Glass City Jungle

This in via e-mail from the Ohio Senate Majority Caucus:

Statuary Committee to Hold Field Hearing at The Ohio State University on Friday as it Considers Memorializing Track Great Jesse Owens in Statuary Hall of the US Capitol

Columbus— National Statuary Collection Study Committee Chairman, State Senator Mark Wagoner (R-Ottawa Hills) recently announced that the sixth of the committee’s field hearings will take place on Friday, November 6, 2009, at The Ohio State University from 11:00 am until 1:30 pm. The legislators will learn more about the life and accomplishments of Olympian Jesse Owens as they continue their work to find an Ohioan that will best represent the state of Ohio in Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol.

“Jesse Owens is not only a nationally recognized athlete with Ohio roots, but he exemplifies Ohio values of hard work and determination,” Wagoner said. “Here we have yet another great Ohioan with the credentials to represent our state in the U.S. Capitol.”

The committee will begin its hearing at the newly-restored William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library (1858 Neil Avenue Mall, 11th Floor) where members will be welcomed by Gene Smith, Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics for The Ohio State University.

As part of the formal presentation, committee members will have the opportunity to hear from:

* Marlene Owens Rankin, daughter of Jesse Owens, Ohio State alumna and Vice President and Managing Director of the Jesse Owens Foundation;
* Rusty Wilson, PhD, an Ohio State employee and the author of “The Ohio State University at the Olympics”;
* Stephanie Hightower, former student athlete at Ohio State, Olympian, Chairman/President, USA Track & Field, and the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at the Columbus College of Art and Design, and
* Rob Oller, sports columnist for the Columbus Dispatch and a former Ohio State student athlete.

Following the hearing, members of the media will have an opportunity to ask questions of committee members and panelists before they depart for a luncheon at Ohio Stadium, where they will also be joined by Columbus City Council Member Priscilla Tyson and Ohio State Track Coach and Olympic bronze medalist Joe Greene.

The National Statuary Collection Study Committee was created as part of Senate Bill 277 of the 126th General Assembly to select a replacement statue to be displayed at the United States Capitol as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The committee is comprised of Chairman, Senator Wagoner, Vice Chairman, Representative Tom Letson (D-Warren), Senator Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo), Representative Richard Adams (R-Troy), Senator Karen Gillmor (R-Tiffin) and Representative Tyrone Yates (D-Cincinnati).

Members are working to present a formal recommendation to the Ohio General Assembly to replace the statue of former Ohio Governor William Allen with an individual who better represents the values and heritage of the state of Ohio. The other Ohioan represented is former President of the United States, Union General and U.S. Representative from Ohio, James A. Garfield.

The federal law creating the National Statuary Hall was passed in 1864, allowing each state to provide “statues, in marble or bronze, not exceeding two in number for each state, of deceased persons, who have been citizens thereof, and illustrations for their historic renown or for distinguished civic or military service as each State may deem worthy of this national commemoration.”

Friday marks the sixth field hearing for the committee, which has already traveled to Milan, Chillicothe, Dayton, Cincinnati, and Washington Court House to learn about the life and times of Thomas Edison, Tecumseh, the Wright Brothers, Cincinnati Reds’ center-fielder William Ellsworth “Dummy” Hoy and abolitionist James M. Ashley. Future meetings to the hometowns and communities of other notable Ohioans under consideration will be scheduled soon.

For more information about the committee, please visit www.legacyforohio.org. The website includes a form where individuals may weigh in on who they think Ohio’s choice should be.