Ohio History Journal

HISTORICAL NEWS

 

Historical Societies

 

AMERICAN JEWISH ARCHIVES, Cincinnati

Jacob Marcus, Director

The growing collections of congregational minute books, genealogies,

and personal papers of notable Jewish personalities are being cataloged

and made available for researchers.

Dr. Stern-Taeubler's book The Court Jew has recently been published.

BRECKSVILLE EARLY SETTLERS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, Brecksville

Ernest Green, President

The association is at present furnishing a room at the museum as a

memorial to Mrs. Fred Green.

CENTRAL OHIO RAILFANS' ASSOCIATION, Worthington

Kenneth Agee, President

The association published last fall an illustrated pamphlet entitled

The Return of the Interurban, written by George Silcott and others. The

text describes the efforts of the group to recondition an old Columbus,

Delaware, and Marion car as the Ohio Railroad Museum.

 

CLINTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Wilmington

Claire K. Hague, Secretary

The society now has a membership of 162. Election of officers will be

held on January 22, 1951.

CRESTLINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Crestline

Ernest G. Hesser, President

A meeting of the officers and board members was held on October 3,

1950. Plans for aiding the Crestline Centennial Committee were discussed.

The centennial will be observed in June 1951.

The society sponsored two performances of an operetta given by pupils

at the high school on November 1 and 2. The funds from the sale of

tickets were turned over to the finance committee of the Crestline Centennial.

A historical society Bulletin will be issued in January 1951 dedicated

to the observance of the centennial.

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Historical News                          91

FEDERATION OF OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETIES

At a meeting at the Ohio State Museum on October 11, representatives

of thirty-three county and local historical societies voted to establish a new

organization to emphasize the need for promotion of local history in every

community and to take an active part in the Ohio Sesquicentennial in 1953.

A committee of nine was appointed to study plans for the federation

and to fix a time and place for the next meeting.

FIRELANDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Norwalk

James E. Dixon, Curator

The museum maintained by the society in the basement of the library

building is open to the public on Friday from 1:30 to 4:30 and on Saturday

from 1:30 to 4:30 and 6:30 to 8:30.

FORT RECOVERY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Fort Recovery

Iris Longley, President

The fourth annual meeting of the society was held on November 2,

with a large number of members and guests in attendance. Raymond S.

Baby, curator of archaeology of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical

Society, presented an illustrated lecture on the excavation of the Dunlap

Mound in Ross County.

Mrs. Leona McAlexander, Mrs. Mildred R. Stevenson, and O. B.

Vonder Haar were reelected to the board of trustees, and Charles Jetter and

George Zehringer were elected as new members, all for three-year terms.

FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Columbus

Charles A. Jones, President

The second annual meeting of the society was held on October 27.

Dr. Carl Wittke, dean of the graduate school of Western Reserve Uni-

versity, spoke on "Political Refugees of a Century Ago." He discussed the

impact of the German revolution of 1848 on the United States, with special

reference to the German element in Columbus in the 1850's. A techni-

color film "Lincoln in the White House" was shown also.

The first anniversary Bulletin was devoted to the history of thirty early

homes in Franklin County, with an illustration of each one. The interest

in early homes was indicated by a large attendance on November 16 at

the homestead seminar at the home of Miss Anna B. Florence, a house

built by Samuel Davis in 1815. Dr. W. C. Ronan, chairman of the depart-

ment of architecture and landscape architecture of Ohio State University,

described the architecture of the house. Miss Florence and members of the

Davis family recounted some incidents connected with its history.

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92      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

GARFIELD HOME, Mentor

Frederic M. Wood, Executive Secretary

Eight thousand visitors were shown through the home during the 1950

season, May 1 through October 31. A sixteen-page booklet by Frederic M.

Wood, The Garfield Home, has been published recently.

GEAUGA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Burton

B. J. Shanower, President

The women's auxiliary of the society sponsored the annual autumn

"open house" at the museum on October 14 and 15. Hundreds visited the

exhibits in the museum and in the barn, where antique farm implements are

displayed. A century-old hearse, early fire equipment, and an old cab were

exhibited in the yard, where the women of the auxiliary also made apple

butter in the pioneer method. The apple butter and stenciled buckeyes were

sold to increase the funds of the society.

HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF OHIO, Cincinnati

Virginius C. Hall, Director-Librarian

The annual meeting of the society was held in the Laws Memorial

Auditorium of the University of Cincinnati on December 4. After the

business session Dr. R. Carlyle Buley, professor of history at Indiana Uni-

versity, spoke on "Pioneer Ills, Cures, and Doctors." Tea and sociability

followed.

Oliver M. Spencer, hero of the famous "captivity," is the subject of a

biographical account in the October Bulletin. The account was prepared

by the director from unpublished manuscripts, contemporary newspapers,

and personal interviews with descendants and others.

LORAIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Elyria

Mrs. James B. Thomas, President

During the summer, members of the society were guests of members in

Wellington, Huntington, and Lorain. In each instance local speakers gave

historical accounts of their own communities. The October meeting at

Lorain, which was addressed by J. B. Nichols, was attended by over one

hundred persons.

OHIO ACADEMY OF HISTORY, Columbus

William J. McNiff, President

The custom of a fall social meeting of the academy was revived with a

meeting at Otterbein College on October 27 and 28. The meeting began

with dinner on Friday. Rooms were provided by the college and meals

served again on Saturday morning and noon. About fifty members attended

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Historical News                       93

OHIO FOLKLORE SOCIETY, Granville

Francis Lee Utley, President

The Ohio Folklore Society was organized on April 21, 1950, at a

meeting in Columbus in connection with the Ohio College Association.

A fall meeting of the society was held on November 4 at Denison

University. Those participating in the afternoon program were Edward T.

Price, University of Cincinnati; William T. Utter, Denison University;

Samuel P. Bayard, Pennsylvania State College; Erwin C. Zepp, Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society; and W. Edson Richmond, Indiana

University. At the dinner meeting William Hugh Jansen, University of

Kentucky, spoke on "Some Experiences While Collecting Folklore."

OHIO HISTORY DAY ASSOCIATION, Circleville

Lloyd Jones, President

The thirty-eighth annual celebration of the association was held on

October 1 at Logan Elm State Park. Chet Long, radio news commentator

of Columbus, spoke on the topic "Logan Elm As Radio Would Have Re-

corded It." The program was arranged by a committee composed of M. E.

Nogle, chairman, Mrs. Anna Chandler, and Roy Sampson.

SENECA COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM, Tiffin

A. C. Shuman, Curator

The Kilikilik, the student newspaper of Heidelberg College, recently

carried a two-column article describing the collection of the museum.

SHAKER HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Shaker Heights

Mrs. Harry D. Piercy, Secretary

The society recently marked an avenue of trees on Fontenay Road,

Shaker Heights, planted by the Shakers in 1830. The occasion was followed

by a tea and a talk by Mrs. Piercy on the East family of North Union.

STARK COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Canton

E. T. Heald, Secretary-Treasurer

Volume II of The Stark County Story by E. T. Heald entitled The

McKinley Era of Stark County, 1875-1901, came off the press November 8.

The book contains over 700 pages, 200 maps and illustrations, a 32-page

index with 4,800 names, references and footnotes for each chapter, and 10

pages of bibliography. It was printed by the Stoneman Press of Columbus.

SUMMIT COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Akron

Carl H. Pockrandt, President

The September meeting of the society took the form of a capsule-

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94       Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

burying ceremony. A copper capsule containing current newspapers and

letters of public officials and industrial and civic leaders to their successors

in the year 2000, was buried in the floor of the portico of the Perkins

Mansion.

At the October meeting H. Lloyd Williams gave a motion picture

travelog, and in November Mrs. W. G. Kerney exhibited and discussed her

large collection of bells.

The society recently erected a stone monument on the site of the public

square of Middlebury, the oldest part of the present city of Akron. It was

dedicated and presented to the city on November 5. Mr. Pockrandt spoke

on the history of Middlebury and made the presentation of the monument.

UNION COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Marysville

Mrs. Matthew Kennedy, President

The annual meeting of the society was held on October 4. Incumbent

officers were retained for another year, and Mrs. Clair Thompson was

named to fill a vacancy on the board of trustees. Dr. William T. Utter of

Denison University spoke on "The Ohio Our Grandparents Knew."

UPPER OHIO VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Wheeling, W. Va.

John A. Moore, Secretary-Treasurer

John S. Campbell, Jr., of Cadiz, Ohio, was the speaker at the November

meeting of the society. He gave an informal talk on his collection of diaries

and early letters dealing with the history of the Wheeling community.

WELLSVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Wellsville

Edwin V. Pugh, President

The September issue of Wellsville Echoes, the mimeographed publica-

tion of the society, contains seven episodes of the 155th anniversary pageant

"Gateway to the West."

WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Cleveland

Russell H. Anderson, Director

Recent special exhibits have included the following: Annual Show

of the Needlecraft Guild of Cleveland; playing cards and fall fashions;

World Series badges; South Korea, Past and Present; early school days; and

a Christmas scene. One special exhibit, continuing to the end of the year,

is The Shakers in Ceramic Sculpturing. It was prepared by some sixty

adult students in the Shaker Heights recreational program and consists of

five groups with forty-five figures about eight inches high, and furniture

to scale showing the Shakers in the kitchen, the sewing room, the herb

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Historical News                          95

room, the dance, and the farm yard. The society staff cooperated in supply-

ing information and advice.

Five new trustees were elected at the meeting of the board on October

31, 1950. They are Frank E. Taplin, attorney-at-law; Gilbert W. Humphrey

and James N. Sherwin of the M. A. Hanna Company; Arnold C. Saunders,

Jr., of the Lorain Coal and Dock Company; and Edward W. Garfield of

the Sherwin-Williams Company.

President Laurence H. Norton has presented a bound volume of the

records of the Virginia Military Land District covering entries from 1787

to 1802. One of the interesting items in this volume is the record of three

parcels of land surveyed for General George Washington in 1787-88. This is

an important addition to previous accessions, which included six volumes and

five packages of surveys, entries, and so forth.

Recently framed for exhibition is a certificate of membership of

General Arthur St. Clair in the Society of the Cincinnati, signed by G.

Washington, October 31, 1785.

The genealogical data in the records of the Church of Aurora (Con-

gregational, Baptist, Disciples) 1809-1909, have been transcribed onto

cards for public use.

The society has received a nearly complete file of the Bohemian news-

paper Svet-American from 1911 to its discontinuance this year.

WYANDOT COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Upper Sandusky

Charles P. Artz, President

The society has recently issued a four-page leaflet as a guide to points

of historical interest in the county.

 

About Historians

Louis Filler of Antioch College was on the program of the Bristol

Branch of the English Historical Association for December 7. His topic

was "The Study of American Civilization." Dr. Filler is teaching at the

University of Bristol on a Fulbright grant.

 

David Lindsey, assistant professor of history at Baldwin-Wallace

College, published an article, "Sunset Cox, the Letter Carriers' Friend,"

in the Postal Record, 1950.

 

At Bowling Green State University Henry Grosshans is filling a

temporary vacancy on the history staff while Michael Ellis is on leave of

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96      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

absence at Columbia University, where he is working toward his doctor's

degree. Mr. Grosshans has just returned from Oxford University, where he

was a Rhodes scholar.

 

Erving E. Beauregard has been promoted to the rank of assistant

professor of history at the University of Dayton. Mr. Beauregard spent the

summer traveling in Europe.

 

Edward J. Goodman, formerly at the United States Naval Academy,

Annapolis, became assistant professor of European history at Xavier Uni-

versity in September. Mr. Goodman is completing his research on the

Cortes of Cadiz, 1810-1813.

Fr. Thomas P. Conry is making a study of Ohio churches in the

abolition movement.

 

Ohio University conducted last fall its fourth annual awards compe-

tition in Ohio history, government, and citizenship for junior and senior

high school students in Ohio. This year 5,141 students, as compared with

2,233 last year, took the preliminary examinations. The final examination

was given on November 17 and 18, when the county winners were guests

of the university. Professor Carl Roberts was chairman of the local com-

mittee for the contest.

 

Harvey Goldberg and Clifford Morrison have been appointed instruc-

tors in history at Ohio State University. Everett Walters, assistant professor

of history, is on leave of absence, having been recalled to active duty in the

navy.

Recent writings of members of the history department include a

series of articles on countries of the Near East for Collier's Encyclopedia

by Sydney N. Fisher, and an article by Harold M. Helfman, "The Con-

tested Confirmation of Stanley Matthews to the United States Supreme

Court," published in the July 1950 Bulletin of the Historical and Philo-

sophical Society of Ohio. Robert H. Bremner's "Turnabout on 'Something

for Nothing,'" which first appeared in the February 1950 issue of the

Survey, has been reprinted in The Welfare State, published by the H. W.

Wilson Co.

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