Each state may have two statues of a native son or daughter in National Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol. In 1898, Maryland chose statues of John Hanson and Charles Carroll to be installed in this pantheon of American greats. Carroll was the only Catholic Signer of the Declaration of Independence and, in 1832 at age 85, the last Signer to die.

The Maryland General Assembly had Douglas Hanson Thomas, Sr., great-great-grandson of President Hanson, prepare the Assembly's case for John Hanson's induction into National Statuary Hall.