Wait, say what? The Wright Brothers were from Dayton!
Yes, North Carolina was where they experimented and finally conquered flight, but that was because the state had strong sustained winds and was secluded enough to not draw curious crowds. This also reminded me of when we took one of our granddaughters to go ziplining in North Carolina. It was here that I learned the young men providing oversight were in a local air science program. We started talking about the Wright Brothers and they were totally dumbfounded to discover that they were from Dayton. In fact, the comment was, “I always wondered why the Ohio license plates said ‘birthplace of aviation.’”
I was glad to bring the students up to speed, but this was just one program of how many across the country that didn’t have the story right? I have never understood why Ohio does not have a regular effort to get that word out to the entire country.
Some readers may even remember the US Congress tiff over whether or not Ohio or North Carolina was first in flight around the 100th anniversary of first man-powered flight at Kitty Hawk.
Given all the misinformation floating around these days, it seems a good time to begin a national program to tout Dayton natives, Wilbur and Orville Wright, as the inventors of flight. We have the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, and Mercury 7 Astronaut John Glenn to be proud of, so let’s get on board with the Wright Brothers!
Ohio spends $7 million annually to promote Ohio tourism within Ohio and surrounding states. The DeWine administration wants to bump that amount to $50 million over two years to not only get people to visit Ohio, but maybe even move here. Seems like it might be pretty straightforward to add the Wright Brothers to that national marketing initiative. Add to this the Governor DeWine makeover program for highway rest areas and there is even greater opportunity. The planned displays highlight attractions “up the road” and can readily include the Wright Brothers.
So contact your elected representatives or Governor DeWine’s office and get them on board promoting a national, ongoing Wright Brothers educational program. This is something every single Ohioan can support — we can all act together. Even the current Ohio legislature would have to get on board with such an effort. Maybe it would be a new start for Ohio legislators to actually listen to what Ohio voters want!
Jim Woodford is a Board Member of Jazz Advocate in Dayton, a Dayton Public Radio show host at WDPS, a retired educator and lifelong history buff.
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