''William Oxley Thompson'' is an outdoor 1930

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...

Erwin Frey Erwin Frey (April 21, 1892 – 1967 or 68) was an American sculptor and educator best remembered for his George Armstrong Custer memorial. Early life Frey was born in Lima, Ohio, where his father, an immigrant former cabinet-maker’s apprentice f ...

, installed on the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

campus in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, United States. It depicts the university's former president of the same name.

Description and history

Commissioned in February 1929 and dedicated in June 1930, the statue depicts Thompson wearing academic robes and holding a scroll. Fundraising for the memorial began in 1923, and $13,000 had been raised by 1926. The sculpture is approximately tall and has a diameter of , . It rests on a New Hampshire granite base with multiple inscriptions.

Harlan Ellison

Writer

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave science fiction, New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. His published wo ...

told

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

during a radio interview, that one of the things which got him expelled from Ohio State was driving up the sidewalk and onto this statue "and who the hell William Oxley Thompson was I'll never gonna be able to tell you.""Robin Williams & Harlan Ellison"
(at approx. 26:08-26:38 minutes)

Audible Audible may refer to: * Audible (service), an online audiobook store * Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks * ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player * Audible finish or ru ...

interview 2000

References

1930 establishments in Ohio 1930 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Ohio Monuments and memorials in Ohio Ohio State University Outdoor sculptures in Columbus, Ohio Sculptures of men in Ohio Statues in Columbus, Ohio {{US-sculpture-stub

Description and history

Harlan Ellison

See also

References