Last updated: August 30, 2024
Place
Wright Brothers Memorial
Photograph by Carol M. Highsmith, from the Library of Congress Online Catalog.
Quick Facts
Location:
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
Significance:
Landscape Architecture, Recreation
Designation:
Listed in the National Register – Reference Number 16000460
Wright Brothers Hill is located in Greene County, Ohio. Constructed from 1938 to 1940, the memorial park commemorates the exceptional achievements of the Wright brothers. The site overlooks the Huffman Prairie Flying Field, a National Historic Landmark where the Wright brothers mastered their flying skills and developed the first practical airplane, the Wright Flyer III.
The idea for a Wright brothers memorial in Dayton was first formulated in 1910 by a group of influential members of the Dayton community who called themselves the J. Sprigg McMahon’s Committee. This committee was unable to come to any decisions regarding the memorial and the idea gradually faded away. Nevertheless, the idea for a memorial to the Wright brothers was revisited in 1912, after the death of Wilbur Wright. The original J. Sprigg McMahon’s Committee was re-formed, and in 1913 it was renamed the Wright Memorial Commission. The committee began plans for the erection of a memorial, and the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum, was asked to create a sculpture as the focal point of the memorial. In a meeting on February 14, 1913, Percy R. Jones of the Olmsted Brothers firm and Borglum decided that the memorial would consist of a shaft with a winged figure on top.
The memorial was to be located on a one-acre tract at Huffman Prairie Flying Field, and the renowned Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm of Brookline, Massachusetts, was asked to submit a landscape plan for the memorial. Unfortunately, in March 1913, Ohio experienced a devastating flood. Dayton was hit especially hard and plans for the memorial were put on hold. Many of the same influential Dayton citizens who were involved in the Wright Memorial Commission banded together to protect southwest Ohio from repeated flooding by forming the Miami Conservancy District in 1914.
In 1922, the Wright Memorial Commission was reestablished as the Wilbur and Orville Wright Memorial Commission. On June 1, 1938, the land allocated for the memorial was returned to the Miami Conservancy District because, as a public organization, it would be able to receive assistance from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) for the construction of the memorial. From then on, the Wilbur and Orville Wright Memorial Commission took over the memorial project.
The Wilbur and Orville Wright Memorial Commission was chaired by Colonel Deeds, a close friend of the Wright brothers. Deeds had a personal interest in aviation and maintained the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company with Orville Wright before World War I. Deeds personally contacted the Olmsted firm about designing the Wright brothers memorial, and the firm’s design was accepted on October 7, 1938. Orville Wright was himself deeply interested in the memorial. He was consulted on its conceptual design and asked for his “criticism and suggestions” regarding the memorial in a letter dated Nov 15, 1922, from O. B. Brown, a member of the Wilbur and Orville Wright Commission.
The African American CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) Camp Vandalia supplied the unskilled labor for the memorial, grading the land, laying the paving, and setting the base of the memorial in place. Plants for the memorial were provided by the Siebenthaler Company. The five bronze plaques located at the memorial were designed by the Olmsted firm and cast by the Gorham Bronze Company. While Borglum was originally contracted to design the memorial statue in 1913, who ultimately created the existing sculpture is unknown.
The dedication of Wright Brothers Hill was held on August 19, 1940, Orville Wright’s sixty-ninth birthday. The ceremony began with an invocation by Bishop A. R. Clippinger. Other speakers included Major General Henry H. Arnold of the U.S. Army and Captain Kenneth Whiting of the U.S. Navy. The granite shaft was unveiled by Leontine Jameson and Marianne Miller, grandnieces of Orville Wright. Former Ohio governor James Cox closed the ceremony.
In November 1976, the 19.841-acre park was officially expanded when the Miami Conservancy District purchased 7.739-acres north of the memorial. The Miami Conservancy District gave the 27.58-acre memorial to the United States Air Force in 1978, the seventy-fifth anniversary of powered flight. Since 1978, the Air Force has held an annual ceremony on December 17th in honor of the Wright brothers’ first flight: a high-ranking Air Force official gives a brief presentation and a wreath is laid at the base of the memorial followed by a fly-over.
The memorial park is open to the public daily and operated by the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.
Link to National Register of Historic Places file.
The idea for a Wright brothers memorial in Dayton was first formulated in 1910 by a group of influential members of the Dayton community who called themselves the J. Sprigg McMahon’s Committee. This committee was unable to come to any decisions regarding the memorial and the idea gradually faded away. Nevertheless, the idea for a memorial to the Wright brothers was revisited in 1912, after the death of Wilbur Wright. The original J. Sprigg McMahon’s Committee was re-formed, and in 1913 it was renamed the Wright Memorial Commission. The committee began plans for the erection of a memorial, and the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum, was asked to create a sculpture as the focal point of the memorial. In a meeting on February 14, 1913, Percy R. Jones of the Olmsted Brothers firm and Borglum decided that the memorial would consist of a shaft with a winged figure on top.
The memorial was to be located on a one-acre tract at Huffman Prairie Flying Field, and the renowned Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm of Brookline, Massachusetts, was asked to submit a landscape plan for the memorial. Unfortunately, in March 1913, Ohio experienced a devastating flood. Dayton was hit especially hard and plans for the memorial were put on hold. Many of the same influential Dayton citizens who were involved in the Wright Memorial Commission banded together to protect southwest Ohio from repeated flooding by forming the Miami Conservancy District in 1914.
In 1922, the Wright Memorial Commission was reestablished as the Wilbur and Orville Wright Memorial Commission. On June 1, 1938, the land allocated for the memorial was returned to the Miami Conservancy District because, as a public organization, it would be able to receive assistance from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) for the construction of the memorial. From then on, the Wilbur and Orville Wright Memorial Commission took over the memorial project.
The Wilbur and Orville Wright Memorial Commission was chaired by Colonel Deeds, a close friend of the Wright brothers. Deeds had a personal interest in aviation and maintained the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company with Orville Wright before World War I. Deeds personally contacted the Olmsted firm about designing the Wright brothers memorial, and the firm’s design was accepted on October 7, 1938. Orville Wright was himself deeply interested in the memorial. He was consulted on its conceptual design and asked for his “criticism and suggestions” regarding the memorial in a letter dated Nov 15, 1922, from O. B. Brown, a member of the Wilbur and Orville Wright Commission.
The African American CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) Camp Vandalia supplied the unskilled labor for the memorial, grading the land, laying the paving, and setting the base of the memorial in place. Plants for the memorial were provided by the Siebenthaler Company. The five bronze plaques located at the memorial were designed by the Olmsted firm and cast by the Gorham Bronze Company. While Borglum was originally contracted to design the memorial statue in 1913, who ultimately created the existing sculpture is unknown.
The dedication of Wright Brothers Hill was held on August 19, 1940, Orville Wright’s sixty-ninth birthday. The ceremony began with an invocation by Bishop A. R. Clippinger. Other speakers included Major General Henry H. Arnold of the U.S. Army and Captain Kenneth Whiting of the U.S. Navy. The granite shaft was unveiled by Leontine Jameson and Marianne Miller, grandnieces of Orville Wright. Former Ohio governor James Cox closed the ceremony.
In November 1976, the 19.841-acre park was officially expanded when the Miami Conservancy District purchased 7.739-acres north of the memorial. The Miami Conservancy District gave the 27.58-acre memorial to the United States Air Force in 1978, the seventy-fifth anniversary of powered flight. Since 1978, the Air Force has held an annual ceremony on December 17th in honor of the Wright brothers’ first flight: a high-ranking Air Force official gives a brief presentation and a wreath is laid at the base of the memorial followed by a fly-over.
The memorial park is open to the public daily and operated by the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.
Link to National Register of Historic Places file.