Jesse Owens statue may represent Ohio at U.S. Capitol Building

A statue of former Ohio Gov. William Allen at the U.S. Capitol Building might be replaced by legendary Ohio State alumnus Jesse Owens.

Members of the National Statuary Collection Study Committee met Friday to discuss the placement of the Owens statue. The Ohio General Assembly decided in 2000 to replace the statue of Allen, who opposed President Abraham Lincoln’s emancipation of slaves.

The National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol includes two statues of individuals chosen by each state. The other Ohioan represented is former U.S. President James Garfield.

It is now the job of the study committee to find a replacement that better represents Ohio and the state’s values.

Other famous Ohioans who are being considered are Thomas Edison, Tecumseh, the Wright brothers, politician James Ashley and baseball player William Ellsworth “Dummy” Hoy.

The committee has traveled to five other locations, including Dayton and Cincinnati, to hear presentations.

Its meeting Friday was held on the 11th floor of the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library.

The purpose of the meeting was for the members of the committee to hear from a panel about the life and accomplishments of Jesse Owens.

The panel consisted of Marlene Owens Rankin, Jesse Owens’ daughter; Rusty Wilson, author of “The Ohio State University at the Olympics;” Stephanie Hightower, chairman and president of USA Track & Field; and Rob Oller, sports columnist for The Columbus Dispatch.

Ohio Sen. Mark Wagoner, R-Ottawa Hills, and Ohio Rep. Tom Letson, D-Warren, headed the committee as chairman and vice chairman, respectively. The other member at the meeting was Ohio Rep. Tyrone Yates, D-Cincinnati.

The meeting began with an opening statement by Gene Smith, OSU director of athletics. The panelists then gave their testimonies as to why Jesse Owens should represent Ohio in Statuary Hall. One popular theme brought up by the panelists was Jesse Owens’ record-setting performance in Ann Arbor, Mich., at the Big Ten Track Championships in 1935. Although there was some debate as to whether it took him 45 minutes or an hour to break three world records and tie another, the panel was in agreement that this was one of his greatest athletic achievements.

“The event was so amazing, even the University of Michigan has a monument to him at their track,” Wilson said.

Of course no discussion of Jesse Owens could go without mentioning his performance at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Owens won four gold medals and crushed Adolf Hitler’s assertions of Aryan racial supremacy.

“Perhaps no story reflects the principles of Mr. Owens more than the 1936 Olympic long jump,” Hightower said.

Owens fouled during his first two attempts and received advice from Luz Long, a blond-haired, blue-eyed German, before qualifying for the final on his third attempt.

Owens’ “legacy of judging others by their deeds and not by the color of their skin still resonates,” Hightower said.

The committee was particularly interested in the testimony of Owens’ daughter, Marlene Owens Rankin. She told the story of how she was named the first black homecoming queen at OSU in 1960.

She recalled her father telling her, “Remember, Marlene, this could only happen in America.”

The closing remarks from each speaker carried the same praise that was present throughout the meeting.

“We cannot forget that Jesse Owens didn’t just win gold, he was the gold standard,” Oller said.

Rep. Letson said the committee expects to conclude its hearings sometime in the middle of 2010, and it will present its decision to the Ohio Assembly. There will then be a vote to determine which individual will be enshrined in the Statuary Hall Collection. 

2 comments

Stacy

Mon Nov 9 2009 12:50

I agree with Kris. Yes JO had great athletic deeds during a VERY dangerous time for his life but I don't know if he should have a statue in the Capitol. My daughter is a Osu athlete so what I'm about to say holds A LOT of weight. kids are strivng too much to be athletes and not "intelligent" human beings who have a passion for sports. I hear too many parents "forcing" their kids to try to scholarships when I told my daughter pick a school and major and let me worry about te bills. She chose to use her gift and chose a school that values education as well as sports!!!!

Kris C

Mon Nov 9 2009 12:10

I feel that the person who is honored with a statue in the Capitol of the United States in Washington, D.C., the seat of national government, should be a person involved in governing whose work has been signficantly beneficial and far reaching as to the government of the of the state, the country and the world. While I honor the persistence of those such as the Wright Brothers who invented the airplane and Jesse Owens, who as a world sports figure, had the courage to literally run past the evil axis of prejudice prevalent in the world in his time. However, I feel athletes are already enshrined in sports halls of fame with all due respect, their names recognition continually promoted by the press. There are others in Ohio such as John Glenn, who had the courage to be the first man shot into space, who also served as a U.S. Congressman. There are numerous others no less in contribution, people such as Warren G. Grimes, his company, Grimes Aerospace, now obscured as a division of Honeywell, whose inventions and innovations in lighting, have virtually lit up every airplane and airport in the world. However, I feel the statue should be of a government official with very notable initiation and participation in landmark events in the history of the USA which still stand the test of time as basic tenets of our government.

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