Edison Wins Popular Vote for Statue in National Statuary Hall in U.S. Capitol

http://www.legacyforohio.org/

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Ohio will replace one of its two statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol.

The collection in the National Statuary Hall displays two statues for each state. Ohio is currently represented by President James A. Garfield and Ohio Governor William Allen. In 2006, the Ohio General Assembly decided that Allen’s pro-slavery position and outspoken criticism of President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War make him a poor representative for Ohio in the U.S. Capitol. They tasked the National Statuary Collection Study Committee to find the best person to represent Ohio. Learn more about The National Statuary Collection Study Committee at the website Legacy for Ohio.

Nominate Thomas Alva Edison

We believe the person to best represent the great state of Ohio is the man who has been named “Man of the Millennium,” Thomas Alva Edison. Edison represents ideals that we can all be proud of:

Overcoming adversity. Born into a blue collar family in a humble home his father built in Milan, Ohio, Edison was a failure in school and nearly deaf since the age of twelve. Yet he went on to change the world as no one else in history has.

Innovation. He and his team were the first to record sound, first to record motion on film, first to create a practical incandescent bulb. From wax paper to better Portland cement and prefab houses to the alkaline battery, he made many things that people do not realize were his inventions.

Entrepreneurial spirit. He designed and created utility power plants and distribution systems, and founded General Electric and other companies. Because of these and similar accomplishments, he’s been called The Man Who Invented the 20th Century.

Edison & Ohio

Edison is undeniably Ohio’s native son. He received the fundamentals for his education and basic determination during his early years in Ohio.

Edison's ties to Ohio were also deep and strong. Not only was he born here – his wife Mina Miller Edison was the daughter of another Ohio inventor, Louis Miller of Akron, inventor of the Buckeye Reaper and founder of Chautauqua.

Edison felt the strength of the connection so much that he bought back his birthplace in Milan, Ohio, so that it could be preserved as an Ohio historic site for the people of Ohio. It is most fitting that his statue should stand in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda to represent his home state.

Let there be no doubt, his “Roots of Genius”, were grown deep in “Buckeye” soil.

Edison Birthplace Efforts

The Edison Birthplace Association has actively pursued Edison as a replacement statue since 2007.

Milan community gathering and hosting of the Statuary committee, August 7th 2009.- Photos
Hosting of queens attending the Milan Melon Festival parade - Photos
Milan Melon Festival parade float - Photos
Milan Public Library display
Cover article in Milan Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Fall/winter 2009
Home page article on the Berlin-Milan schools website
Back page article in the Village of Milan Fall 09 newsletter
Banners in town (Square, Edison Birthplace, Sights and Sounds of Edison)
Vice-President Don Gfell has given over 20 presentations, 3,000 handouts

Letter to former Chairman Senator Jacobson from Robert Wheeler (President of Edison Birthplace Association, Inc.)
Letter to Sandusky Register from David Edward Edison Sloane (Great Grandson of Thomas Edison)
Letter to Chairman Senator Mark Wagoner from J Heywood Edison Sloane (Great Grandson of Thomas Edison)
Text of testamony given to National Statuary Collection Study Committee on Janurary 21, 2010 by Robert Wheeler
Toledo Blade editorial for Edison Feb 28, 2010
Viewpoint statement by Don Gfell April 2010
Press release May 2010

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