The Face of Freedom is America and a woman; a woman shaped and fashioned by four men from 1853 to1860. Appointed architect, Thomas U. Walter, Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis and Union brigadier general, Montgomery C. Meigs each added their own influence. But surely it was the sculptor, Thomas Crawford who brought The Statue of Freedom to life. Under his skillful hands and eye, he worked with her persona and some say, her spirit.
Crawford imagined her in three sketches and clay models sent by photography to his commissioners. His first was a classical “poetic vision,” and his last became a synthesis of Minerva, America, Liberty and Freedom officially named The Statue of Freedom in 1862.
Both Jefferson Davis and Montgomery C. Meigs would play significant roles in Thomas Crawford’s creation of the statue that would crown the new U.S. Capitol dome, on December 2, 1863. ~ Author, Katya Miller of Heart of the Nation - Chapter 4: Shaping Freedom’s Identity
Author Kristen Farquhar Photographs By Architect of the Capitol (AOC) Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace - an engraving by Thomas Crawford The Statue of Freedom Article An Appreciation of Thomas Crawford's Statue of Freedom by Katya Miller