Wright Brothers ruled out for new Ohio statue in D.C.

MILAN, Ohio (AP) — The Wright brothers won’t fly as subjects for a new Ohio statue at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington.

The head of a panel of lawmakers considering various Ohio historical figures for the honor says Orville and Wilbur Wright have been ruled out because federal rules say only one person may be depicted.

State Sen. Mark Wagoner adds that people in the Wrights’ hometown of Dayton would never want to choose one of the aviator brothers over the other for the spot in the Capitol’s National Statuary Hall.

Wagoner’s committee is working to make a recommendation to the Ohio Legislature. Other possible subjects for the statue include inventor Thomas Edison, born in Milan in northern Ohio, and Olympian Jesse Owens, who was from Cleveland.