Arizona lawmakers call for Goldwater’s return to U.S. Capitol
May 6th, 2008, 4:31 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Le Templar
Barry Goldwater Memorial in Paradise Valley (as found at flickr.com)
Barry Goldwater is headed back to Washington, D.C., or at least a future statue of him will be.
Gov. Janet Napolitano signed off today on House Joint Resolution 2001, which calls on Congress to replace one of two Arizona figures in the National Statuary Hall inside the House side of the nation’s Capitol. Goldwater, the legendary senator and one-time Republican presidential candidate, would replace John C. Greenway, for which Greenway Avenue in Phoenix is named.
At his death in 1930, Greenway was one of Arizona’s best known residents as a copper mine executive who developed an easier way to extract low-grade ore and extended the state’s hard-mineral boom. He also designed and built Ajo, a former mining town best known to Valley residents as a good place to fill the gas tank and to grab a bite to eat on the way to Rocky Point, Mexico.
Greenway is an obscure part of history now, and state lawmakers want Goldwater (who died in 1998) to have the honor of permanently representing the state at the U.S. Capitol as part of Arizona’s centennial celebration in 2012. Goldwater’s statue will join Father Eusebio Kino, the Spanish priest credited with establishing many of the early European settlements in Arizona through Catholic missions such as San Xavier del Bac just south of Tucson.
HJR2001 calls for construction and transportation of Goldwater’s statue to be paid for by private donations raised by the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission.
