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Each state honors two residents with statues in the U.S. Capitol. Washington will replace pioneer Marcus Whitman’s. By Laurel Demkovich, The Spokesman-Review
Published: April 19, 2021, 6:00am
Share: In this photo taken Thursday, April 21, 2016, a statue of Marcus Whitman stands on city property just outside the Whitman College campus, in Walla Walla, Wash. Whitman College, a private, liberal arts school, has dumped its long-time mascot. Whitman teams will no longer be called the Missionaries, which was a reference Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, missionaries who came to the Walla Walla Valley in 1836 and were massacred a decade later. (Tom Skeen/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin via AP)
Gov. Inslee signs bill to put statue of tribal rights activist Billy Frank Jr. at U.S. Capitol April 17, 2021 at 6:52 am
Members of Billy Frank Jr. s family, Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, Rep. Debra Lekanoff, and Gov. Inslee at a signing ceremony of a bill to authorize a statue the tribal rights activist to be placed in the National Statuary Hall. (Photo courtesy of LtGovDennyHeck/Twitter)
Members of Billy Frank Jr.’s family were with Governor Jay Inslee earlier this week when he signed a bill authorizing a statue in the nation’s Capitol to honor the tribal rights activist.
NWIFC, 2007/Glenn Drosendahl
In a time of reckoning about historical monuments, Washington state lawmakers found a bipartisan path to change out a prominent statue. A bill signed by Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday begins the process of putting a statue of the late tribal treaty rights activist Billy Frank Jr. in the U.S. Capitol.
The Frank statue would replace one of Oregon Trail pioneer Marcus Whitman. The larger-than-life bronze of Whitman has stood in the U.S. Capitol s Statuary Hall for nearly 70 years.
Each state is allowed to represent itself on Capitol Hill by contributing two bronze or marble historical figures to the national statuary collection.