Kirkwood statue safe at Capitol, but Borlaug statue may replace Harlan's

Samuel Kirkwood is safe – for now.

However, Civil War-era Sen. James Harlan will lose his spot in the U.S. Capitol if legislation introduced in the Iowa House is adopted by both chambers of the Iowa Legislature.

House Joint Resolution 16 calls for replacing the statue of Harlan in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall Collection with one of Iowa native Norman Borlaug. Borlaug, winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize grew up near Cresco and went on to a world-wide career in plant breeding and was known as the father of the “green revolution.”

Each state may have two statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection. Currently, Iowa has Harlan, who was elected to the Senate as a Free Soiler – a party that opposed the expansion of slavery into western territories. Later, he ran as a Republican. He also served as principal of Iowa City College and president of Iowa Wesleyan University at Mount Pleasant prior to serving in the U.S. Senate. The other statue is of Samuel Kirkwood of Iowa City, who served two terms as governor and was appointed to fill Harlan's unexpired term in the Senate.

Borlaug's achievements in plant breeding are credited with saving of as many as a billion lives, which has led to speculation that he has saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived. Borlaug was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal.

The National Statuary Hall Collection is comprised of statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history. The entire collection now consists of 100 statues contributed by 50 states. All 50 states have contributed two statues each.

House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer, R-Garner, noted Tuesday that the Harlan statue has been in the U.S. Capitol for 101 years and Kirkwood's for 98.

“So we honor them, we are very pleased to have them there,” she said, “but at this point it is not unreasonable to consider bringing one of them home to join us here at the Iowa State Capitol for continued residence and to place another statue in the United States Capitol.”

Sen. Mary Jo Wilhelm, D-Cresco, ran a similar resolution last year that was approved by the Senate. However, the House took no action. She plans on running HJR 16.

House members said they were not aware of any particular reason why they choose to replace the Harlan statue rather than the Kirkwood statue.

Wilhelm said that after reading the biographies of the two men, she thought it was more fitting to keep the Kirkwood statue in the Capitol.

However, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, has two members of his caucus looking at whether the Kirkwood statue should be replaced, too, perhaps by a notable Iowa woman.

Lawmakers are interested in moving the Harlan statue to the Iowa Capitol if the National Statuary Hall will release it. They are looking into the costs associated with the move.

Wilhelm understands all funds for a Borlaug statue as well as cost of moving the Harlan statue would be paid with donations, not tax dollars.

The Harlan statue has stood in the U.S. Capitol's Hall of Statues since 1910. Kirkwood's statue has been in the National Statuary Hall since 1913.

About a decade ago Congress passed a law allowing states to replace the figures in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol Building. But the switch can only be made if a state's legislature and governor approve a resolution endorsing the switch.