A famous public building features statues of many citizens from around the United States, including Brigham Young and one other Latter-day Saint. Can you name the building and the other person?
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Update: The answer is Philo Farnsworth, a key inventor of the television, whose statue is in the US Capitol’s National Statuary Hall Collection.
The Capitol Rotunda and Philo T. Farnsworth.
Ba-BAM!
Ahh, if only I’d checked earlier in the day…
Anyway, what walker said. I remember it only because the day I took the capitol tour (in 1999) was the day I found out that one of the people who made TV possible was LDS. I’d never heard of him before I saw that statue.
Come on Jeff, let’s get something challenging here… 😉
Here’s one to try on for size:
Which ward in Pennsylvania was founded by Sidney Rigdon *after* he left the Church and the Saints moved West? (It was discovered by the missionaries and re-integrated into the Church decades later)
What small, inconspicuous plaque sits in a meadow in Southwestern Utah, memorializing the massacre of 120 men, women, and children?
“If any miserable scoundrels come here, cut their throats.” BY.
Rochelle,
Is this a trick question? You know you can’t fool us…
(in a whisper) BTW, that quote (found in JOD, vol. 2., 311 in case you were wondering) is taken out of context–but don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone 🙂
Ryan, is it the Fairview Ward?
Walker wins. Philo Farnsworth, the incredible inventor who helped give us something almost as precious as life itself, according to many: the television.
Veritas:
Its oldest name is the “Eastern States Branch” but it’s now the Pittsburgh Second Ward (the one I attend). Sidney Rigdon lived and died inside the ward’s boundaries. If I have my dates right, it was officially “founded” in 1927 (when the missionaries found it).
I’d have to check whether it was ever called Fairview — there’s a plaque in the entryway of the chapel that lists its names over the years, but I don’t know them offhand.
That’s shameful, Rochelle. Either you didn’t take the time to find out what Brigham Young was talking about when he said what you quote, or you’re utterly dishonest.
It’s not the same — Fairview is in southern PA, near where Sidney Ridgon set up a “colony” in Franklin County to await the Second Coming. When it failed to happen on schedule, the colony collapsed (also, they were out of money and got evicted by their landlord for not paying), and Rigdon went back to the Pittsburgh area IIRC.
“Capitol Rotunda” is wrong. It’s the statuary hall, which is the former chamber of the House of Representatives. The statuary collection does continue into some other areas of the Capitol, but to the best of my knowledge neither Brigham Young’s nor Philo Farnsworth’s statue is in the Rotunda.
Roy said:
“That’s shameful, Rochelle. Either you didn’t take the time to find out what Brigham Young was talking about when he said what you quote, or you’re utterly dishonest.”
Rochelle says:
That’s hilarious. As if a supposition is not a wink and a nod! You are gullible. The oldest rhetorical trick in the book. And I also presume you believe old BY had nothing to do with the MMM?
Nice bob and weave, Rochelle! Duly impressed with your razor sharp scholarship (???). Yet I’m still having a hard time seeing how you have provided any credible evidence of anything?
If you feel you have something to add to the table besides trash talk, please make it known. Otherwise, cut the winks and nods–they don’t have a place in honest inquiry.
And I fell victim to a tongue-slip concerning the Rotunda. My zeal consumeth me. Oy vey.
Rochelle, are you seriously trying to convince us that by saying “if I followed the way of these people, I would do this…” President Young was actually saying, “Do this…”? That’s nonsense. What’s worse, you know it’s nonsense. You’ve revealed yourself as a fraud.
My understanding is that Philo Farnsworth wasn’t an active Latter-day Saint. Any info to the contrary?
I was the visiting teacher of a family whose father was a direct descendant of Farnsworth. Their mother is paranoid schizophrenic and eventually lost custody of her children, but they are very proud of their ancestor.
Have not posted here in a long while, sorry for my absence (not that I have been missed…) Just a note about the statues in the Rotunda; the ones actually residing in there are former Presidents. I believe they are the only ones allowed to be there.
It appears that P. T. Farnsworth ended with alcoholism related problems. This biography, shows this problem. So I suspect, lbtugaf, that you are not far off. Yet, in any case, I believe that we should celebrate this man’s invention by… getting ourselves out and read a good book (he would have appreciated it).
http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/index.cfm
Here’s the full list of statues and the location of each one.
My state (Missouri) has a statue of Thomas Hart Benton, one of the causes of problems for the Church in Missouri, if memory serves.
Speaking of Brother Brigham, a movie about the Mountain Meadows Massacre is out.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/movies/22ande.html
It’s actually the The National Statuary Hall Collection in the US Capitol.
See http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/index.cfm.
Yes, the National Statuary Hall Collection is just what it sounds like–the COLLECTION of statues. The BUILDING (which is what Jeff’s original question asks)is the U.S. Capitol, so Walker was essentially correct. But in my persnickety way, I pointed out that Walker’s extra information about the ROOM was wrong. The ROOM where these particular statues are located is the National Statuary Hall, which is the same room where the House of Representatives met until the Capitol was remodeled in the 1860s. The COLLECTION is contained mostly in this room but also in a few other areas of the Capitol.
Hush my mouth–I was wrong. Brigham Young’s statue is the the statuary hall but Farnsworth’s is in a hallway.
As a new member I find that really interesting, it seems like so many people around me condenm the church and it is nice to know that two of the statues are LDS.
Any knowledge of whether other states’ statues feature any Latter-day Saints?
Well I know that one of the statues from Idaho (being the next most populous state for Mormons as far as I know) is of Senator William Borah, who was my mother’s great uncle. He was not LDS, but I know he spoke at Ricks at least once, if not more. I am unaware if there are any other LDS; none of the names in the list pop out at me.
Without any hard statistics at hand, I THINK the state with the largest number of LDS members, after Utah, is probably California. But the state with the largest proportion of members, after Utah, is probably Idaho, as you suggest.