The U.S. Capitol features several hundred statues and busts. Download this augmented reality app to explore some of the statues in your own space. Using your front-facing camera, virtually place a statue in any location. As you interact with the statue, you’ll unlock images and information about the person depicted and the artist who sculpted the work. Learn about each statue’s artistic significance from the Curator for the Architect of the Capitol. Complete all of the steps for a special reward!
Statues included in this experience:
• Statue of Freedom by Thomas Crawford
• Sarah Winnemucca by Benjamin Victor, given by Nevada in 2005
• John “Jack” Swigert, Jr., by George and Mark Lundeen, given by Colorado in 1997
• Kamehameha I by Thomas Ridgeway Gould, given by Hawaii in 1969
• Helen Keller by Edward Hlavka, given by Alabama in 2009
• Sojourner Truth bust by Artis Lane, donated by the National Congress of Black Women in 2009
History
Many of the sculptures included in this app are part of the National Statuary Hall Collection, which invites each state to donate two statues to the collection for a total of 100 statues.
When the House of Representatives moved into its new chamber in 1857, its former space became little more than a walkway between the Rotunda and the newly built House wing. Vendors, some with food carts and live animals, set up shop in the dusty room. As early as 1853, Members of Congress suggested using the area to display paintings. However, the space seemed a better fit for busts and statuary.
Rep. Justin Morrill (Vermont) suggested that each state could create portrait statues to donate to the Capitol’s collection. The process would be “simple and inexpensive” for Congress with “useful and grand” results in the Capitol. His proposal became law July 2, 1864. It authorized each state to provide up to two statues. The bronze or marble pieces would depict deceased citizens of historic, civic or military fame. The law specified that statues would be placed in the Old Hall of the House of Representatives to form “a national statuary hall.”
The first state statue arrived in 1870. In keeping with the law, each new statue was placed in National Statuary Hall. By 1933, 65 statues crowded around the room, sometimes crowded three deep. The floor of the chamber couldn’t support the weight of any more statues. Since then, Congress authorized several rearrangements of the statues. After Congress passed legislation in 2000 authorizing states to replace their original contributions, many states sent new statues to the Capitol that honor a diverse group of Americans. In 2008, Congress placed 24 of the most recently donated statues in the Capitol Visitor Center, the newest section of the U.S. Capitol. At least one statue from every state remains on display in the historic Capitol.
The information in this app is current as of the publication date.
Note: the haptic reward in the Helen Keller experience is not available on iPads.