'150 years ago today, the statue of Columbia (formally known as Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace) was placed atop the Capitol in Washington. She was acknowledged as Pagan from the very beginning. On May 11, 1855, Meigs, engineer of the Capitol, wrote to artist Crawford commissioning him to create a statue to top the new Dome, writing, “We have too many Washingtons, we have America in the pediment. Victories and Liberties are rather pagan emblems, but a Liberty I fear is the best we can get.”''150 years ago today, the statue of Columbia (formally known as Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace) was placed atop the Capitol in Washington. She was acknowledged as Pagan from the very beginning. On May 11, 1855, Meigs, engineer of the Capitol, wrote to artist Crawford commissioning him to create a statue to top the new Dome, writing, “We have too many Washingtons, we have America in the pediment. Victories and Liberties are rather pagan emblems, but a Liberty I fear is the best we can get.”'
'150 years ago today, the statue of Columbia (formally known as Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace) was placed atop the Capitol in Washington. She was acknowledged as Pagan from the very beginning. On May 11, 1855, Meigs, engineer of the Capitol, wrote to artist Crawford commissioning him to create a statue to top the new Dome, writing, “We have too many Washingtons, we have America in the pediment. Victories and Liberties are rather pagan emblems, but a Liberty I fear is the best we can get.”'