Who will embody Ohio in Capitol?

By MARC KOVAC

news@vindy.com

COLUMBUS

Ohioans began submitting ballots this weekend to help select the next famous figure who will represent the state in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.

Voting opened Saturday and runs through mid-June to select a replacement for the statue of William Allen, former Ohio governor and congressman who is viewed as a supporter of slavery. Voters must be Ohio residents, and there are no age limits for participation.

“We think it’s a wonderful educational opportunity for all ages to get involved in history,” said Kim Schuette, spokeswoman for the Ohio Historical Society.

“We really hope that we get slammed with ballots, because that shows us that people are engaged. We’ll do our best to count them as they come in.”

Each state has two statues in the Capitol in Washington, D.C. (images and information on each are available online at www.aoc.gov). Federal legislation enacted about 10 years ago allows states to replace older statues with new ones. Subjects must be dead U.S. citizens who are “illustrious for historic renown or for distinguished civic or military service,” according to the Capitol Web site.

Only one person is allowed per statue, and the individual’s entire body must be included.

Ohio is represented by President James A. Garfield, “the last American president to be born in a log cabin,” according to the Capitol site. He was assassinated in 1881; his statue has been in place since 1886.

The other statue is of Allen, a one-term Ohio governor who died in 1879.

A state legislative panel considered more than 90 famous Ohioans for the replacement statue before deciding on 10 finalists. The nominees are inventors Wilbur and Orville Wright and Thomas Edison, congressman and abolitionist James Ashley, President and Civil War Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, civil rights leader William McCulloch, Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens, space shuttle astronaut Judith Resnik, oral polio vaccine creator Albert Sabin, abolitionist and author Harriet Beecher Stowe, and women’s suffragist Harriet Taylor Upton.

Lawmakers say they will use residents’ input to make a final selection. Polling will be conducted through June 12 at the Statehouse and historical sites and museums throughout the state, including the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor and the Museum of Ceramics in East Liverpool.

Ballots also are available online at www.legacyforohio.org and can be printed out and mailed. Organizers are requiring those who participate to include their name and address on ballots.

“We’re not the secretary of state’s office, but we’re going to do our best to make sure that we get one vote per person,” Schuette said.

The Ohio Historical Society expects to announce the ballot results in early July.

“This is not a final decision,” Schuette said. “I think the committee feels that it will weigh very heavily toward [lawmakers’] decision, but they’ll make their final recommendation, and then it goes to the Legislature for deciding.”