Choosing the best

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2000 | 12:05 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Two statues from nearly every state in the nation adorn the halls of the U.S. Capitol: 96 notable Americans immortalized in marble and bronze for embodying the spirit of their state.

But four states -- Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota and Wyoming -- have only one statue. Nevada sent a 7-foot bronze likeness of Pat McCarran, a former U.S. senator and judge, to Washington in 1960. No one has joined him since.

McCarran stands in the north foyer of the Capitol's National Statuary Hall, greeting tourists from around the world while wearing a judicial robe and a thoughtful expression.

He may be pondering an intriguing question: Which other Nevadan deserves a statue? In a state famous for notable gangsters and gamblers, who measures up?

"Nevada should think about it," state Archivist Guy Rocha said. "We should think about who is worthy. Who truly deserves to be representative of the Nevada experience?"

State lawmakers typically commission statues. Private organizations have taken the lead in some states.

But in Nevada, no one has pushed for a second statue.

"There may just be a lack of understanding about what has to be done," Michael Pieper, Nevada's lobbyist in Washington, said. "It's a fairly intense project. I guess no one has wanted to take the time and the money it takes to do it."

State Senate Majority leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, is in no hurry. Critics balked earlier this year when the Nevada Board of Regents named a new college computer center in Las Vegas in honor of Raggio and his wife, Dorothy. They said it should be named for a Southern Nevadan.

"You'd certainly want some public input," Raggio said about choosing someone for Nevada's statue.

Raggio suggested former U.S. Sens. Paul Laxalt, a Republican, and Key Pittman, a Democrat.

Since 1864 states have been allowed to send two statues to the Capitol. State leaders have agonized over which famous citizens -- presidents, inventors, war heroes -- would best represent them. A 1864 law says those honored must be deceased and "illustrious for their historic renown or for distinguished civic or military services."

The collection has grown to include founding father Samuel Adams of Massachusetts; Texas heroes Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston; Scopes trial prosecutor William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska; Confederate leader Jefferson Davis of Mississippi; King Kamehameha of Hawaii; comedian and performer Will Rogers of Oklahoma; Mormon leader Brigham Young of Utah; and Apollo 13 astronaut Jack Swigert Jr. of Colorado.

And one lonely Nevadan.

Naming another could prove controversial.

"Usually, it's a very political activity in the sense that it is generated by elected officials," Susan Boskoff, Nevada Arts Council director, said.

Boskoff worked for the Utah Arts Council when the state chose its second statue through a poll of school children. They chose Philo Farnsworth, although critics questioned whether he was truly the "father of television."

"It's very hard to pick one representative," Boskoff said.

Jack Finn, spokesman for Gov. Kenny Guinn, said the governor was too busy to offer his thoughts. But other state leaders threw out some names.

"My thought would be to have a symbol -- something that is representative -- of all Nevada women," Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said. "Just to sort of balance it out. One man, one woman."

Del Papa suggested a contest in which artists design a composite of notable Nevada women. The McCarran statue, crafted by Reno artist Yolande Jacobson, stands next to one of only five statues depicting women: Wyoming statehood leader Esther Hobart Morris.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman quickly named his choice.

"Well, if you are looking to attract a crowd, then myself," Goodman joked. "But if you are looking at someone deserving, the list is very long." He named former U.S. Sens. Howard Cannon and Alan Bible and current Sens. Richard Bryan and Harry Reid.

Bryan suggested another Democrat, former Gov. Grant Sawyer, "who in two terms as governor kind of bridged the gaps between the old and the new Nevada."

Few remember exactly how McCarran was chosen in the late 1950s. Lawmakers picked McCarran in 1955; a 1957 law allocated $10,000 for the project, to be matched by private funds. Bible and Cannon introduced resolutions in Congress hailing McCarran as "one of its most eminent citizens, illustrious in the fields of law and government."

McCarran was also a controversial figure. His anti-Communist, anti-radical crusading drew criticism for stepping on citizen rights. The 1950 McCarran Act required Communists to register with the attorney general.

Two long-retired lawmakers in the Nevada Legislature at the time don't recall the statue, but they remember McCarran.

"McCarran was very popular and a very powerful member of the Senate," Wilson McGowan of Carson City said. "He was chairman of the Judiciary committee, and as chairman he was one of the principal people who blocked President (Franklin) Roosevelt from packing the Supreme Court. He was extremely well known nationally."

Former lawmaker Archie Pozzi Jr., a Northern Nevada Republican, added, "(McCarran) was a good guy from Nevada. Of course, he was a Democrat and I'm a Republican. But I'll admit it when I see a good Democrat."

Some suggest the second statue not be a politician at all. Rocha urged state leaders to be creative, also suggesting that minorities and women be given equal consideration.

Rocha points out that it has been 135 years since the first statues were displayed in Washington.

"Wouldn't it be fitting for the millennium that we get a second one?" Rocha said. "I don't want to be the last state (with one)."