Statue of Mary McLeod Bethune (U.S. Capitol)

Last updated
Mary McLeod Bethune
Bethune 834x1874.jpg
Artist Nilda M. Comas
Year2022 (2022)
Medium Marble sculpture
Subject Mary McLeod Bethune
Dimensions(11 feet (including pedestal) in)
Weight6,129 lbs
Location Washington, D.C., United States

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. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] This makes her the first black American represented in the National Statuary Hall Collection. [6]

Contents

The statue is made of Italian Carrara marble and was carved by Nilda M. Comas in Pietrasanta, Italy. [1]

The statue replaced Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith's statue in the Florida collection.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Statuary Hall</span> Chamber in the United States Capitol

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 in 1864 it was repurposed as a statuary hall; 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethune–Cookman University</span> Private historically black university in Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.

Bethune–Cookman University is a private historically black university in Daytona Beach, Florida. Bethune–Cookman University is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The primary administration building, White Hall, and the Mary McLeod Bethune Home are two historic locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Statuary Hall Collection</span> Collection of statues in the US Capitol of notable individuals from each state

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's Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary McLeod Bethune</span> American educator and civil rights leader (1875–1955)

Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was an American educator, philanthropist, humanitarian, womanist, and civil rights activist. Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women in 1935, established the organization's flagship journal Aframerican Women's Journal, and presided as president or leader for a myriad of African American women's organizations including the National Association for Colored Women and the National Youth Administration's Negro Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Capitol rotunda</span> Component of United States Capitol

The United States Capitol rotunda is the tall central rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. It has been described as the Capitol's "symbolic and physical heart". Built between 1818 and 1824, the rotunda is located below the Capitol dome, which was built between 1857 and 1866.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Victor (sculptor)</span> American sculptor

Benjamin Matthew Victor is an American sculptor living and working in Boise, Idaho. He is the only living artist to have three works in the National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol. He is currently sculpting his fourth statue for the Statuary Hall, of Daisy Bates. He was only 26 years old when his first statue, Sarah Winnemucca, a Paiute activist in Nevada, was dedicated in the Hall in 2005, making him the youngest artist to ever be represented in the Hall. In 2014, his sculpture of Norman Borlaug, "the father of the Green Revolution," was dedicated in the National Statuary Hall and in 2019, his statue of Chief Standing Bear, a Native American rights leader, was dedicated in the National Statuary Hall making him the only living artist to have three sculptures in the Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial</span> Memorial by Robert Berks in Washington, D.C., U.S.

Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial is a bronze statue honoring educator and activist Mary McLeod Bethune, by Robert Berks.

Robert E. Lee is a bronze sculpture commemorating the general of the same name by Edward Virginius Valentine, formerly installed in the crypt of the United States Capitol as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue was given by the commonwealth of Virginia in 1909. On December 21, 2020, the sculpture was removed from the grounds of the United States Capitol and relocated to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Edmund Kirby Smith</span>

Edmund Kirby Smith is a bronze sculpture commemorating the Confederate officer of the same name by C. Adrian Pillars that was installed in the United States Capitol Visitor Center as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection from 1922 to 2021. The statue was gifted by the state of Florida in 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Joseph Wheeler</span> Sculpture in Statuary Hall

Joseph Wheeler is a bronze sculpture commemorating the Confederate and American military commander and politician of the same name by Berthold Nebel, installed in the United States Capitol as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue was gifted by the state of Alabama in 1925.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Alexander H. Stephens</span> Statue by Gutzon Borglum

Alexander H. Stephens is a marble sculpture commemorating the American politician of the same name by Gutzon Borglum, installed in the United States Capitol as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue was gifted by the state of Georgia in 1927.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Jefferson Davis (U.S. Capitol)</span> Statue of Jefferson Davis by Henry Augustus Lukeman in Washington, D.C., U.S.

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 – 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statues of the National Statuary Hall Collection</span> List of statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Marcus Whitman</span> Statue of Marcus Whitman by Avard Fairbanks

Marcus Whitman in Buckskins is a 4/3 life-size bronze sculpture by Avard Fairbanks that depicts the American physician, missionary and frontiersman Dr. Marcus Whitman striding resolutely into the future, holding a Bible in one hand and saddlebags and a scroll in the other hand. It was donated by the U.S. state of Washington to the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection and was unveiled and dedicated there on May 22, 1953.. Washington state Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation on April 14, 2021 to have it removed; and it was subsequently given to Walla Walla County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equal Visibility Everywhere</span> American non-profit corporation

Equal Visibility Everywhere, also known as EVE, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in Miami, Florida. EVE was founded in 2010 by the psychologist and former college professor Lynette Long, with the mission "to achieve gender parity in the monuments, symbols, and icons, of the United States." Its ongoing projects include adding more statues of women to the National Statuary Hall Collection, creating new historical markers honoring America's heroes, adding images of women to America's paper currency and coins, increasing the number of women honored on stamps and Google Doodles, and increasing the number of female character balloons in parades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederate artworks in the United States Capitol</span>

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 seven statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection, busts and portraits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Henry (Florida politician)</span> Florida politician

Patrick Henry is a Democratic politician who served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 26th District, which stretches from Daytona Beach to DeLand in northern Volusia County, from 2016 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Amelia Earhart</span> Statue by Mark and George Lundeen

The statue honoring aviator Amelia Earhart was unveiled in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., representing Kansas in the National Statuary Hall Collection on July 27, 2022.

References

  1. 1 2 Architect of the Capitol (July 13, 2022). "Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune" . Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  2. "Mary McLeod Bethune becomes first Black American honored in U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall". PBS NewsHour. 2022-07-13. Archived from the original on 2022-07-14. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  3. "Mary McLeod Bethune Statue Unveiled in National Statuary Hall | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Archived from the original on 2022-07-14. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  4. "Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune statue on way to U.S Capitol after unveiling ceremony in Italy". 12 July 2021. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  5. Zaffiro-Kean, Eileen. "Before Capitol unveiling, Mary McLeod Bethune statue could be on display at Daytona's MOAS". Daytona Beach News-Journal Online. Archived from the original on 2021-09-17. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  6. "Capitol statue collection gets first Black American, replacing Confederate". The Washington Post. July 13, 2022.