Ohio's Thomas Edison statue is dedicated at U.S. Capitol
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Everyone wanted a piece of Thomas Alva Edison on Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking at a U.S. Capitol dedication ceremony for a statue of the prolific inventor from tiny Milan, Ohio, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recalled Edison's time working in a Kentucky telegraph office.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi likened Edison's laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, to Menlo Park, California: ground zero for Silicon Valley's innovation.
But Ohio's name was on the 900-pound statue by Zanesville sculptor Alan Cottrill that was formally installed at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday - one of two statues from the state that are part of Congress' Statuary Hall collection.
In 2012, the Ohio General Assembly decided to replace Ohio's old statue of former Ohio Gov. William Allen with Edison, after voters in the state said they'd prefer him to a governor who backed slavery and criticized Abraham Lincoln. Ohio's other statue in the collection is of former President James Garfield, who hailed from Mentor.
Located between statues of North Dakota's John Burke and Tennessee's Gen. John Sevier, the new statue shows Edison holding his most famous invention - an incandescent light bulb - over his head in a pose that recalls the Statue of Liberty.
State leaders said that Edison - whose patents included the the phonograph and the first practical incandescent light bulb - exemplifies Ohio's entrepreneurial spirit. Other finalists for the honor included the Wright Brothers, Olympic athlete Jesse Owens, Harriet Beacher Stowe, and former president Ulysses S. Grant.
"His life and his accomplishments embody not only our history, but also the spirit of our state that continues to this day," Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said at the dedication. "We are a state of inventors and pioneers – of dreamers and creators, always reaching for the next frontier."
Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman recalled the hardscrabble beginnings of the man who registered 1,093 patents in the United States and is also credited with inventing the phonograph and movie camera.
The youngest of seven children born to a shingle maker and a school teacher, Edison was nearly deaf because of a childhood bout of scarlet fever. A teacher at his school told Edison's mother he was too stupid to learn anything because of his disability.
"But he had something that other kids didn't have; he had an amazing work ethic and he had this determination and perseverance and will to succeed," Portman said.
Cottrill - who founded a chain of pizza restaurants before becoming a sculptor - said he was inspired by Edison's triumph over difficulties that he believes amounted to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which also affects Cottrill. The sculptor was so eager to do the work that he charged just $80,000 for it.
"It's the highest cotton there is" to have a sculpture on display at the U.S. Capitol, said Cottrill.
A great-grandson of the inventor who attended the dedication - Heywood Sloane - said the family helped to establish the Thomas A. Edison Birthplace Museum in Milan to show that people who persevere can accomplish great things despite handicaps and early learning difficulties.
The statue was displayed at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus last year, and at Milan's public library before its arrival in Washington.
"His entire life is an inspiration to youth, " said Doug Gfell of Milan, who serves as vice president of the Edison Birthplace Association. "Having him here means we get to share him, not only with Ohio and the United States but also the entire world."