# Statuary Hall **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 8, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014 "2014-05-08T23:39:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/1 "2014-05-08T23:39:18Z")
Statuary Hall is a large room in the US Capitol Building, in which each state gets to put in two statues of people from that state to honor and represent said state. They can change them at any time. I had no idea who represented my state (Colorado), but I guessed one would be Byron “Whizzer” White. Mr. White was an All-American halfback at the U of Colorado, a first round NFL draft pick and led the NFL in rushing twice. He then went on to become a Supreme Court Justice appointed by John F. Kennedy, where he served for 30 years. My other guess was either boxer Jack Dempsey from Manassa, CO or Mercury Seven astronaut Scott Carpenter from Boulder. I was wrong on all counts, although one was an astronaut, Jack Swigert of Apollo 13 fame. The other I had never heard of, [Florence Sabin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_R._Sabin), but reading her bio I must say she has a very impressive resume. I was impressed to see that New York had chosen [George Clinton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Clinton_(musician)), but then I realized it was a different [George Clinton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Clinton_(vice_president)). So, a little game: Who would, IYHO, choose (or expect) to be in there from your state, then look it up and see who really is in there and post it here. > **[National Statuary Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Statuary_Hall)** > > 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 ... ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2014, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/2 "2014-05-08T23:44:05Z")
WA: I wold expect Scoop Jackson and Chief Sealth. Instead we get Mother Joesph and Marcus Whitman, both very religious choices. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/3 "2014-05-09T00:16:48Z")
Ohio: Thomas Edison maybe? And we’ve had a few presidents, so I’d guess one of them. McKinley? He got shot so there’s at least a sympathy thing. One is former governor and senator William Allen. I’ve never heard of him. But he’s due to be replaced by Thomas Edison soon, which I assume is because nobody knows who William Allen was. For the other, I was right about it being a president who got shot, but it was Garfield and not McKinley. ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/4 "2014-05-09T00:34:26Z")
Minnesota: I guessed Herbert Humphrey and Charles Lindbergh. Actual: Maria Sanford (makes sense), and Henry Rice (who?). Strange, I thought I would have gotten at least one. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/5 "2014-05-09T01:15:09Z")
Missouri: I guessed Mark Twain and Harry Truman. Actual: Thomas Hart Benton (a decent choice) and Francis Blair (no Harry Truman!) ---
**Author:** ![snowmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@snowmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowmaster)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/6 "2014-05-09T06:40:47Z")
My guess: Franklin Pierce & Daniel Webster for NH. Actually: John Stark & Daniel Webstsr ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/7 "2014-05-09T07:33:20Z")
I guessed Reagan and Earl Warren for California. Instead it was Thomas Starr King (whom I’d never heard of, though he was “the orator who saved the nation”) and Father Junipero Serra. :smack: (But King was replaced with Reagan in 2009.) ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/8 "2014-05-09T07:44:45Z")
Texas guess: Sam Houston and Stephen Austin Texas actual: Both were actually correct. I guess the frothing loons in charge of the state haven’t gotten up the nerve to change such prominent choices (or they haven’t thought of it). Louisiana (where I grew up) guess: My first guess was Huey P. Long, then I had trouble picking anyone else. I finally settled on Louis Armstrong, though I knew I was being a bit silly. Louisiana actual: I was right on Huey, but wrong on Louis. The second person represented is [Edward Douglass White](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Douglass_White). ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/9 "2014-05-09T08:13:43Z")
California: Can’t imagine - we have quite a lot of famous people, many not originally from here, and many who inspire mixed feelings or controversy. James Marshall? John Frémont? John Muir? Phil Burton? Richard Nixon? (nah) Ronald Reagan? (double nah) My vote would go to Muir and Frémont, but they actually picked… Junipero Serra – OK, I guess. Important in California history, though not someone to be particularly proud of, in my opinion. Neither was Frémont, of course, but I have a soft spot for thr crazy bastard. Reagan?? Seriously, Ronald fucking Reagan? Dammit, I was KIDDING! Says here that Reagan replaced Thomas Starr King in 2009. Who’s going to replace Serra? Arnold Schwarzenegger? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/10 "2014-05-09T09:15:02Z")
I’ll guess John Adams and Samuel Adams for Massachusetts. … Huh. Samuel is one, and [John Winthrop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Winthrop). ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/11 "2014-05-09T15:36:16Z")
Georgia Guess - Button Gwinnett and Jimmy Carter Actual - Crawford Long, surgeon and “inventor” of inhaled ansthesia (OK, I get that); and Alexander H Stephens, career politician including VP of the Confederate States of America (whu…? Our state politiicans passed up a signer of the Declaration of Independence for the VP of the CSA? Sigh.) ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/12 "2014-05-09T15:49:07Z")
> [@Silophant](#): > > Minnesota: I guessed Herbert Humphrey and Charles Lindbergh. > > Actual: Maria Sanford (makes sense), and Henry Rice (who?). Strange, I thought I would have gotten at least one. Yeah, I assumed Humphrey as well and maybe a Mayo brother or something. I’ve never heard of Sanford or Rice. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/13 "2014-05-09T15:50:05Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I’ll guess John Adams and Samuel Adams for Massachusetts. > > … > > Huh. Samuel is one, and [John Winthrop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Winthrop). I guessed the same ones. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/14 "2014-05-09T16:11:32Z")
OK, I get it that Abe Lincoln would be too obvious for Illinois. It would be silly to put his statue in Statuary Hall, when he has a somewhat . . . ah, _larger_ statue at the other end of the Mall. But . . . James Shields and Frances Willard? Seriously? James Shields, the [tri-state Senator](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Shields), who almost fought a duel with Lincoln, and was so miffed at losing his Senate seat that he moved out of Illinois? He has a street named after him in Chicago. That should be enough. And as for Frances Willard, I don’t like Prohibitionists. Jane Addams would have been a better choice as a woman from Illinois. For a guy, either Carl Sandburg or Adlai Stevenson. Or if you wanted to go a little more offbeat, Elijah Lovejoy, the martyred abolitionist editor. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/15 "2014-05-09T16:17:34Z")
First of all, as Californians we should remove Reagan from our hall. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/16 "2014-05-09T16:29:08Z")
Utah, I guessed right away. Brigham Young and Philo T. Farnsworth. Makes sense: without them, “Sister Wives” wouldn’t exist, and who wants to live in a world like that? If not for a lucky jumpshot, these two would have been replaced 20 years ago with the Hall’s only joint statue: Stockton to Malone. Thanks a lot, Jordan. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/17 "2014-05-09T18:36:46Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > OK, I get it that Abe Lincoln would be too obvious for Illinois. It would be silly to put his statue in Statuary Hall, when he has a somewhat . . . ah, _larger_ statue at the other end of the Mall. The entire city is named for him but that didn’t keep Virginia from spending one of their’s on Washington. Lee has the other. I like that Oklahoma went for an entertainer (or is there another Will Rogers?) and a tree from California (I know,I know). ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/18 "2014-05-09T19:21:42Z")
South Dakota: I really have no guess. Actual is William Henry Harrison Beadle and Joseph Ward. They were both instrumental in getting the Dakota territory divided into states and pushed education. It’s funny you brought this up as there was an article in one of the local newspapers not too long ago questioning whether it was time to replace our statues as Beadle’s has been there since the 1930’s and Ward’s has been there since the 1960’s. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/19 "2014-05-09T19:28:32Z")
For Virginia, I guessed George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. I got one right, George Washington. The other statue is of Robert E. Lee. Interesting that Virginia would choose a traitor to the US as a mascot. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014/20 "2014-05-09T19:38:12Z")
Well, I’m a New Yorker, and the OP already mentioned George Clinton. My guess for the second one is Teddy Roosevelt. And…I’m wrong, it’s Robert R. Livingston, some colonial-era guy I never heard of until now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statuary-hall/688014.md?page=2)