Wright brothers counted as one for statue consideration

COLUMBUS (AP) — A panel considering a new Ohio statue for the U.S. Capitol in Washington has chosen 10 finalists, though there are 11 famous deceased Ohioans on the list.

A committee of lawmakers decided to count aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright as one person. The finalists were announced Tuesday.

Besides the Wright brothers, other possible subjects for the statue include: inventor Thomas Edison; Olympian Jesse Owens; polio vaccine developer Albert Sabin; astronaut Judith Resnik; President Ulysses S. Grant; abolitionist and author Harriet Beecher Stowe; women’s suffrage advocate Harriet Taylor Upton; and former congressmen James Ashley and William McCulloch.

The panel plans to set up polling sites this spring so Ohio residents can choose their favorites.

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