Bill would be first step to adding new, inclusive statues to exterior of state Capitol

In the continuing controversy over a nowstalled plan to remove the statue of a 17th century army officer from the exterior of the State Capitol building, legislative leaders have highlighted the need to consider new historic figures for inclusion among the empty thirdfloor niches along with immortal figures, including Gov. Ella T. Grasso and the all-white, allmale Colonial state founders.

A bill that recently advanced from a legislative committee, not without controversy of its own, is aimed at creating a formal process for identifying and commissioning new statues to celebrate Connecticut’s diversity through the existing, appointed State Capitol Preservation and Restoration Commission, which meets quarterly and is involved in an advisory capacity on the estimated $54 million renovation of the High Victorian Gothic-style granite and marble 1878 landmark.

The bill passed the Government Administration and Elections Committee in a 14-5 vote, with the most-vocal opposition from conservative state Sen. Rob Sampson of Wolcott, who also criticized the current political makeup of the restoration commission because the appointees are dominated by Democrats.

“Certainly, I’m not opposed to diversity,” Sampson said. “I can also recognize the desire to maybe update the appearance of our Capitol that is more in keeping with our society currently.” He noted that many of the statues were commissioned at a time “when things were not fair.”

But he argued that as currently written, the legislation would essentially create a system of reverse discrimination.

“What this policy says, by requiring that the statues be added to the exterior of the State Capitol building reflecting the diversity of the state, is suggesting that new statues ought to be selected by paying attention to people’s race and gender,” Sampson said. “That’s how we got into this problem. I don’t want to perpetuate it. I believe that language becomes very dangerously close to a quota, which we know from federal debates, Supreme Court decisions and so forth certainly about other types of policies, are not constitutional.”

State Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford, cochairman of the GAE committee, disagreed on the issue of statue quotas.

“I read this as only creating a process for identifying and commissioning additional statues,” he said. “It’s a basic value, in addition to memorializing exemplary and meritorious people, that we should also reflect the diversity of our state in those memorializations. I think it matters to individuals who walk through our halls, who see what statements we’re making about who we consider exemplary to memorialize. It provides inspiration to individuals. It makes people feel seen.”

The legislation, which next heads to the House of Representatives, would also create a new State Historical Commission within the executive branch, made up of scholars from the state’s colleges and universities, with the goal of examining commemorations and statuary, and make recommendations to the preservation panel.

During a recent public hearing on the proposal, Daniel Menihan Jr., a member of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council, said the state’s tribal nations hope to have membership on the proposed historical commission.

“By improving the State Capitol Preservation and Restoration Commission’s mission to plan for more diverse statuary, and establishing a scholarly commission to examine all three branches of government’s existing commemorations, we honor our rich and complex past,” Menihan said in recent testimony to the Government Administration & Elections Committee.

Menihan said tribal leaders are still hopeful that that the marble statue of Capt. John Mason, who led the massacre of hundreds of Pequots in the Mystic section of Groton in 1637, will eventually be removed from the niche overlooking Bushnell Park, where it has stood since 1909. While it was budgeted for removal in recent years, a cost overrun brought the issue to a little-known committee of legislative leaders, where Republicans opposed the plan.