JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A bill introduced this session by Sen. David Blount would give residents a say in which Mississippians are enshrined as statues at the nation’s capital.

Blount recently filed S.B. 2001, which would create a “National Statuary Hall Selection Commission” to study and recommend two new historical figures to be displayed inside Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol Building.

“Mississippi’s two statues are Jefferson Davis and J.Z. George. I don’t think any Mississippian today would say those are the two greatest Mississippians in the long history of our state,” he said. “I’m sure lots of people have a lot of different ideas, and we should open the process so everyone in the state [can] offer suggestions.”

Blount said the measure is modeled off the same process the state used to choose a new state flag several years ago.

The commission would include nine members, with three members each appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house.

According to the legislation, those chosen would include representatives from the Mississippi Economic Council, the Mississippi Arts Commission, and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

If the bill is passed, the commission must be in place by July 15, 2025, with members making its recommendation for two new historical figures for the National Statuary Hall Collection no later than November 30, 2025.

The legislation does not spell out how the commission would choose the individuals to recommend.

The measure has been referred to the Rules Committee.

In 2020, the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag asked for design recommendations from the public and eventually received some 1,800 submissions.

The commission chose the top design from those submissions and the design was decided on by voters the following November.

“It should be an open and public process, where people have a chance to have a say, and the legislature should listen to those recommendations,” Blount said.

According to the Architect of the Capitol, the Statuary Hall collection “was authorized by the United States Congress in 1864 to allow each state to provide two statues of notable citizens for display.”

The collection is overseen by the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress and the Architect of the Capitol “is responsible for the reception, placement, and care of the statues.”

In 2000, lawmakers approved a process for replacing the statues. To request a change, states must submit resolutions approved by the legislature and signed by the governor. The statue being replaced also must have been on display for 10 years at the time the request was made. However, the Joint Committee can waive that requirement at the behest of the state, according to the Architect.

The state is responsible for paying for the new statue and must work with Capitol officials to coordinate efforts to remove the statue being replaced.

Additional guidelines mandate that the statues must be made of marble or bronze, can only represent one individual, rather than a group of people, and must be of individuals who were U.S. citizens who have passed away. Bronze statues and their pedestals cannot weigh more than 5,000 pounds. Marble statues should not weigh more than 10,000.

NBC News reported in 2024, that Arkansas was replacing its two previous sculptures at the Capitol with country music icon Johnny Cash and civil rights leader Daisy Bates. The figures replaced one of former Arkansas Gov. James Clarke and attorney Uriah Rose.

Mississippi’s figures include bronze sculptures of Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, and James Zachariah George, a longtime Mississippi politician who signed the state’s Ordinance of Secession and later served as a member of the state’s 1890 Constitutional Convention, the Capitol’s website states.

Both statues were installed in 1931 and were created by Augustus Lukeman.

Want more WLBT news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please click here to report it and include the headline of the story in your email.

Copyright 2025 WLBT. All rights reserved.