Ohio History Journal

A Report on the First Ohio Institute

A Report on the First Ohio Institute

on Local and State History

By ROBERT C. WHEELER*

Imagine, turning people away from a meeting on history! Yet it actually

happened at Newark this fall on October 30 at the first Ohio Institute on

Local and State History.

One hundred fifty persons from forty-two Ohio communities, represent-

ing thirty-five local and county historical societies and museums, squeezed

and elbowed their way into the Newark Mound Builders Country Club.

Even the most optimistic members of the planning committee had agreed

that seventy people would be as many as we could possibly hope for. But,

when the closing date for reservations passed, and requests continued to

come in, we decided to make it come-one, come-all with 150 the maximus

maximum! So we adjusted plans. The chicken luncheon would be served

buffet style, hoping too many wouldn't have to eat a la lap; and chairs

were pushed closer and closer together as the institute date approached. As

it happened, the chair-pushing more than literally brought people closer

together, and the buffet service, too, seemed to contribute to a pleasant

informality.

Several local historical societies were well represented. Fifteen came from

the Brecksville Historical Association, a half dozen from the Warren County

Historical Society of Lebanon, nine from the Delaware County Historical

Society, five from the Milan Historical Museum, and the Licking County

Historical Society furnished at least twenty. The most distant organizations

represented were the Ashtabula County Historical Society, the Fairport

Harbor Historical Society, the Historical Society of Northwestern Ohio at

Toledo, and the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio at Cincinnati.

Not only historians came, but teachers, librarians, and business and pro-

fessional people with an interest in history.

The institute had its real beginnings last spring when a small group of

historical society leaders met at the Ohio State Museum in Columbus. The

purpose of the meeting was to find ways to strengthen the work being done

in the field of local and state history, and to encourage a working-together-

ness on the part of all historical societies and historical museums in Ohio.

* Robert C. Wheeler is field representative of the Ohio Historical Society.

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LOCAL AND STATE HISTORY 83

It was decided that an "institute" of local and state historical society

representatives would be helpful. Newark, one of Ohio's most interesting

historic towns, was selected 'as the meeting place.

During the months of July, August, and September the Ohio Historical

Society's field representative took to the road and visited almost every

county in the state, searching out local and county historical societies and

museums. These visits gave him an opportunity to talk about the institute

and to extend a personal invitation to come. During this summer tour of

the state a heartening observation was the appearance of new historical

societies and wheels in motion for others. At least a half dozen local

museums had come into existence in recent months, and a number of other

communities had museums in the dreaming and scheming stage. Museum

fever in Ohio, it seemed, had reached near-epidemic proportions largely

as a kind of residual benefit of the state's year-long sesquicentennial. This

marked increase of interest in community, regional, and state history, quite

naturally, gave rise to many problems and many questions. What should

we collect? How are items cared for? Should we accept everything that

is given us? How can we increase our membership? What kind of pro-

grams should we have? How can we raise money for a museum? And so

on. This first institute, we hoped, would at least provide common meeting

ground to share these problems, ask these questions, and work together

on techniques and possible solutions.

On October 30, in the autumnal, prehistory atmosphere of the Newark

Earthworks, the first institute opened. Don E. Weaver, editor of the

Columbus Citizen and trustee of the Ohio Historical Society, in his greet-

ings to the new institute, pointed out that the state society was "aware of

the importance of local history and a program in the field, and intended to

lay great emphasis upon it." Mrs. Richard S. Fatig, president of the

Licking County Historical Society, member of the institute planning com-

mittee, and chairman of the committee on local arrangements, welcomed

the group to Newark. The balance of the program followed an unusual

format. Eleven five-minute papers were presented, giving a quick over-

view of the gamut of historical society problems. Brief selections from all

eleven papers follow:

Eugene D. Rigney, director of the Ross County Historical Society,

Chillicothe, from his paper "The Challenge":

There is a desperate need for a penetrating re-statement of the American

heritage of dependence upon God's providence, individual strength and

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84 THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

responsibility. . . . The real test of our merit is whether we are superficial

purveyors of antiquarian entertainment, or able administrators of an un-

equaled trust: the American heritage.

Randolph C. Downes, professor of history of the University of Toledo

and director of the Historical Society of Northwestern Ohio, from his

paper "Sources of Ohio History":

I think that the best source material advice to give on an occasion like

this is to follow your nose. Given the assignment of a topic or a field, the

hunter must follow the scent wherever it leads, being careful, of course, to

keep to the main objective. . . . Always one should have a copy of the

handbook of the American Association for State and Local History on

historical societies in the United States and Canada, now ten years out of

date. This is one of the most important tools of the trade, because it is

always a good rule to be able to know what special collections the various

societies have. . . . One of my dreams is that the local historical societies

might cooperate in a master project of indexing back newspaper files. One

of the toughest, most boring, most discouraging phases of research is the

everlasting hunting for needles in newspaper stacks. . . . The main im-

pression I would like to leave with you is that local history cannot be

studied too locally. Some day when the new grass roots history of the

American people is written it will be known beyond the slightest doubt

that the parts that make up the whole of American history are interlaced

and intertwined in a way that defies the research isolationist. There is no

field of historical research where cooperation is more necessary. The

scattered sources, screened and pieced together, make units capable of great

synthesis and not necessarily an unintegrated patchwork of isolated anti-

quarianism.

Mrs. William Mason Phillips, president of the Warren County Historical

Society and curator of the Glendower Museum of Lebanon, from her paper

"The Historical Society and/or Museum":

The historical society and museum no longer provides merely a storage

place for records and collections but is obligated to play an important part

in the educational program of our state and nation. ... It should be the

purpose of each historical society to interpret history to its community.

Daniel F. Prugh, executive director of the Franklin County Historical

Society, Columbus, and chairman of the institute planning committee, from

his paper "Programs":

Programs are the life-blood of an effective county historical society. . . .

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LOCAL AND STATE HISTORY 85

They bring new members, they help to establish our respective reputations

as active historical associations, and they provide a means by which mem-

bers can participate in various historical projects . . . . I am pleased to

find that some historical societies are now creating programs for young

people. This is one phase of the local history program that has been

tragically neglected by many county societies.

Colton Storm, director of the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleve-

land, from his paper "Collecting":

The founders of a society often may have gathered relics and records

because of filial pietism, wanting only to sigh pleasantly over the dear,

lost past; and the resultant mass consists largely of unrelated trivia. No

teaching service could have been performed under such circumstances, nor

was it intended. A second generation of enthusiasts, recognizing that to

understand today yesterday must be explained, will coordinate a society's

holdings, collect only to supply missing elements, and use the society to

enlarge the community's cultural resources. . . . I hope historical societies

will form coordinated collections in which the past can be related to the

present understandably. We exist to preserve and to teach. One function

is meaningless without the other. If any historical society collects with

these factors in mind, it will achieve significance in its community.

James H. Rodabaugh, head of the division of history and science of the

Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, from his paper "Care Problems":

It is of first importance that any collecting agency be fully aware of the

responsibility for the proper care of its materials before it enters into a

collecting or acquisition program. To collect and then destroy by failure to

use adequate means of preservation, in so far as they are available, is to

commit fraud against those who give or sell their valuables in the belief

that they are going to be safe and secured against deterioration.

E. T. Heald, historian of the Stark County Historical Society, Canton,

from his paper "Publications":

Publications provide a permanent and therefore a most valuable historical

service. . . . The annual report is an important item for a society to publish.

. . . It can be the best source of information regarding the society for future

historians. . . . The Historical Society of Northwestern Ohio should be

commended for the 7th and 8th grade history texts it has published for use

in the schools.

W. A. Hammond, president of the Greene County Historical Society,

Xenia, from his paper "Finance":

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86 THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

It is a fortunate fact that able and responsible people who are not primarily

interested in historical work are, nevertheless, conscious of its value and are

willing, even glad, to aid in the promotion of historical programs in such

ways as material contributions, monetary donations and endowments, and

legal action.

Norman Dohn, Sunday editor of the Columbus Dispatch, from his paper

"Publicity and Public Relations":

Often the key to a good story is being able to tie in the historical with a

current event or development. That removes history from the abstract and

projects it into the present or even into the future. ... As for public

relations, I think it would be well to invite the press to your museum or

society meetings. . . . If you are a do-nothing organization, you can't hope

to get much attention from the press.

Fred J. Milligan, trustee of the Ohio Historical Society, newly elected

president of the Franklin County Historical Society, and Columbus attorney,

from his paper "Laws: Present and Desirable":

Section 307.23 of the Revised Code of Ohio provides that the board of

county commissioners may appropriate funds to the historical society of the

county to be used for the promotion of historical work within the borders

of the county, and for the collection, preservation, and publication of

historical material, and to disseminate historical information of the county,

and in general to defray the expense of carrying on historical work in such

county. . . . It also provides that such funds may not be used for the

construction of buildings; however, Attorney General O'Neill, in an opinion

to the prosecuting attorney of Medina County rendered April 20, 1953,

ruled that a county historical society may use the money paid to it under

Section 307.23, Revised Code, to purchase an old house for the purpose of

preserving said house as an example of early architecture, and, as an incident

thereto may use said house as a place of storage and display for its col-

lection of historical relics.

Attorney Milligan stressed the need for legislation to create an historical

markers and signs commission.

Robert C. Wheeler, field representative of the Ohio Historical Society,

Columbus, from his paper "A United Approach":

The organization I represent has a deep and constant interest in you and

in what you are doing, realizing that we are all working toward the same

goal. . . . The possibilities for all of us in the field of state and local

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LOCAL AND STATE HISTORY 87

history are tremendous. . . . The greatest single strategy in this institute

will be sharing.

In all of the papers, of course, only the high spots were hit, but we feel

reasonably sure that those who attended came away with substance. The

literature table was a busy place for "collectors" following the meeting.

During the luncheon program, Richard S. Fatig, superintendent of state

memorials of the Ohio Historical Society, gave the history and significance

of the Newark Earthworks, at which site the institute was being held.

Completing the noon program was a color-sound movie, "The Presence of

Our Past." This excellent film was produced for the State Historical Society

of Wisconsin, and told the how and why not only of that society, but of

the many local historical groups in action throughout the state. Outstanding

portions of the film, so far as the institute was concerned, were those dealing

with local societies and the emphasis on working with schools.

The afternoon session, with Eugene D. Rigney presiding, was a kind of

workshop, with many delegates getting down to cases as to their particular

problems and needs. The morning speakers served as a resource panel.

Audience participation was spontaneous, there was much enthusiasm and

good humor, and the nature and number of questions indicated an interest

in all subjects. Many questions showed particular concern with finances and

county appropriations to local historical societies. "At what stage should a

newly formed society request county funds? What is the procedure? Does

the present law permit an historical society to get an actual money appropri-

ation from county commissioners or must they submit bills for commissioners

to approve and pay? Which plan is desirable? Can more than one historical

society in a county receive funds from the county? What is the best way

to preserve such important papers as valuable old letters?"

The session also heard suggestions for the next institute: I would like to

see a workshop on establishing a museum; the training of a curator for a

county museum; how to cooperate with groups in the community interested

in historical projects; what kind of incentive can be offered to gain new

members, especially young people; how to define and initiate a collecting

program for a county historical society; projects that the historical society

could sponsor; demonstration of methods and materials to stimulate interest

in local history; exhibit techniques; labeling; the purpose of a county his-

torical society; a closer working relationship between county historical

societies and the schools; how to refuse items without offending the

prospective donor.

At 3 P. M. the formal portion of the institute was adjourned and the