States Capitol, in Washington D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. It was one of two statues donated by the state of Arizona. The sculpture was unveiled by Senator Henry Ashurst of Arizona on May 24, 1930.
Uriah M. Rose, or Uriah Milton Rose, is a marble sculpture depicting the American lawyer of the same name by Frederick Ruckstull, formerly installed in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue was gifted by the U.S. state of Arkansas in 1917.
In 2019, the U.S. state of Nebraska donated a bronze sculpture of Standing Bear by Benjamin Victor to the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue is installed in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall, in Washington, D.C.
There are several works of art in the United States Capitol honoring former leaders of the Confederate States of America and generals in the Confederate States Army, including six statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection, busts and portraits.
The statue honoring civil rights and women's rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune was unveiled in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., representing Florida in the National Statuary Hall Collection on July 13, 2022. This makes her the first black American represented in the National Statuary Hall Collection.
A bronze statue of American evangelist Billy Graham is installed at the United States Capitol's crypt, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. It was designed by artist Chas Fagan.
A bronze statue of American civil rights activist Daisy Bates is installed at the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. It was designed by artist Benjamin Victor. Unveiled in May 2024, the sculpture was gifted by the U.S. state of Arkansas, replacing the statue of U. M. Rose.