States looking to change U.S. Capitol statues

The group is working to come up with a replacement for the statue at the U.S. Capitol of a former governor who portrayed blacks as savages, making Ohio the latest of several states that sought to substitute their statues with newer models they feel better represent their history.

The committee is touring the state to narrow the field, starting at the birthplace of light bulb visionary Thomas Edison, where they were greeted by a police escort and the Edison High School marching band.

“You've got Dean Martin on one end of the state and Annie Oakley on the other end,” said state Rep. Tom Letson of Warren. “Everyone has a favorite. I want to hear about every one of them.”

There have been plenty of states looking to substitute their statues of forgotten figures. Nine years ago, Congress changed a law that had prevented statue switching.

Each state gets two statues of notable historic figures who are deceased. Most are in bronze or marble and stand in National Statuary Hall, south of the rotunda.

The old law meant some states were stuck with outdated figures, like Alabama and Confederate general Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry. But now, he's being replaced by a bronze likeness of Helen Keller.

Kansas and California have traded lesser-known natives for former Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan, respectively. Missouri is making a push for former President Harry Truman, and Michigan is looking at trading up to former President Gerald Ford.

Arizona, now represented by John Campbell Greenway, a decorated veteran of the Spanish-American War and World War I, wants to honor former five-term U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater.

“No one knows who John Greenway is, not even people in Arizona,” said state Rep. Adam Driggs of Phoenix.

Driggs said he wasn't out to disparage Greenway, whose statue was put in place in 1930, just 18 years after Arizona became a state.

“We have a much richer history now,” he said.

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