The U.S. Capitol: National Statuary Collection Quiz

Answer: Justin Morrill

When making his proposal, Morrill asked, "To what end more useful or grand, and at the same time simple and inexpensive, can we devote it [the Chamber] than to ordain that it shall be set apart for the reception of such statuary as each State shall elect to be deserving of in this lasting commemoration?" His bill became law on July 2, 1864. Morrill, a Republican from Vermont, is also remembered for introducing the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, which provided federal funding for the establishment of many public colleges and universities.

Answer: The House of Representatives chamber

The House of Representatives met in the chamber now known as Statuary Hall until 1857, when the present House wing of the Capitol was completed.

Answer: 65

Though the original plan was to display every statue in the Hall, the collection eventually grew to the point where the Hall was not just overcrowded and ugly, but structurally unable to support any more statues. A representative sample stayed in Statuary Hall while the others were relocated to other parts of the Capitol, at the discretion of the Joint Committee on the Library.

Answer: Rhode Island

Rhode Island's statue of Nathanial Greene, sculpted from marble by Henry Kirke Brown, was donated in 1870, two years before any other state. Of the states that were part of the Union when the legislation authorizing the National Statuary Hall Collection was enacted, Oregon was the last to contribute their first statue.

Answer: New Mexico

New Mexico's statue of the Pueblo Indian leader Po'pay, carved from marble by sculptor Cliff Fragua, joined the collection in 2005. Po'Pay, who organized the Pueblo Revolt against the Spanish, is one of six Native Americans in the Collection; the others are King Kamehameha I of Hawaii, Will Rogers of Oklahoma (who had Cherokee ancestors), Sakajawea of North Dakota, Sequoyah of Oklahoma, Chief Washakie of Wyoming, and Sarah Winnemucca of Nevada.

Answer: James A. Garfield

Ohio donated its statue of President Garfield in 1886, a mere six years after his assassination by Charles J. Guiteau. Statues of Andrew Jackson of Tennessee and George Washington of Virginia joined the Collection in 1928 and 1934 respectively. Polk is not represented in the collection, though the spot where his desk was located when he served in the House of Representatives is marked by a brass marker on the floor of Statuary Hall.

Answer: Frances Willard of Illinois

Frances Willard was the founder and first president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union; her statue was placed in the Collection in 1905. She is one of eight women to have statues in the Collection; the others are Mother Joseph of Washington, Esther Hobart Morris of Wyoming, Jeanette Rankin of Montana, Florence R. Sabin of Colorado, Sakakawea of North Dakota, Maria L. Sanford of Minnesota, and Sarah Winnemucca of Nevada.

Answer: Charles H. Niehaus

Niehaus created eight statues for five states: William Allen and James A. Garfield for Ohio; Zachariah Chandler for Michigan; Henry Clay and Ephraim McDowell for Kentucky; John James Ingalls and George Washington Glick for Kansas; and Oliver Hazard Perry Morton for Indiana. Glick's statue is no longer part of the National Statuary Hall Collection; it was reclaimed by Kansas and replaced with a statue of Dwight Eisenhower.

As for the others, Borglum and de Weldon made three each, and Davidson made two.

Answer: Kansas

In 2003, Kansas reclaimed its statue of George Washington Glick and replaced it with one of Dwight Eisenhower. Glick's statue now stands in the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka, Kan. Two other states have chosen to avail themselves of this opportunity: California has decided to replace their statue of the Rev. Thomas Starr King with one of President Ronald Reagan, and Michigan will replace its statue of Sen. Zachariah Chandler with one of President Gerald Ford.

Answer: Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks has been called the "Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement". Her refusal to give up her bus seat to a white passenger and subsequent arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and led to a United States Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses unconstitutional. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. introduced the legislation calling for a statue of Parks to be placed in the Capitol.