The Kansas congressional delegation and Governor Laura Kelly took part in a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol building Wednesday to unveil a statue of pioneering aviator Ameila Earhart. The statue joins a statue of President Dwight Eisenhower in the National Statuary Hall Collection. Each of the 50 states has two statues in the collection.
Governor Kelly called Earhart “one of the most notable of our pioneering women” who represents the best of the Kansas spirit.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell also made comments in tribute to Earhart. McConnell said he could not imagine a more fitting American to stand honored in the Hall. There were also comments from Kansas congresswoman Sharice Davids and congressman Jake LaTurner, representing northeast Kansas.
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Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and the state’s congressional delegation will take part in a ceremony Wednesday to unveil a statue of famed aviator and Kansas native Amelia Earhart. The statue will be placed in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the Capitol building.
There are 100 statues in the collection, with two representing each state. The Kansas Legislature voted in 1999 to replace the marble statues of U.S. Senator John James Ingalls and Kansas Governor George Washington Glick with statues of Earhart and President Dwight Eisenhower. The Eisenhower statue is in place, and Earhart’s statue will replace the statue of Ingalls.
Kansas Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall paid tribute to Earhart in comments on the Senate floor on Tuesday. Moran stated, “Amelia Earhart, the most famous woman in aviation, soared into the history books, setting flight records and breaking barriers. But before she became known worldwide as the ‘Queen of the Air,’ she was the daughter of a small town in Kansas, Atchison. She captivated the hearts and the minds of many, and inspired the next generation of pilots to love the sky in the same way she did. Undeniably, the state of Kansas has a long history steeped in the aviation industry, but without pioneers like Amelia Earhart, our state would not be the epicenter of aviation that it is today.”
Marshall said “Kansans and especially the people of Atchison persevered, just as Amelia did in her pursuit of flight, to coordinate and create a bronze statue and limestone base – an appropriate nod to our state’s signature natural stone… While Amelia was a pioneer for aviators everywhere, she is still today a role model for every person, but especially for women and young girls who strive to break barriers and achieve their dreams despite the odds being against them. In my home state of Kansas, Amelia’s legacy lives on and continues to know no limits.”
The bronze statue of Earhart was created by George and Mark Lundeen and it will be a twin to a statue that will be placed at the Amelia Earhart Museum in Atchison.
[ photo credit: Reuters ]
