D.C. Pushes for Place in Statuary Hall

Arts Panel Seeks Nominees for Immortalization at Capitol

Massachusetts sent Sam Adams. Texas sent Sam Houston. And Virginia sent the king of the rebels, Robert E. Lee.

Now D.C. residents have a chance to choose two prominent Washingtonians to represent them in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol -- if, that is, Congress can be persuaded to let the District send any statues at all.

The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities is accepting nominations of prominent city residents to be commemorated in sculptures intended for Statuary Hall. If the District is not permitted to join the 50 states in displaying statues in the Capitol, the completed sculptures will be exhibited in the John A. Wilson Building in a subtle form of protest.

"We've all talked about taxation without representation," said Dorothy McSweeney, the commission's chairman.

"Well, we also don't have any statuary representation in Congress, either, and we want to change that."

So far, nearly 200 people have cast ballots either on paper or online, choosing from among 30 names selected by the commission. Those nominees include Benjamin Banneker, Duke Ellington, Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall, Langston Hughes, Francis Scott Key and Katharine Graham, former publisher of The Post.

Residents are also invited to nominate others who have "excelled in arts, history, civil rights, politics and worked to make a difference not only in the District of Columbia, but also in the world." Nominees must be U.S. citizens who were either born in the District or lived here for "a significant amount of time."

The deadline for voting is April 28. The commission expects to choose the winners, based on the results of the voting and other factors, by mid-May. The city plans to spend up to $200,000 on the sculptures.

For more information, visit the commission's Web site at http://www.dcarts.dc.gov .