Statue of Mary McLeod Bethune
date: label: Date
content: 2020
name: label: Created by
content: Nilda Maria Comas, Puerto Rican, born 1953
label: Subject of
content: Mary McLeod Bethune, American, 1875 - 1955
notes: label: Caption
content: On July 13, 2022, a marble sculpture of Mary McLeod Bethune was installed in National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol, one of two figures chosen to represent the state of Florida. Bethune is the first African American, and the second woman, to be honored with a state-commissioned statue in the hall. The Florida Legislature selected Bethune to replace a statue of a Confederate general.
label: Caption
content: This is the original plaster model created by artist Nilda Comas, who won the commission to create the sculpture of Bethune. She used this plaster model to sculpt the final version in marble.
label: Description
content: A plaster statue of Mary McLeod Bethune. Bethune is depicted standing, with a smiling expression on her face. She wears a graduation cap, stole and gown, which she wears open over a ruffled shirt and smooth skirt, along with heeled shoes, and a pearl necklace and earrings. Bethune rests her right hand on a cane with carved decorative motifs including a lizard climbing up the bottom half. In her left hand, she holds a rose that is painted black. The back hem of her graduation gown rests upon a stack of seven books. This plaster statue is a model used to create the marble statue in the National Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol and there are multiple machinetta points on each side of the statue created by nails and plaster that were used as part of the replication process.
place: label: Place depicted
content: United States, North and Central America
label: Place made
content: Italy, Europe
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Activism
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Civil Rights
label: Topic
content: Education
label: Topic
content: Suffrage
label: Topic
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
label: Movement
content: Women's Club Movement
label: Exhibition
content: Forces for Change: Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women's Activism
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Community/Third Floor, 3 050
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Nilda Maria Comas
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: SC.0092
objectType: label: Type
content: casts
label: Type
content: multimedia works
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Nilda Comas
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: plaster with acrylic paint and metal
label: Dimensions
content: Statue: H x W x D: 96 × 40 1/2 × 36 1/2 in. (243.8 × 102.9 × 92.7 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: Base of Statue: H x W x D: 3 × 24 1/2 × 25 1/2 in. (7.6 × 62.2 × 64.8 cm)