By Tim Binnall
A statue celebrating pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart was unveiled in a ceremony held at the United States Capitol on Wednesday. The seven-foot-tall bronze piece joins 99 other depictions of historic American figures within a wing of the building known as Statuary Hall. The 128-year-old chamber features statues honoring two prominent citizens from each state with Kansas now being represented by Earhart, who was born in the community of Atchison, and former president Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Wednesday's ceremony, which reportedly featured a bevy of prominent national politicians as well as the governor of Kansas and the state's entire Congressional delegation, many speakers expressed hope that the Earhart statue can serve as an inspiration for young girls. "Let them stare up at this work of art and think that they, like Amelia, can dream the impossible dream," Kansas governor Laura Kelly declared. Musing on Earhart's place in the pantheon of American icons, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi observed that the aviator "personifies the daring and determined spirit of our nation." This was echoed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who marveled that "in every sense, she occupied rarefied air."
The long-awaited unveiling of the Earhart statue was actually the culmination of a surprisingly lengthy process which began back in 1999 when the Kansas legislature voted to have the pioneering aviator replace former senator John James Ingalls as one of the state's representatives in Statuary Hall. Unfortunately, the funding and creation of the piece depended upon the supporters of the switch, which caused the sculpture's arrival in the Capitol to be delayed by over two decades as all manner of financial and, more importantly, artistic details were painstakingly resolved.
Sculptors George and Mark Lundeen, who were eventually enlisted to create the piece, said in a press release that they studied countless photos and videos of Earhart, while also working with her family to fashion a realistic depiction of the aviator. "We captured her as she often stood, in a gentle breeze, looking toward the sky with a hint of a squint in her eyes, her scarf about to blow over her shoulder... as if she's getting ready to fly," George said. The duo also noted that they hid a proverbial 'Easter egg' in the sculpture in the form of a sunflower, which is the state flower of Kansas, placed on the aviator's belt buckle.