Statue Of Everglades Champion Proposed For US Capitol

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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) — A state representative from Miami has filed a proposal which calls for a statue of environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who wrote "The Everglades: River of Grass," to be placed in the U.S. Capitol.

Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, who filed the bill, said it would replace a Confederate general as one of Florida's representatives in a set of statues.

The state has been looking for a replacement for the statue of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith in the National Statuary Hall in Washington. Statues of Smith and John Gorrie, widely considered the father of air conditioning, have long represented Florida in the hall.

Douglas, who died in 1998, was one of three potential replacements nominated last year by the Great Floridians Committee. The others were Mary McLeod Bethune, an educator and civil-rights leader, and George Washington Jenkins Jr., founder of the Publix grocery stores.

Diaz's bill will be considered during the upcoming legislative session that starts March 7th.

The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.