The Pride of Florida A special commemorative edition of EVOLVE | Page 16

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Journey to S

First Steps
In March of 2016 , Gov . Rick Scott signed a law to replace the statue of Confederate Gen . Edmund Kirby Smith , which had been donated to the U . S . Capitol for display in Statuary Hall in 1922 , with a new “ Great Floridian .”
The search for a new sculpture was conducted by the Florida Department of State , Division of Cultural Affairs , which reviewed 3,587 submissions . The list was narrowed to 130 eligible names , including Mary McLeod Bethune , who received 1,233 votes , easily outpacing the second-place subject which received 447 votes .

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Fundraising Effort
In late 2018 , the Dr . Mary McLeod Bethune Statuary Fund , Inc ., was formed to raise private funds for the statuary project . Nearly 400 individual donors have contributed to the effort .
Statuary Hall
Occupying the space originally used as the chamber for the House of Representatives , the National Statuary Hall was created after Congress invited each of the states to contribute two statues of prominent citizens for permanent display . Initially all of the contributed statues were housed in the space , as the collection grew more space was needed . In 1933 Congress authorized the display of the statues throughout the Capitol . It is one of the most popular rooms in the U . S . Capitol Building , with thousands of visitors passing through every day .
In addition to raising funds for the marble statue which will be placed in National Statuary Hall , the Board expanded the fundraising effort and commissioned a bronze statue of Mary Mcleod Bethune from the same maquette to be displayed in Riverfront Esplanade Park in downtown Daytona Beach , Florida . They broadened their vision and fundraising to include a feature-length documentary and K-12 curriculum module , the sponsorship of five B-CU graduates to perform at the blessing ceremony of the statue in Pietrasanta , Italy and the temporary exhibit of the marble statue in Daytona Beach , Florida prior to the permanent placement in the U . S . Capitol .
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