View source for Statue of Freedom

{{Short description|Sculpture by Thomas Crawford on top of the US Capitol}}
{{Distinguish|Statue of Liberty}}
{{Use American English|date = September 2019}}{{Use mdy dates|date = September 2019}}
{{Infobox artwork
| title              = Statue of Freedom
| image              = Statue of Freedom, Washington, D.C.jpg
| image_upright      = .8
| alt                = 
| caption            = ''Statue of Freedom'' (model, 1854–1857; cast 1860–1862)
| artist             = [[Thomas Crawford (sculptor)|Thomas Crawford]]
| height_metric      =  5.9
| width_metric       = 
| length_metric      = 
| diameter_metric    = 
| height_imperial    =  19.5
| width_imperial     = 
| length_imperial    = 
| diameter_imperial  = 
| dimensions         = 
| dimensions_ref     = 
| metric_unit        = m
| imperial_unit      = ft
| weight             = 15,000 pounds (6,800 kg)
| designation        = 
| condition          = 
| museum             = 
| city               = [[Washington, D.C.]]
| coordinates        = {{coord|38|53|23.4|N|77|00|32.6|W|type:landmark_region:US-DC|display=inline,title}}
}}

The '''''Statue of Freedom''''', also known as '''''Armed Freedom''''' or simply '''''Freedom''''', is a [[bronze]] [[statue]] designed by [[Thomas Crawford (sculptor)|Thomas Crawford]] that, since 1863, has crowned the [[United States Capitol dome]]. Originally named '''''Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace''''', a U.S. government publication now states that the statue "is officially known as the ''Statue of Freedom''."<ref>{{Cite book |last=United States. Architect of the Capitol. cn |url=http://archive.org/details/compilationofwor00unit |title=Compilation of works of art and other objects in the United States Capitol |date=1965 |publisher=Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off. |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> The statue depicts a female figure bearing a military helmet and holding a sheathed sword in her right hand and a laurel wreath and shield in her left.<ref name="visit">{{cite web |url=https://www.aoc.gov/art/other-statues/statue-freedom |title=The Statue of Freedom |website=Architect of the Capitol}}</ref>

==Description==
The ''Statue of Freedom'' is a colossal [[bronze]] figure standing {{cvt|19+1/2 |ft|m}} tall and weighing approximately 15,000 pounds (6,800&nbsp;kg). Her crest peaks at 288 feet (88 m) above the east front plaza of the U.S. Capitol.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statue of Freedom |publisher=Architect of the Capitol |access-date= 2009-08-23 |url=http://www.aoc.gov/capitol-hill/other-statues/statue-freedom}}</ref> She is an [[allegory|allegorical]] figure whose right hand holds the hilt of a sheathed sword, while a [[laurel wreath]] of victory and the Shield of the [[United States]] are clasped in her left hand. Her [[Chiton (costume)|chiton]] is secured by a brooch inscribed "U.S." and is partially covered by a heavy, [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]]–style fringed blanket thrown over her left shoulder. She faces east<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aoc.gov/aoc/frequently-asked-questionnaire |title=Capitol Hill Facts &#124; Architect of the Capitol &#124; U.S. Capitol Building |publisher=Aoc.gov |access-date=2013-11-02 |archive-date=February 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229081416/https://www.aoc.gov/aoc/frequently-asked-questionnaire |url-status=dead }}</ref> toward the main entrance of the building and the [[sunrise|rising]] Sun.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aoc.gov/aoc/frequently-asked-questions.cfm#CP_JUMP_8208 |title=Architect of the Capitol Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=Architect of the Capitol |access-date = 2009-01-21}}</ref> She wears a military helmet adorned with stars and an eagle's head which is itself crowned by an umbrella-like crest of feathers. Although not actually called {{nobr|"[[Columbia (name)|Columbia]]"}}, she shares many of her iconic characteristics.<ref name="hail-columbia">{{Cite web|url=https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/statue-freedom|title=Statue of Freedom &#124; Architect of the Capitol|website=aoc.gov}}</ref><ref name="columbia-literata">{{cite web |url=http://www.orderwhitemoon.org/goddess/Columbia%20Level%203%20Project.htm |title=Columbia |publisher=The Order of the White Moon Goddess Gallery |year=2011 |access-date= February 2, 2013 |author=Literata |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121024080034/http://orderwhitemoon.org/goddess/Columbia%20Level%203%20Project.htm |archive-date= October 24, 2012}}</ref> ''Freedom'' stands atop a cast-iron globe encircled with one of the national mottoes, ''[[E pluribus unum]]''. The lower part of the base is decorated with [[fasces]] and wreaths. Ten spikes are attached to her headdress, shoulders and shield to deter birds from roosting. The statue conducts lightning to its base where it is grounded by thick copper wire connected to a spike in the earth as a safe high current pathway for lightning strikes.

==History==

===Design===
[[File:Statue of Freedom on top of The Capitals rotunda.jpg|thumb|Statue on top of [[United States Capitol dome|The Capitol building's dome]] (2023)]]
[[File:Capitol dome lantern Washington.jpg|alt=Statue of Freedom (2007)|thumb|Statue of Freedom, United States Capitol Building (2007)]]
A monumental statue for the top of the national Capitol appeared in architect [[Thomas U. Walter]]'s original drawing for the new cast-iron dome, which was authorized in 1855. Walter's drawing showed the outline of a statue representing the [[Liberty (goddess)|Goddess of Liberty]]; Crawford proposed instead an allegorical figure of ''Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace''. In doing so, Crawford invoked the goddesses [[Minerva]], [[Bellona (goddess)|Bellona]], or [[Athena]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://picturinghistory.gc.cuny.edu/thomas-crawford-statue-of-freedom-1855-63/|title=Picturing US History - Thomas Crawford, Statue of Freedom, 1855-63|website=picturinghistory.gc.cuny.edu}}</ref><ref name="hail-columbia"/>

Crawford was commissioned to design ''Freedom'' in 1854 and executed the plaster model for the statue in his studio in [[Rome]], [[Italy]]. [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] and [[United States Secretary of War|U.S. Secretary of War]] [[Jefferson Davis]] (who would later become President of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]) was in charge of the Capitol construction and its decorations. According to [[David Hackett Fischer]] in his book ''Liberty and Freedom'', Crawford's statue was... {{blockquote|...very close to Jefferson Davis’s ideas in every way but one.... Above the crown he [had] added a [[Phrygian cap|liberty cap]], the old Roman symbol of an emancipated slave. It seemed a direct affront to a militant slaveholder, and Jefferson Davis exploded with rage. The northern sculptor and the southern slaveholder had already clashed over a liberty cap in the interior decoration of the Capitol.<ref>Fischer, David Hackett (2005), ''Liberty and Freedom'', [[Oxford University Press]], p. 299.</ref>}} Davis sent his aide, Captain [[Montgomery C. Meigs (1816–1892)|Montgomery Meigs]], with orders to remove the cap, saying that "its history renders it inappropriate to a people who were born free and would not be enslaved".<ref>Meigs to Crawford, cited in Fryd, Vivien Green (1992), ''Art and Empire: The Politics of Ethnicity in the United States Capitol'', 1815–1860, [[New Haven, Connecticut]]: [[Yale University Press]].</ref> A military helmet, with an [[Bald eagle|American eagle]] head and crest of feathers, replaced the cap in the sculpture's final version. (Today many casual observers take the statue, with its eagle and feathers, to be a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]].<ref>{{cite web |date=2009-01-16 |url=http://www-tc.pbs.org/newshour/rss/media/2009/01/16/20090116_slaves.mp3 |title=PBS NewsHour on Jan 16, 2009 |access-date= 2013-12-05 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130330112156/http://www-tc.pbs.org/newshour/rss/media/2009/01/16/20090116_slaves.mp3 |archive-date= March 30, 2013}}</ref>)

===Execution===
Crawford died in 1857 before the full-size plaster model left his studio. The model, packed into six crates, was shipped from [[Italy]] in a small sailing vessel in the spring of 1858. During the voyage, the ship began to leak and stopped in [[Gibraltar]] for repairs. After leaving Gibraltar, the ship began leaking again to the point that it could go no farther than [[Bermuda]], where the model was stored until other transportation could be arranged. Half of the crates finally arrived in [[New York City]] in December, but all sections were not in Washington, D.C., until late March 1859.

Beginning in 1860, the statue was cast in five main sections by [[Clark Mills (sculptor)|Clark Mills]], whose bronze foundry was located on the outskirts of Washington. Work was halted in 1861 because of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], but by the end of 1862, the statue was finished and temporarily displayed on the Capitol grounds. The cost of the statue, exclusive of installation, was $23,796.82.

While ''Freedom'' was being cast at Mills' foundry, the foreman in charge of the casting went on strike. Instead of paying him the higher wages he demanded, Mills turned the project over to [[Philip Reid]], one of the [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]] working at the facility. Reid presided over the rest of the casting and assembly of the figure.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aoc.gov/philip-reid-and-statue-freedom |title=Philip Reid and the Statue of Freedom |website=Architect of the Capitol}}</ref> Late in 1863, construction of the dome was sufficiently advanced for the installation of the statue, which was hoisted by former slaves (freed by the [[District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act|Compensated Emancipation Act]] in 1862) in sections and assembled atop the cast-iron pedestal. The final section, the figure's head and shoulders, was raised on December 2, 1863, to a salute of 35 guns answered by the guns of the 12 forts around Washington, D.C.<ref>Gale, Robert L. ''Thomas Crawford: American Sculptor''. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, 1964, p. 190.</ref>

===Restoration===
[[Image:Washington DC Freedom statue May 1993.jpg|thumb|The ''Statue of Freedom'' was removed from the dome for five months in 1993.]]
[[File:Bill Clinton speaking on the Statue of Freedom.jpg|thumb|President [[Bill Clinton]] during the ceremony for the returning of the ''Statue of Freedom'' to the top of the Capitol]]
On May 9, 1993, after being in place almost 130 years, the statue was brought down from its pedestal by [[helicopter]] for restoration, giving tourists a rare chance to see the statue up close. The work was needed because of extensive pitting and corrosion on the surface of the bronze and because of a crack and rusting on the cast-iron pedestal. The [[United States Capitol Preservation Commission]] provided the $780,000 in privately raised funds. The work was performed by New Arts Foundry of Baltimore, Maryland.

The cast-iron pedestal was restored in place atop the dome. The metal was stripped of paint, and the wreaths and fasces were removed to ensure that they were thoroughly cleaned and coated. The crack was permanently repaired, and the entire pedestal was primed and painted with a color specially mixed to match the statue.

[[File:Emancipation-Hall 1.jpg |thumb|left|''Statue of Freedom'''s plaster model in the [[Capitol Visitor Center]]]]
Restoration of the statue and the pedestal was completed in approximately four months. The ''Statue of Freedom'' was returned to its pedestal by helicopter on October 23, 1993, amid the celebration of the [[wikt:bicentennial|bicentennial]] of the U.S. Capitol. Since then, every 2–3 years, the statue undergoes two weeks of cleaning and recoating as necessary.

The plaster model of the statue, in storage for 25 years, was reassembled and restored in the basement rotunda of the [[Russell Senate Office Building]], where it was returned to permanent public display in January 1993. The plaster model was relocated to the Emancipation Hall of the [[United States Capitol Visitor Center|Capitol Visitor Center]], which provides more visitors access to look at the statue's details.<ref>{{cite press release |title=AOC To Begin Move of Statue of Freedom Model into Capitol Visitor Center |publisher=[[Architect of the Capitol]] |date=2008-06-02 |url=http://www.aoc.gov/aoc/press-room/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=34449 |access-date= 2008-11-10 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090602211413/http://www.aoc.gov/aoc/press-room/loader.cfm?csModule=security%2Fgetfile&pageid=34449 |archive-date= 2009-06-02}}</ref>
{{-}}

==Use of ''Freedom''<nowiki/>'s image==
[[File:Statue of Freedom Plaster Model Close-up (8445824520).jpg|thumb|Face of the Statue of Freedom]]
The well-known ''Statue of Freedom'' has appeared on several official designs, akin to the [[Statue of Liberty]]. The head of the statue is depicted on a postage stamp (1923, USA [[scott catalogue|Scott No.]] 573), which was re-issued in 2006. The entire statue is depicted on a stamp commemorating the 150th anniversary of Washington, D.C. (1950, USA Scott No. 989).

Two 1989 [[United States Congress Bicentennial commemorative coins]] feature the Statue, the half-dollar and the silver dollar.

It can also be found on the obverse of the [[Medal of Freedom (1945)]] and the reverse of the [[Iraq Campaign Medal]], awarded to members of the U.S. military deployed to [[Iraq]] during the [[Iraq War]]. The [[Secretary of Defense Medal for the Global War on Terrorism]] also depicts the statue on the [[Obverse and reverse|obverse]] of the medal.

<gallery>
File:US-$5-LT-1862-Fr-61a.jpg|Series 1862 $5-note
File:USA-1923-ScottUSA573.jpg|U.S. $5 postage, 1923
File:Medaloffreedom.jpg|Medal of Freedom, 1945
File:1989 US Congress Bicentennial Silver Dollar Obverse and Reverse.jpg|[[United States Congress Bicentennial commemorative coins|U.S. Congress Bicentennial silver dollar]], 1989
<!-- Deleted image removed: File:GWOTCIVMDL.jpg|Global War on Terrorism Civilian Service Medal, 2003. -->
File:Iraq_Campaign_Medal.png|Iraq Campaign Medal, 2004
File:Secretary_of_Defense_Medal_for_the_Global_War_on_Terrorism_(obverse).png|Secretary of Defense Medal for the Global War on Terrorism, 2007
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[List of public art in Washington, D.C., Ward 6]]
*[[Statue of Liberty]] (''Liberty Enlightening the World''), 1886 statue by [[Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi]] in New York City
*''[[Goddess of Liberty (Texas State Capitol)|Goddess of Liberty]]'', a similar 1888 statue by [[Elijah E. Myers]] atop the [[Texas State Capitol]] dome, in [[Austin, Texas]] 
*''[[Miss Freedom]]'', a similar 1889 statue on the dome of the Georgia State Capitol (US)

==References==
*{{Include-USGov|agency=Architect of the Capitol |url=http://www.aoc.gov/capitol-hill/other-statues/statue-freedom}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Statue of Freedom (United States Capitol)}}
*[http://www.aoc.gov/capitol-hill/other-statues/statue-freedom Aoc.gov: The ''Statue of Freedom'' webpage]—by the Architect of the Capitol.

{{Thomas Crawford}}
{{United States Capitol Complex}}
{{Public art in Washington, D.C.}}
{{United States Congress}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Statue Of Freedom}}
[[Category:United States Capitol statues]]
[[Category:United States Capitol grounds]]
[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:1862 sculptures]]
[[Category:Bronze sculptures in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Colossal statues in the United States]]
[[Category:Neoclassical sculptures]]
[[Category:Sculptures of women in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Allegorical sculptures in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Liberty symbols]]
[[Category:Finial figures]]
[[Category:Sculptures of birds in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Sculptures of eagles in the United States]]
[[Category:Bellona (goddess)]]
[[Category:Minerva]]
[[Category:Jefferson Davis]]