First statue of Black American added to Capitol Collection
Do you support your state’s addition to the National Statuary Hall?
Written by Casey Dawson, Countable News
What’s the story?
The U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall collection unveiled Florida’s statue of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune on July 13, the first in the collection’s history to depict a Black American.
Bethune was a civil rights pioneer, founding multiple organizations dedicated to education and voting rights for women and Black Americans. As director of Negro Affairs for the National Youth Administration under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she became the highest ranking Black woman in government at the time. She was the only woman of color at the founding conference of the United Nations and served as vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons (NAACP), among many other accomplishments.
Bethune’s statue replaced Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith's statue, which was removed in 2021. The change was approved by a Florida state law signed by then-Gov. Rick Scott (R) in 2018.
The National Statuary Hall is made up of two statues designated from every state. In 2000, Congress approved legislation allowing states to remove and replace their statues with the approval of the state’s legislature and governor.
