Skip to main content
Menu Close Menu

Historic Columbia

Donate
  • FAQs
Upcoming Events

Navigation

  • Tours
    • House Tours
      • Robert Mills House and Gardens
      • Hampton-Preston Mansion and Gardens
      • Mann-Simons Site
      • The Museum of the Reconstruction Era
      • Modjeska Monteith Simkins House
      • Hours and Pricing
    • Garden Tours
      • Garden Database
    • Offsite Tours
      • Walking Tours
    • African American History Tours
    • Online Tours
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • House Tours
    • Traveling Trunk
    • Summer Camp
    • Adult Education
  • Preservation
    • Current Projects and Initiatives
      • Bull Street Campus 
      • Columbia's Green Book Sites
      • Veterans Administration Regional Office
      • Women’s Club of Columbia
    • Preservation Awards
    • Resources for the Public
      • For Property Owners
      • For Neighborhoods
      • Take Action!
    • LGBTQ Columbia
  • Support
    • Corporate Support
    • Donate
    • Membership
    • Volunteer
    • Partners and Donors
  • Rent a Venue
    • Gardens of the Hampton-Preston Mansion
    • Seibels House and Garden
    • Robert Mills Carriage House and Gardens
    • Gardens of the Woodrow Wilson Family Home
    • Weddings
    • Recommended Vendors
    • Contact Us
  • About
    • Blog
    • Board Members
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
    • Gift Shop at Robert Mills
      • Online Store
    • Local History
      • Columbia Jewish Heritage Initiative
    • Newsletter
    • Staff Directory

Donate

Profiles of Robert Young Hayne and George McDuffie

Current location
Installed circa 1860
Designed by Henry Kirke Brown 

  • Profile of Robert Young Hayne, 2019. Historic Columbia collection

    Profile of Robert Young Hayne, 2019. Historic Columbia collection

  • Profile of George McDuffie, 2019. Historic Columbia collection

    Profile of George McDuffie, 2019. Historic Columbia collection

  • Henry Kirke Bush-Brown Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

    Henry Kirke Bush-Brown Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Two marble profiles mounted on the north elevation of the State House feature George McDuffie and Robert Young Hayne, who both served as U.S. senators and as governors of South Carolina in the decades leading up to the Civil War. Their depiction as ancient Romans suggests that their political achievements – as advocates of nullification focused mainly on strengthening the rights of slaveholders and individual states over the federal government – are timeless and just. Nationally renowned artist Henry Kirke Brown sculpted the profiles in 1859-60 as part of a larger program that would have also included allegorical depictions of the state and enslaved labor in the State House’s pediments. Brown’s pediment models were destroyed in the February 1865 burning of Columbia and the sculptures were never completed. 
 

As mentioned in Historically Complex: The Podcast

Introducing Historically Complex, a new podcast on the complicated histories of key monuments on the South Carolina State House grounds -- now available to stream and download on our website or your favorite podcast service!

Stream the Episodes

34.000553600972, -81.033194150683

Newsletter Signup

newsletter signup

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for events, news, and updates from Historic Columbia!

  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Flickr
Historic Columbia

© 2023 Historic Columbia

Administrative Offices
1601 Richland Street
Columbia, SC 29201

Tours
All historic house and garden tours start at the Gift Shop at Robert Mills.
1616 Blanding Street
Columbia, SC 29201

Questions? Call (803) 252-7742.

Website by Cyberwoven