The Florida Legislature approved a measure to replace a statue of a Confederate general with one of a civil rights leader in the U.S. Capitol Building Tuesday.
- Florida House passed bill 111-1
- Bill replaces Confederate general with Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune
- Statue would be in National Statuary Hall Collection
The Florida House approved a bill to replace the statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall with one of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.
The vote was 111-1, with Jacksonville-area FL Rep. Jay Fant as the lone vote.
HAPPENING NOW: The Florida Legislature just passed a bill that would replace FL's statue of a Confederate general in the US Capitol Statuary Hall, with one of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune: https://t.co/eJXKFmSzEd pic.twitter.com/30tE4TAIiv
— News 13 (@MyNews13) February 20, 2018
The Senate approved the move last month. Now the bill goes to Gov. Scott.
Dr. Bethune was an education advocate and the founder of Bethune Cookman University in Daytona Beach.
Bethune's statue would be the first honoring an African-American and the 10th honoring a woman.
Each state contributes two statues to the National Statuary Hall Collection. Aside from Smith, Florida's other statue honors physician and inventor John Gorrie, who pioneered ways to cool rooms, as a forerunner of air conditioning and refrigeration.