Norman Borlaug | |
---|---|
Artist | Benjamin Victor |
Medium | Bronze sculpture |
Subject | Norman Borlaug |
Location | Washington, D.C., United States |
Norman Borlaug, or Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, is a bronze sculpture depicting the American agronomist and humanitarian of the same name by Benjamin Victor, 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 donated by the U.S. state of Iowa in 2014, and replaced one depicting James Harlan, which the state had gifted in 1910. [1]
Norman Ernest Borlaug was an American agronomist who led initiatives worldwide that contributed to the extensive increases in agricultural production termed the Green Revolution. Borlaug was awarded multiple honors for his work, including the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, one of only seven people to have received all three awards.
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 Hall of Columns is a more than 100-foot-long (30 m) hallway lined with 28 fluted columns in the south wing extension of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. It is also the gallery for 18 statues of the National Statuary Hall Collection.
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.
Francis Preston Blair Jr. is a marble sculpture depicting the American jurist, politician, and soldier of the same name by Alexander Doyle, installed in the United States Capitol's Hall of Columns, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue was gifted by the U.S. state of Missouri in 1899.
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.
Kamehameha I is a bronze sculpture depicting the founder and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii of the same name by Thomas Ridgeway Gould, installed at the United States Capitol Visitor Center's Emancipation Hall, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. A replica of the statue was given as a gift by the U.S. state of Hawaii in 1969.
John Burke is a bronze sculpture depicting the American politician of the same name by Avard Fairbanks, 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 gifted by the U.S. state of North Dakota in 1963.
Ronald Reagan is a bronze sculpture depicting the American politician of the same name by Chas Fagan, installed at the United States Capitol's rotunda, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue was donated by the U.S. state of California in 2009, and replaced one depicting Thomas Starr King, which the state had gifted in 1931. The statue stands on top of fragments from the Berlin Wall.
William Borah is a bronze sculpture depicting the American politician of the same name by Bryant Baker, installed in the United States Capitol Visitor Center's Emancipation Room, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue was gifted by the U.S. state of Idaho in 1947.
Sequoyah, or Sequoya, is a bronze sculpture depicting the Cherokee silversmith and inventor of the same name by Vinnie Ream, installed in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall, as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue was given by the U.S. state of Oklahoma in 1917.
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.
Sarah Winnemucca is a bronze sculpture depicting the Northern Paiute author, activist and educator by Benjamin Victor, 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 Nevada in 2005.
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.
Thomas Edison is a bronze sculpture depicting the American inventor and businessman of the same name by Alan Cottrill, 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 Ohio in 2016, and replaced one depicting William Allen, which had been donated in 1887.
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.
Marcus Whitman 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 gifted 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.
James Harlan is a bronze sculpture of the American attorney and politician of the same name by Nellie Walker, formerly installed in Washington, D.C.'s United States Capitol, as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statue, which was gifted by the U.S. state of Iowa in 1910, was replaced with one portraying Norman Borlaug in 2014.
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.