Johnny Cash to stand in Capitol's Statuary Hall

Johnny Cash went to Reno, Chicago, Fargo, Minnesota, Buffalo, Toronto — and now has reached the U.S. Capitol.

The Arkansas-born singer, who died in 2003, will have a permanent statue in the Capitol come September, a representation that will join another of the state’s structures in Statuary Hall.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, and House Minority Leader Hakeem, New York Democrat, announced Thursday that the dedication ceremony for the sculpture will take place Sept. 24 in Emancipation Hall. The Cash family will attend, along with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders and the state's congressional delegation.

Mr. Cash’s 8-foot bronze statue will show the “Man in Black” with a guitar slung across his back and a Bible in his hand.

The decision to replace the two statues that represented the state started five years ago. It was decided that Mr. Cash and civil rights leader Daisy Bates would replace 19th-century attorney Uriah Rose and former Gov. and Sen. James P. Clarke.

“I remember giving tours to constituents from Arkansas, to young people, and I would point out the two representatives in Statuary Hall in our United States Capitol from Arkansas,” former Arkansas Gov. and Rep. Asa Hutchinson told The Associated Press in May. “And they would say, ‘We’ve never heard of them.’

“There was recognition broadly that it was time for a change."

Ms. Bates’ statue was unveiled in May. She stands tall in bronze and holds a notebook and newspaper.

Each state gets two statues in the Hall. They're made of bronze or marble.