Frederick Douglass in Annapolis, Philip Reid in the Capitol

Still, we don’t recommend pitching old Roger B. into the Bay. He’s an inescapable part of the history of the Free State and our country. Happily, there is plenty of room for Taney’s statue outside Maryland’s State Archives. For the good that Taney did, and he did many good things, he can stand there. That building is located on Rowe Boulevard, leading to the State House. Appropriately, it’s across from the State Law Library. (Might we mischievously suggest that Old Roger tiptoe across the boulevard in the middle of the night and get a better understanding of equal justice under law?)

We hope the distinguished Delegate from Washington, D.C., will agree that honoring Frederick Douglass in Annapolis is a much better way to inspire young people in our country. He is less likely to get lost in the crowd there.

Can we persuade Del. Norton to lead the effort to re-name the Rayburn Room for Philip Reid? Without this capable young man, the most impressive 19 1/2-foot statue might never have been raised to its present height. Philip Reid deserves to be honored in the Capitol he did so much to crown with such an impressive symbol.

It was President Lincoln who insisted that the construction of the Capitol dome go forward in the midst of the Civil War. When he took his oath of office for the first time, on March 4, 1861, all the old photos show the dome barely half completed. But when Lincoln stood in front of the Capitol to deliver his magnificent Second Inaugural Address on March 4, 1865, Philip Reid and all his brothers, whose “unrequited toil” had raised that Statue of Freedom atop that Capitol dome, were now free men. Their labors symbolized a “New Birth of Freedom” for our country.

The Philip Reid Room needs to be in the Capitol. The Frederick Douglass statue needs to be in Annapolis. We appeal to Del. Norton to help us advance these projects.

Robert Morrison is a senior fellow for policy studies at the Family Research Council.