A Capitol Tour, Part VI - Statuary Hall
The original House chamber teems with history and controversy, especially today.
Catch up with my previous installments here.
My Capitol tours occasionally include children. Surprisingly, many of them, especially young teenagers, love the stories and art that tell America’s story. I credit their parents and caregivers for inspiring them. And I find inspiration in watching a 10-year-old’s eyes light up with wonder and fascination over hearing about something dramatic that happened where they’re standing or saw in a book or movie.
But perhaps no place more so than Statuary Hall, or as is sometimes called, “The Old House Chamber.” It served as home for the US House during most of the same years as the Old Senate Chamber, a subject of a past post. A quick stop into the room explains the name as we exit the Rotunda, past a couple of historic corridors - one, a circular staircase that British troops rode their horses up in 1814 when they burned the Capitol, with musket ball marks still visible. And adjacent to that is the corridor that leads to the offices of the Speaker of the House (sorry, but that hallway is closed to the public), with a terrific balcony and great west-front views over The Mall.
Statuary Hall - arguably the most popular stop on tours of the Capitol - is home to a congressional custom granting every state of the Union the ability to place the statue of up to two historical figures. Of course, other statues have been added over the years. And since they don’t all fit inside Statuary Hall, many of them can be found below in the first-floor hallway. The more colorful ones, such as Hawaii’s King Kamehameha, are located in the new(ish) $800 million Capitol Visitor Center. More about the Visitor Center and how it tragically came to be in a subsequent post.
Kamehameha’s statue is the most majestic and colorful of the Capitol’s statues. On Hawaii Day - July 5, celebrating its admission as our 50th State - when Kamehameha was located in a dark corner of the “Speaker’s Lobby” section of Statuary Hall, rather hidden from view, it was colorfully adorned with orchids. He now enjoys greater visibility in his new location.
When I began my tours nearly three decades ago, not every state had placed its allotted statues in the Capitol. Today, all 50 have their allotment of statues spread over five locations.
One of the “ghost stories” of the Capitol is that the statues come to life on Halloween night. That is not true, of course, but one can imagine the great conversations that might take place. Legendary US Senator and presidential candidate Barry Goldwater (R-CA) swapping stories with Louisiana’s Huey P. Long. President John Quincy Adams - the only former President to return to the US House - debating the legendary former Vice President, Secretary of War, and Senator John Calhoun about nullification. Or perhaps another Secretary of War, United States Senator, and later President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis (D-MS), consulting with his former Confederate Vice President, Alexander Stephens.
You won’t be surprised to know that the presence of some statues, especially the last two I mentioned, remains controversial. Some have already been removed, including the Confederacy’s Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, who never served in the House or Senate and did not want to be memorialized. But unlike Lee, Mississippi, and Georgia, respectfully, get to decide whether Davis and Stephens remain. As of today, they’re still there.
And that’s good. It gives me and others a chance to point out critical historical moments, both before, during, and after the Civil War, that involved these men. Stephens was an unabashed supporter of slavery and negotiated directly with President Lincoln to end the Civil War (unsuccessfully). Stephens would later serve as Governor of Georgia and for a decade in the House of Representatives. What a great way to interpret history, the good and bad, with the presence of these historical figures. After all, if we do not learn from history, we are likely to repeat it.
It also allows me to discuss the scourge of presentism - applying 21st Century “standards” to our founders and other historical figures and events of the 19th and even the early 20th Century.
As a food industry veteran, I always stop by one of the newer contributors to Statuary Hall, plant geneticist Norman Borlaug. The “Father of the Green Revolution” is credited with saving billions of lives through his plant breeding techniques that helped make crops more drought resistant. His home state, Iowa, is responsible for his presence in the Chamber. It gives me a chance to talk about the contributions and promises of genetic modifications over the years and in the future, not just for plants but for animals. This is an oversimplification, but many wars over history have started over food, especially the lack of bread. Just ask Marie Antoinette.
There’s an app for iOS or Android devices (search for “State Statues in the Capitol”), and the Architect of the Capitol’s website features historical vignettes and locations of all statues.
Time permitting, I tell personal stories about Sen. Goldwater, whom I met just after he retired from the US Senate in 1987; Sequoyah, a contribution from my home state, who created the Cherokee alphabet; and Father Junipero Sierra, who established the famous missions that dot many California coastal communities. And while there is no statue of Abraham Lincoln, who served one term in the House long before his presidency, a plaque commemorates the location of his desk.
You probably didn’t hear the newly-elected House Speaker mention this plaque during the 1:38 a.m. acceptance speech after he was finally elected during those contentious five days and 15 roll call ballots.
But no story entertains children and more than a few adults better than the Whispering Spot.
John Quincy Adams was not a young man when he returned to serve in the US House of Representatives after his one-term presidency (he lost reelection to Andrew Jackson). His desk was in the “Whig” section of the chamber, near the front. But his precise location and the unusual acoustics courtesy of the chamber’s ceiling gave him a powerful advantage.
He could overhear the conversations across the Chamber by the opposition party’s leadership. As legend has it, Adams would pretend to be asleep and pick up tidbits of valuable strategy and information he would then share with his colleagues. Adams, of course, would remain silent. Otherwise, he might expose the secret since acoustics worked in both directions. Frustrated, legend has it, one of the Democrats wandered over to Adams's desk once and discovered his unique surveillance capabilities. A Capitol tour guide demonstrates the spot below. It is true, however, that the room's acoustics frustrated its members.
Adams died at his desk in the Capitol, and his funeral was held in the House chamber in 1848. Lincoln’s desk was the site of Speaker McCarthy’s first press conference. He described it as his favorite spot in the Capitol building.
Sorry, Speaker McCarthy, my kids preferred the Whispering Spot.
Next stop: The Rayburn Room, the current House Chamber, and a spot where a news reporter shot and killed former Congressman-turned-lobbyist steps on a marble stairway. But only after we stop by where Will Rogers can keep an eye on the House chamber and bring you good luck.