LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Arkansas’ governor on Thursday said the state is halfway toward the fundraising goal for replacing its statues at the U.S. Capitol with ones depicting civil rights leader Daisy Bates and country music legend Johnny Cash.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said $510,000 in private donations has been raised so far for the statues, which will replace the state’s existing statues at the Capitol. Hutchinson said at least $1 million needs to be raised for the statues and their transport to Washington.
Hutchinson announced a new website people can visit to donate money to the statue effort.
Lawmakers last year voted to replace the existing statues with ones depicting Bates and Cash. The state’s current statues are of 19th century attorney Uriah Rose and former Arkansas Gov. and Sen. James P. Clarke.
Bates was an activist and writer, as well as a mentor to the nine black children who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Cash, who died in 2003, grew up in Dyess, which is about 131 miles (211 kilometers) northeast of Little Rock.
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