Rosa Parks Statue to be Added to the Capitol

This is refreshing news…

Rosa Parks, the civil rights leader, will become the first African-American woman to have her likeness depicted in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall when a statue of her is installed later this year, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in an interview Thursday.

Statuary Hall is ordinarily reserved for full-size statues from the states; each state sends two statues of its choosing to be put on display. The likeness of Ms. Parks was authorized by a special act of Congress in 2005; it represents the first commission by Congress for a full-size statue since the 1870s, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, which oversaw the design competition for the statue.

By dint of his job as chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, Mr. Schumer oversees artwork in the Capitol. He is also running preparations for President Obama’s inaugural ceremony at the Capitol on Monday, including the Congressional luncheon in Statuary Hall — events that take place, coincidentally, on the holiday commemorating the birth of another civil rights leader, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“The theme involves slavery and civil rights,’’ Mr. Schumer said. “This will be the last time that we have the luncheon in Statuary Hall where Rosa Parks will not be there.’’