After words book notes plus q a pit listen to ccn bookshelf podcast feed today finds he spent bookshelf podcast feed and all of our podcast on the freaks he spent now mobile video app or wherever you get your podcast. And on our website cspan podcast. Listening to programs on cspan through cspan radio just got easier. Tell your Smart Speaker plate cspan radio listen to washington journal daily at 7 00 a. M. Eastern, important congressional hearings other Public Affairs events throughout the day. Weekdays at 5 00 p. M. Catch washington today for fastpaced report cspan any time tell your Smart Speaker plate cspan radio. Cspan powered by cable. Good evening my name is Jane Campbell as president and ceo of the 96 capitalist oracle society. I have the honor of serving as a master of ceremonies for this event. I want to acknowledge that several of my Board Members are here. I have to be especially nice to them they are my bosses. John carlson my board chair sean perry giles who else is here wave your hand. Thank you very much for all you do to keep the society going. The capitalist oracle society was founded in 1962 chartered by congress. To encourage the most comprehensive and enlightened manner and understanding by the American People of the significance of the capitol. A tangible symbol before we get started with todays program the passing of my immediate predecessor former congressman who served as the third president of the society from 2000 through 2018. Rons tenure was characterized strengths and challenges, growth in ways that serve the American People so join me for a moment of silence. Thank you. Wellit be on our website hubby take a moment to do it he was really a very special person among the greatest parks is the continual effort to expand who is included the early days of the republic only landowning white men could participate in the experiment. They wrote a d document that stands to this day. The ratification is the 15th amendment expanded the franchise to africanamerican men. It still took a little work to make that real. Brett women into the picture. And until the first woman, Frances Willard of illinois joined the collection of natural statuary hall the capitol sculptures depicted only men in capitol art was mainly men or allegorical women with the exception of pocahontas. The statue of freedom which stands atop the building is perhaps the most famous each of our speakers will take home a replica of the statue of freedom made from marble from the capitol as our thank you. Serving in Public Office is leextremely challenging. And rewarding. So i want to tell you we are going to start with our senator we will let senator talk because shes got to run to votes. When she is finished conjures the house members deal . Operates her familys cattle ranch in this wheatgrass development Laramie County with her brother and sister in Animal Science 2008 quickly earned her reputation and a principal policymaker of the House Freedom caucus and a dedicated champion of wyoming mineral and Energy Resources is a chair of the western caucus she made it her business to explain to eastern lawmakers just how invasive the federal government is, and the lives and business of westerners. She led the bipartisan effort to pass the national for system trail stewardship in 2018 which now maintains over 157,000 miles of trails within our national forest. Her distinguished career in Public Service as a member of the wyoming legislature, state treasurer, and member of the house brings her today to represent wyoming in the United States senate. [applause] [applause] jane thank youou so much and thank you for taking the reins from this Great Organization and for preserving the history of this great nation and this great capitol. We are really grateful for all of you. Thanks. So ici am excited to go first because wyoming will the first government in the world to continuously grant or recognize better said, womens rights to vote. [applause] when wyoming was still a territory, its Territorial Legislature recognize womens right to vote and memorialize it into law in 1869. A full 50 years before the 19th amendment to the United States constitution. So a woman named luisa was the very first woman to vote in a government continuously recognizing womens rights to vote she voted in laramie, wyoming on september 6, of 1870. Now she was followed by a very distinguished group ofn women o not only were leaders in early wyoming government but also some involved in the National Movement to recognize womens right to vote. One of those women, Esther Hobart noris is a recognized in the statue in this great building. Our other statute by the way is a chief wash a key eastern shoshone indian man who was beloved in wyoming. A great leader of the tribe and a Great American himself. I am so proud to be here. And to represent both our Indian Community and that women of wyoming as we acknowledge the women who are recognized by statute in this building. Then about 15 minutes there was a second woman who voted in cheyenne it was kind of our race to the ballot because theyoi knw they were going to be recognized or memorializedfo forever. So luis it was an orphan that grew up in the east. She found some relatives that help razor, met a nice man moved to laramie, wyoming. She was a quaker and in laramie the women decided because that y kind of knew this woman was going to be an important person in history they wanted to pick someone who was very upstanding in the community and what represent women well foror the rest of history. So they chose louisa and she had a bucket of lard on your way to the grocery store. She stopped to votes and memorialize that vote. So we named a Federal Building after her and cheyenne, wyoming my home town we did this just last fall. Its the first Federal Building in the whole regent that is named after a woman. We are finally getting around to recognizing ourue own history. Nesomething is true about easterners we are much better about recognizing your rolls in history. Our history is so recent that we forget its truly historical. The people i have met in my life are historical figures in their own right. But they were old when i met them. Sitting bull. [laughter] you think about chief sitting bowl and his grandson and i were very dear friends. The west is unique, you know. I am so proud to be from a state that recognizes women and indians. Aunt are not terribly diverse population, its proud of that as well. Here is a little bit more. She took a chance, moved to South Pass City in the covered a coveredwagon in 1869. She got involved immediately for womens suffrage. Sheet made history in 1870 when she was appointed justice of the peace. Upon her appointment the county clerk telegraph wyoming the youngest in one of the richest territories in the United States equal rights to women in action as well as words. This lovely statute of her in this great Capitol Building. She then went on to be the Vice President of that women suffrage association. For everyth women we have the first women delegates to the democratic and Republican National convention. With the first woman governor. The first statewide elected official. Rl and this early history this a fabulous history of recognizing women. And then once the 19th amendment passed we started taking it for granted. We were not as effective in recognizing and getting women to step up and lead. But we are catching back up. Thanks to people like Esther Hobart morris we had that opportunity. I am going to introduce your next speaker if that is okay. I have to go off and vote. But i served yes we are doing debbie right . [inaudible] laurel, the next speaker. It is its going to be hard i just met laurel. Okay no problem. I am going to Say Something nice about debbie. [laughter] mbdebbie was a member of the hoe when i came to the u. S. House. Very first congressional delegation trip was ledse by Debbie Wasserman schultz. We went to israel, we went to egypt, we went to turkey. And i learned so much about the middle east, about israel specifically. It is a trip i will never forget it was the quintessential american delegation. We had jewish people, christian people, we had mormons, we had baptist, we lutherans come with democrats, we had republicans. It was a mishmash. But everyone came together as americans on this trip. Part of it was just because of the sheer strength of this woman, who led that trip . These are women as predicate to serve with. Thanks for carrying on and the u. S. House. It was a pleasure to serve with you and it still is. Thank you. [applause] thank you, senator. [inaudible] i will tell you congresswoman has a unique connection to statuary hall. Y i met her when she was secretary of state in florida. And she had a role in bringing mary to statuary hall. I know she has got a place to go. I am going to give a one sentence about her. She identifies herself its her first term in congress but shet comes with a strong background. And has been a recognized for her role in understanding election, policy and security is a national expert. Congresswoman loralee come join us. [applause] thank you so much it is truly an honor to get to beer tonight and to celebrate the great women of statutory hall. It is truly a privilege to mention one of the floors who is the great doctor mary. I was florida secretary of state i had the privilege of being involved in the statue itself predict creation, getting at here. Some of the celebration in honor of her tremendous legacy but she influential educator, civil rights leader, an activist. Andactivist. She championed africanamerican womens rights, suffragee rights and education. She truly is an example of the very best of what we have to offer as floridians its a source of such tremendous pride for all of us who come here to see the great leaders of our country and state. I also want to say what a privilege it is to be of the senior members of my delegation. It is so true while we may not all vote the same way or hold the same policy views there are more important things that unite us. And a connection we have to celebrate the great women of our states and celebrate each other is one such thing. It is a privilege to me always to get to be with you and to see the members of my delegation you have been such leaders in our state and have done such important things for our communities over the years. I thank you for including me in the celebration tonight. I look forward to working with you all as we go forward. Welcome to congress. Now we are going to have two fabulous women from florida. Have you are following the program, remember human plans, god laughs that is especially true in. Congress. So heresa is what i was going to say. I was going to take our leadoff hitter tonight was going to be. Who is eight trailblazer for sure she, at 26 became the youngest woman elected to the florida house. And in 2004 she was the first jewish woman ever elected to represent florida and congress. She is tenacious. She is hardworking. She is a passionate advocate and tireless fighter for progressive values. For the safety and security of families and children. And she proudly shared her balance of work and family and her public life. For nearly two years she quietly pays her own personal battle with Breast Cancer after seven surgeries and winning herre reelection she decided the way she would share her story is by introducing a bill to make sure the cdc educated young women they could get cancer in early earlydetection made a differenc. Then she thought maybe that was not enough. She decided she would start the congressional womens softball game and be the captain. And so every year people would be reminded about the story. We are going to start with debbie and then she is going to turnrn over to her colleagues wo was congresswoman lois frankel. Lois, i first met you will not remember this, when she and i were both legislatures. From ohio, she was from florida. And then we were mayors together. So congresswoman lois describes herself as a working mom and now a working grandmother. Which i just got to be that too, isnt that cool . So it will be a real joy for congresswoman to introduce lois frankel who is now the cochair of the democratic womens caucus. [applause] thank you so much. Its special to be introduced by Jane Campbell someone who when i was a young legislator, who i to emulate. When you are an elected official to state legislature my former legislative colleagues will know you sort of look around thefo country for other members who think like you in the legislation there introducing. Jane was always one of those i found myself always introducing similar or even the same piece of legislation and my state ohio. Ature as she did in its great to be able to see you landed here and are taking care of the legacy of the United States capitol. We appreciate it so much. Thank you, thank you. Thankap you to the Capitol Historical Society for hosting us and conceiving this not surprising. I am thrilled to join my fellow women colleagues and former colleagues to seek congresswoman who i think is going to lead you on a tour in a little while. And also our fantastic shortstop on the congressional womens softball game for many, many years were going to miss you this year. Coming back here, being with a Capitol Historical Society and focusing on nationalhi statuaryo hall during womens History Month really brings it back to the time i y chaired the many years i chaired with Ranking Member of the legislative Branch Appropriations subcommittee. I was only my second terms. I was learning the many factors of the legislative branch i immediately knew the historical so committee aligned is what i wouldnt doch it is the legislative branch. We just inherited the capitols Bitter Senate which we are now that project was mired in delays and hundreds of mind of dollars over budget. Fun times. The cdc mission like the Historical Society mission was to vital for us to neglect or kick the can down the road. Bring the congressional story to the public was so important. And oh wow did we certainly deliver it does deliver that part much like the Capitol Building isut filled with beauty and history all around. Get in the telling of the story w too often neglect to honor womens voices, contributions and legacy. In these halls of congress we can repair that injustice by ensuring the story of women and girls are shirking our nations most powerful hall. For the mother joseph human return educator when the architects of the northwest United States or remorse as you already heard from my friend cynthiaa the first one told the Judicial Office both in the nation possibly in the modern world. For the first native american author and activist. These 11 women are represented here and honored with statures the halls of congress are us some of the brightest and boldest our nation has to offer. Now i would be remiss if i did not also mentioned number 11 the most recent addition to these halls from this great state of florida. Yes you can applaud her. She is incredible. She was a pioneering educator, publicights activist servant most people know her for starting what is now Cookman University she did so much more for our state and our nation she also advised president Franklin Roosevelt was the sole africanAmerican Woman to officially join the u. S. Delegation that created the United Nations charter. Its ano incredible addition to the just under 270 statutes here at the capitol. By the way for those of you who just heard me say 270 statues and are trying to do mental math, i already did it for you. That is under 5 of the statures in the a capitol that are women. In order to get a statue in the halls of congress usually you need to have moved a mountain, invented a world changing device like our other statute from florida who invented air conditioning. Certainly in florida worthy of being honored in the halls of the capitol for florida the highest levels of government at the center for most of the men who get statues in this building. For women you better have moved a mountain, change the world, written a book, prevented a world war and done it all backwards in high heels before you are even considered for the same honor. Now that im dont the levity i guess the privilege of introducing my colleague one of my dearest friends who someone who i have literally known every minute of my public life. Hopefully it will meet to sell but the women of statuary hall will move that 5 which i know she is a champion of like this one. Congressman lois frankel as you already heard has a very long list of successeses. She was mayor of West Palm Beach we served in the legislature sidebyside in the leadership of the statehouse together. Lois has been a champion of women and children and their quality of life and the equity and the necessity for us to make sure theres equal opportunity for all. A strong and incredible voice for justice. And a fantastic grandma who incessantly talks about her adorable grandson. Rere please join me and representing one of my dearest friends congresswoman lois. [applause] [inaudible] hello it is so hard to follow debbie. I should tell them a story. [laughter] i saved it for a progress she saved it for my personal jane its so great to see it. She was mayor of cleveland when i was mayor of West Palm Beach. We shared a lot of stories together. Thank you to the hysterical society. [laughter] thank you to everyone is here. British shout out to one of my sherry, is here with us tonight. Thank you ladies. He talked about women sticking together. I knew debbie, i met debbie when she was just a college graduate. She looked like she was 12. I do not know how old you were were you 19 . I was just started my career in the Florida Legislature i want to say this i am responsible for her career. [laughter] hi paul. I was starting my career in the Florida Legislature. I was not that knowledgeable ive a lot of passion and drive. So i was looking for assistance. Applies to her job. I looked at her so i dont think i know anything. I cant hirere you. This young lady went along. A colleague of mine peter who was a state representative she folsom is the state legislature what did i say i am responsible for her great career. Because i did not hire her right i would be amiss chair of the womens caucus. Very proud member of a diverse caucus in congress yes 94 almost half of the democrats i am here and honored to be here and celebrate women are making history everys day not just ths month. Plates were all over the road gathered at the testament i say it should be a testament studying art the unique statutes that depicts historical figures that are supposed to wait to honor our great leaders, our innovators, our activists and educators. Now, if you are like me and walk through this hall and noticed something is missing. You say where are the women . You be right to ask that part of the hundred statues in the collection, only 11 of them are women. That is wrong isnt it . How can you really tell the story of a nation without women . Bu the good news is we are making some progress, right . Ill give you a little report on chat. Last year in the house have built that i helped to lead along withh the senator klobuchr in the senate we commissioned to new statues of our female Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day Oconnor. They will be coming our way. He heard about floridas home fe state, my home state the weather is very good in florida thats about all i will say. [laughter] [laughter] right . Okay. You cannot take me anywhere. [laughter] we can have this great new statue of remarkable educator civil rights leader. She joins the ranks of former president and civil rights leaders 10 other women including educator and activist Frances Willard, pilot and icon Emily Ehrhardt i dont know where she went she still missing i think. [laughter] but she is here. The very firstes congresswoman o serve in these halls. There is more good news because doctor buffoon is going to get some more female neighbors soon. I think for more additional coming our way. This is going to show the over 3 million tourists who visit this building every year a more accurate portrayal of our history. Recognize womens shaping our country andse the world. Having these women representative and the statuary hall collection will allow thousands of young girls who are here every day with their classmates and their families and friends to see the woman who barriers, remarkable womens who inspire us and let us know that regardless of gender dreams can come true. So thank you all for enjoying the statues. Now i return to a great lady from nevada you can go to las vegas and have a lot of fun. [laughter] [cheering] very much debbie and lois for your leadership in the Historical Society for putting a spotlight on the women statues. You heard lois it is only 11 but when i first came here all we had it in the original raton that was a ladies restroom was hated by one of the mens statues. You had to find it. Now we have our own so we dont have to look for in statuary hall. We have made progress is the point and tried to make. With that woman statue here know its not the showgirls and feathers and sequins. But that would be one kind of woman we have in las vegas. Its kind of a schizophrenic state. [laughter] our statute is a bronze statue of sarah. I was designed and presented by a 26yearold artist named benjamin and victor. Hes the only artist to have three statues and now hes working on a fourth. He is quite the artist. This was given to statuary hall by nevada in 2005. It took us a while to get there but we are now making progress. Sarah lived from 1844 until 1891 she was a northern pirates. She was a leader in her tribe of peacemaker, a lecturer, and activist, a social reformer, a tshirt at a writer. She had great facility with languages so she often served as an interpreter and translator between her own people in the u. S. Army. She went on because she was so good at languages to lead her people over 200 miles to safety on they were attacked. She was a great spokesperson for her people. She gave over 300 speeches to them. She met with president Rutherford B Hayes secretary of interior in 1880. 1883 autobiography life among the pirates claimed was the first book we believe ever w by a native American Woman. She started school for native American Children she taught them and english and in their native language. She was married at least twice we do not needo to go into thoe details. [laughter] with a plaque on her statute reads Sarah Winnemucca defender of human rights, educator and author of the first book by a native woman. I hopetu youll Pay Attention to the statue her dresses adorned by fringe it looks as though its flowing in the breeze. That depicts the Forward Movement its really beautiful she holds a shell flour in one hand and a book and the other she is about 35 years old and the statue. It is an honor to see her, to he the children view her. If you can see here, you can be heard and to have a native American Woman to represent the state of nevada here in the capitol so thank you very much. Stop and see her. [applause] titus wesswoman appreciate your words. I had some nice things to say about you but i think lois took care of all of it. I noticed congressman is here, somebody else, kelly is here. Congressman kelly north dakota, thank you very much. You can see i do not have a sheet in front of me. Youve just got to work with me, right . We had this set up so that we would then hear to try to put this all in context our scholar and our experts it makes a lot of sense the scholar would follow congresswoman titus because congresswoman titus for 34 years taught history and politics of nevada in the United States of america. And so today, to put this in context is our favorite art historian who is michelle cohen. Michelle is the curator of the architect onur the capitol. It is her job to make sure all of the art is safe. That we all understand what it is. She comes to us with a fascinating background. She is from new york. She was in charge of the public art for the new york city schools. So doctor michelle cohen. Come tell us how does this all fit together . [applause] okay. I have really enjoyed listening to everybody. I do not know if ill be quite as amusing. [laughter] but i will try. Lets get our first slight upward i can fill in some of the blanks by showing you some pictures so you could actually see some of the statues that we are talking about. So again thank you jane and the u. S. Capitol Historical Society for inviting me too participate in todays events. I also am pleased to highlight women both as subjects and some of the artists represented at and transNational Statuary hall nocollection. So its here and now its not. [laughter] will see pictures now when doctor cohen is done we have virtual remarks them are going to see the actual statues himself und leadership of former congresswoman sherry. Is jane referenced earlier we are all very familiar with the statue of freedom. Nineteenth century women depicted were primarily symbolic figures. The most widely known as the statue of freedom atop the capitol dome. Sculpted by thomas Karl Crawford hoisted into place in 1863, she is both icon and inspiraon. Consistent with centuries of depictions of women in western art, she is an allegory giving form to a National Aspiration not a specific person. However with increasing prominence of women and artistic social and political arenas i think might numbers are correct so today in congress wonder 53 of 540 voting and nonvoting members are women. There is a growing number of u. S. Capitol sculptures and paintings that honor individual women who have shaped American History. Now just a little background about the National Statuary hall collection. I was in 1864 at remarkably before the end of theil war. In the final legislation that established this collection the word persons was substituted for the word of men but it was not until 190 5a statue of woman entered the collection we have heard about that its Frances Willard. So today, 11 of 100 statues in this collection celebrate women per we heard otherer statisticsi think it was really about all sculpture in the building of the century hall collection itself. We are over 10 of women at this point in the statuary hall collection. Then, and the year 2000 Congress Passed legislation to permit states toce statu and of course this speaks to the need forur thinking about who ae our heroes . Do we want to represent us . To date there are 11 replacements on view but there quite a few in the pipeline. There are in fact four in the pipeline are of women. So just a little preview of who is coming. Arkansas commissioned daisy is a civil rights activist publishers journalist and lecturer. Nebraska commissioned author, from utah were going to get martha cannon utah state senator, and from virginia barbara rose civil rights leader. The first statue that was unveiled in the collection dates to 1870. You can see that on the left. The hundred statute to complete this which we got into thousand five. Statutes commemorate five centuriess of American History from the early colonial era to the 20th century from revolutionary war figures to astronauts. Interestingly enough some the earliest statues honoring women are associated with western states. Currently four of the statues that honor women are also by women artists. Joy and florence rep in colorado. Helen farnsworth to the near willard in 190 live from illinois. Jeannette rankin montana statue that was brought in 1985 the most recent and that was just unveiled in 2022. This is just going to be a very quick visual introduction to who the people were and what the statues look like. Here we have Frances Willard. You can see the marble thats another important fact about the statuary hall collection. Sculptures have to be bronze or marble. The parameters of the legislation do not encourage a lot of created expression in that regard youre seeing a more traditional approach to commemoration. This is the very first went Frances Willard for the artist is quite interesting Helen Farnsworth mirrors was a student he did the sherman monument in new york city some of the leading american sculptors of the 19th century. The other interesting fact about this is womens clubs are behind sponsoring it. Thats another way to look at thecollection is look at history of patronage and understand what groups were really interested in having sculptures of particular individuals. There are quite a few instances in the earlier part of the collection plate was womens clubs who made a difference and got a lot of these things commission. Several decades pass before Minnesota Commission this statue educator, where the first female College Professors in the country. Here we have doctor Florence Sabin from colorado a pioneer for women in science the first woman to hold a full professorship at John Hopkins School of medicine first woman elected to the national academya of sciences a first woman to head a department at the Rockefeller Institute for medical research. Joint you can see your portrait there created i would say a more contemporary rendering of her figure its much more impressionistic than some of the other brown so she will see in the collection. You can feel the artist touch the artist hand when you look at the service of the statue. Here we have Esther Hobart smith. Comingust a yearr later. From wyoming. As we learned earlier shes the first woman justice i think in the entire country United States as well as a very active devoted suffragists. Heres 20 years after that. Quite a lot ofee space of time thats happening between these commissions. They come in clumps 20 years later washington chose the architecture and humanitarian joseph to be one o their representatives. She is in the bit the visitor center. Here we have jeannettee rankin eight known celebrated as a pacifist in the first woman elected to the house of representatives coming from montana. Now what you are seeing is not a sculpture that datesf 2003. It waswh a cast was made with te state women to use thio represent them. The original is in bismarck, nort dakota that dates to 191 a lot of discussion about cepting this into the e,collection because the law basically indicates its a single figure. Because it is a mother with a made. An exception was it promoted it interesting internal discussion whether or not it was going to be permitted. As we learn t northern author activist lecturer and educator unveiled in 2000 live from nevada. And then alabama replaced one of their statues with helen keller in009. Ofoue helen keller known as an author, disability rights activist,re political activist d lecturer. And now are coming to more recentimes last summer theres a lot of activity. Emily ehrhat was unveile she is an aviation pioneer author, activist the first female to fly solo across the lantic. And then we have our statue of mary mccloud bassoon. Its also created who has the distinction of being the first artist o puerto rican descent to sculpt the statue for the National Statuary hall collection. Just to give us a little closer look of one of these pieces are thought to be interesting to look. Like most artists working on a portraitmm they want to immerse themselves in their subject. Comer stood that and she tried to learn as much as she could she studied her biography, or wring, or photographs, visited her home in daytona beach. Interestingly enough she also wanted to hear her voice. She listened intently to nurous recordings of her speeches. She said that boys really influence her conception of it and suggested qualities of confidence, gentleness and directness. You can see thes head is tilted down as if shes speaking directly to a child. The Walking Stick in the center refers to the relatnship with president roosevelt. Eleanor roosevelt gave it to her after the president s death. The black rose refers to the black velvet rose the students were growing in a swiss guard gardenshe saw intermingled withs of many colors this inspired reflections on diversity, individuality and peaceful interracial growth. She came to refer to her students as black roses. That was also very symbolic. The last part of which have legal see on your tour most marbles need to have a tripod structure for them to stand essentially. These books serve a structural purpose but they also contain meeting. They are distillation of text from peace of writing something to shoot wrote as her last will and testament. She wrote this as reflections for the end of her life. The top book reads i leave you, i leave you love, hope, faith, a thirst for education, racial dignity, courage, and peace. And just quickly to give you a ngbetter understanding of the statue and assess recall in the context of other art in the capitol we had talked about the fact to do sculptures have been commissioned. And i want to show you very briefly the johnson portrait monument and Susan B Anthony which was presentedna in 1921 by y the National Womens party to mark the ratification of the 19th amendment. It is a ver interesting history it was in the crypt and then it was brought back to the rotunda some of you may be familiar with that. We have artist the apple abbott abolitionist and women rights advocate and this was unveiled and emancipation hall in 2009. And letswe see, one more. Oops went too far. Rosa parks Congress Passed gislation to commission the statute of civil rights activist rosa parks unveiled3 in 2013 ad statuary hall its the only statueon in that hall that was t commissioned by estates. When they come through the building they do not distinguish was commissioned by congress, what was commissioned by state. And now i want to introduce you to a n app iorked over the Capitol Visitors Center to disseminate the stories of figure celebra a tt collection more widely you can download this on your smart phone is called who are the people. You can pje the stae on your living room floor. And then you can click on these various icons or various highlighted parts of it to un reveal a lot of meaning and contextualize these sculptures learn more about the subject i recorded an audio looking at it as artwork. It is a wonderful way to understand a public art and to share that with young people. A lot of young kids enjoy this approach. Statues of women and the. S capitol on that hint at the range of womens achievement i the United States they represent educators, scientists, authors, politicians and civils acti unlike many o the men depicted in marble bronze these women are often the first women to obtain recognition in their respective fields. I would say this is only the beginning. Thank you. [applause] asked and now you know why i told you she was a star scholar. Thank you so much doctor cohen for those words and that inspiration. It is a gift to the capitol to have you with us. We are going to hear from senator Amy Klobuchar who could not be with us tonight that has been with us on many occasions and has made it possible for us to move forward. So as soon as the Technology Allows that to happen. We will tell you center klobuchar also is the first woman to represent her home state of minnesota in the United States senate. He she chairs the rules committee. She is a passionate advocate for justice and here she is. So let us hear from center klobuchar and then im going to give you the instructions on tour. Societys women of National Statuary hall program. Id like to thank my friend Jane Campbell for your tremendous leadership as president and ceo of the us. C h s. Id also like to recognize of the other great Women Leaders involved in this. My friend congresswoman Debbie Wasserman schultz, Congress Woman laurel lee, and former congresswoman cheri bustos. And of course, the curator for the architect of the capitol, dr. Michele cohen, thank you all for coming together to celebrate womens History Month and for your efforts to fully recognize the contributions of in our nations capital. Know that women have shaped every chapter of our nations history as flag makers and Freedom Fighters sold years and suffragists, engineers and educators, women made america, america the made America America the capitalists full of statues that depict so many people that shaped our republic. Sixteen were represented and 11 of the 100 statues within the hall feature women. Among those 11 of course is a statue honoring murray of stanford a 19th century professor at the university of minnesota soda who was one of the first to work as a professor and Mary Mcleod Bethune a civil rights activist to became the first africanamerican to be honored at statuary hall with a Commission Statute from the state of florida. Those numbers make me think of a time that i was on kevin noahs show a few years ago. I told him in the history of the senate weve had nearly 2,000 men and about 50 women. But we are not shutting anything down the least of all the capital. In fact we are focused on opening things up. As chair of the Senate Rules Committee with senator fischer as the Ranking Member, i am working to ensure the womens contributions to the country are reflected in the halls. Thats why i worked across the aisle with senators borkowski, collins and cinema to passedme legislation for statute of the former Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day Oconnor noncapital grounds. Opening doors for women at a time when so many insisted on keeping them closed. Itsar only fitting that we honr the remarkable lives and legacies by honoring them in the hearts of our democracy. And we shouldnt stop with statutes. Until a few years ago there wasnt a single room in the u. S. Capital named after a woman. So i worked with my friend of former senator blunt to name a room in honor of Barbara Mikulski the longestserving woman senator rand Margaret Smith the first woman elected to both houses of congress. One was a democrat. Women like Shirley Chisholm the first woman and black woman elected to the house of representatives as well as so many other women who broke down barriers. Maisieth hirono, my friend one f my favorites is a photo of staff in the u. S. Senate who many years ago decades ago desegregated the Senate Cafeteria and they are so proud standing in front of the capital. This is about sok much more than changing the artwork in the building. When i walk around the capital i see little girls visiting with their family and schools by showing them the role of women in the country perhaps we are sending the message women have a place in our future. That isr what you are doing by your interest in the event. Thank you for inviting me to share a few words with all of you and for putting this program together. Klobuchar. U, senator [applause] history is always unfolding and we are always learning more and so there will always be a role for the capital historic society. Thank you for your support. These kind of events you see me and think didnt she do a lovely job. Guess what, theres a gentleman behindthescenes whod been the event coordinator, sam holiday. We thank you and the entire staff of the capital Historical Society team effort. Now we get to do a really fun thing which is go see statues and the way it works we get to go see the statues because we have former congressman with us to help lead the effort. Stand up so everybody sees the leader. We will be accompanied by vincent who is the lead organizer and jim ramsey over there in the back. I will be with you as well to keep everybodydy on. If you want to join us we would be honored to have you. If you have to go do Something Else we will understand. Ever so grateful to you, for all of you. Thank you for believing and keeping history alive. Be well