Willa Cather Statue to be Unveiled in National Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol
Willa Cather Statue to be Unveiled in National Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol
The Willa Cather National Statuary Hall Selection Committee is pleased to announce that Willa Cather’s bronze sculpture by artist Littleton Alston will be dedicated and unveiled for the first time in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, June 7, at 11:00 a.m. ET.
Cather will be the first Pulitzer Prize winner and the twelfth woman represented in the National Statuary Hall Collection. She joins Ponca Chief Standing Bear, installed in 2019, as one of two new sculptures that represent Nebraska. The installation ceremony will occur exactly six months before her 150th birthday on December 7, an event being celebrated throughout the year and across the country. The occasion also comes in the centenary year of her Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours.
The public is invited to watch the dedication ceremony at 10:00 a.m. CT with live viewing parties at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln and at the National Willa Cather Center’s Opera House in Red Cloud. These are free events and open to all. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the website of the Speaker of the House.
Following the livestream at the Nebraska History Museum, Dr. Nathan Tye from the University of Nebraska at Kearney will speak on "Willa Cather as a Nebraskan." In Red Cloud, guided tours of Cather historic sites will be offered at 11:00 a.m., and 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.
