National Statuary Hall Collection

The National Statuary Hall Collection inside the US Capitol gathers statues of prominent figures that each US state contributes to a national pantheon. Every state may donate two figures, and the choices reveal whom a state currently considers representative. California swapped out preacher Thomas Starr King for Ronald Reagan in 2009, and Virginia replaced Robert E. Lee with civil-rights pioneer Barbara Rose Johns in 2020. The original room, the old House chamber, long ago ran out of space; the figures now spread across the Crypt, Hall of Columns and Visitor Center. Visitors encounter them on the free Capitol tour, and guides like to demonstrate the famous whispering-gallery acoustics of the old Hall, where John Quincy Adams reputedly eavesdropped on rivals from his desk.