Ohio History Journal

HISTORICAL NEWS

 

Historical Societies

 

ALLIANCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Alliance

Dorothy S. Donaldson, President

Six scrapbooks on the Alliance Centennial of 1950 compiled by mem-

bers of the society have been completed and turned over to the Alliance

Chamber of Commerce, the Alliance Review, the Carnegie Library, Mount

Union College Library, and the Alliance Historical Society. The project of

placing bronze markers at historic sites is being continued.

The society holds its meetings three times a year. At the meeting on

March 31, 1951, Mrs. Elizabeth Zurbrugg was elected a member of the

board of trustees to fill the place of Miss Queenie Barnaby whose death

occurred last October.

 

BRECKSVILLE EARLY SETTLERS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, Brecksville

Benjamin P. Forbes, President

On June 9, Benjamin P. Forbes was elected president of the association

succeeding Ernest Green.

 

CLARK COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Springfield

Orton G. Rust, President

H. E. Freeman, Harris Miller, William D. Sprague, and John McKenzie

were recently elected directors of the society.

 

FIRELANDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Norwalk

James E. Dixon, Curator

At the annual meeting of the society on June 26, the following officers

were elected: Don J. Young, Jr., president; Earl H. Lowe, vice president for

Huron County; Charles Frohman, vice president for Erie County; Harriet G.

Lawton, secretary; James L. Wood, treasurer; and C. B. Gardiner, Dr. Robert

C. Gill, Earl H. Lowe, and Harry Bennett, trustees. James E. Dixon was

retained as curator.

The annual address was presented by Watt P. Marchman, director of

research, Hayes Memorial Museum and Library, Fremont. His talk dealt with

the history of Sandusky County.

 

 

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408      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

ASSOCIATED DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY

HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, Dayton

Roy G. Fitzgerald, President

At the meeting of the society on May 28, 1951, Roy G. Fitzgerald was

reelected president; William A. Pettit, elected first vice president; and Joseph

Sharts, reelected secretary-treasurer. The speaker on the occasion was Edith

Faries of the Dayton Public Library who reviewed the materials in the Day-

ton manuscript collection in the library.

Newcom Tavern, a historic log cabin on East Monument Avenue, Day-

ton, was opened to the public on Memorial Day.

 

FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Columbus

Charles A. Jones, President

The research department of the society is completing work on the special

issue of the Bulletin for October which will feature "Famous Pioneers of

Franklin County." It will be illustrated by photographs made by Dan F.

Prugh, curator. The department is also completing work on a brochure on

the Goodale Park Centennial, September 22 and 23.

Mr. Prugh recently made a trip to the Chicago Historical Society to in-

terview Mrs. Russell Holmes, educational director of that society. The

Franklin County society is working out an education program for the fourth

and fifth grades of Columbus and Franklin County schools.

The address by Philip D. Jordan, professor of history at the University

of Minnesota, "The Value of the History of the Local Community," given

at the society's first annual meeting was published for the society by the

Ohio State Medical Journal. Copies were mailed to members of the Federa-

tion of Ohio Historical Societies.

The calendar of lectures, seminars, and tours for the 1951-52 season

has been completed and published in the August Bulletin. Paul M. Angle,

director of the Chicago Historical Society, is scheduled to give the address

at the third annual meeting of the society on October 26.

 

GATES MILLS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Gates Mills

Tinkham Veale II, President

The society issued in May the first number of an eight-page bulletin.

The leading article was on the plank road running east from Cleveland

Heights approximately along present federal Route 322 built in 1877. The

article was written by Alfred Mewett, secretary of the society.

Recent acquisitions of the society include a stool used by Mrs. Holsey

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Historical News                       409

Gates, a water-color painting of the Gates house, and an early two-seated

sleigh, gifts respectively of Miss Hazel Sargent, Tinkham Veale II, and

Morton Stone.

At the annual election on August 8, Richard Seymour was elected treas-

urer to replace Carter Kissell. All other officers and trustees were reelected.

 

GREAT LAKES HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Cleveland

Clarence S. Metcalf, Executive Vice President

The annual meeting of the society was held on May 19. Speakers for

the meeting were Dr. T. H. Langlois whose topic was "Fish in Lake Erie,"

and Captain H. C. Inches who discussed "Radar Photographs Taken on Great

Lakes Ships."

New trustees elected at the meeting are Gerald Wellman, Cleveland,

to fill the place vacated by the death of Colonel Louis C. Sabin, and Dr.

Blake McKelvey, Rochester, N. Y., to replace John A. Lowe. Fred W. Dut-

ton was elected treasurer and Janet Coe Sanborn, assistant treasurer.

 

HAYES MEMORIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM, Fremont

Watt P. Marchman, Director of Research

The William L. Clements Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan, has made a

substantial donation of files of newspapers in the Hayes period to the Hayes

Memorial Library.

The library has secured microfilm copies of the Fremont (Ohio) Mes-

senger beginning June 1, 1925, until its merger with the News in October

1938, and of the Fremont News-Messenger since 1938, making a complete

microfilm file from 1925.

 

HIRAM TOWNSHIP HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Hiram

Clinton M. Young, President

A new Hiram Township Historical Society was organized on June 7,

1951, replacing an earlier society of the same name which had been dis-

banded. Officers elected for a one-year term are Clinton M. Young, presi-

dent; Mrs. William Squire, vice president; Mrs. Gerald E. Bennett, secretary;

and W. Reese Spencer, treasurer.

The immediate projects of the society include research work on early

settlers, schools, trails, roads, homes, land grants, inventors and inventions,

and the preservation of relics.

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410      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

LORAIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Elyria

Mrs. James B. Thomas, President

Francis X. Roellinger, Jr., of Oberlin addressed the society at its May

meeting on "Oscar Wilde in Cleveland." The June meeting was held at

the Raymond C. Vietzen home where Mr. Vietzen's latest archaeological

specimens were exhibited and discussed by Mr. Vietzen. In July eighty

members and friends of the society were guests of the Misses Virginia and

Eleanor Burrell in their Sheffield, Ohio, home which was built in 1817.

The society recently acquired by gift from Miss Caroline Monteith a col-

lection of data on her grandfather, the Rev. John Monteith, and her father,

John Monteith.

 

PORTAGE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Ravenna

Cyrus T. Plough, President

At a meeting of the newly organized Portage County Historical Society

in June officers were elected to succeed temporary officers elected on April

17. The new officials are Cyrus T. Plough, president; Mrs. J. R. Turner,

executive secretary; Fred Bloomhardt, vice president; Mrs. Iva B. Seymour,

recording secretary; J. B. Holm, historian; A. J. Lauderbaugh, treasurer; and

J. T. Johnson, curator. The trustees are Judge Albert L. Caris, Miss Merri-

ble Myres, Hugo H. Bietz, Ernest M. Jones, A. S. Roberts, E. J. Kline, Mrs.

Ora P. Taylor, Mrs. Edith Miller, and A. R. Horton.

 

PRESIDENT JAMES A. GARFIELD HOME, Mentor

F. M. Wood, Executive Secretary

President Garfield's campaign office on the grounds of the Garfield

Home at Mentor has been restored during the past year and was formally

reopened on June 24 with appropriate ceremonies. The principal address

at the rededication was made by Rudolph H. Garfield, great grandson of

President Garfield.

 

SHAKER HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Cleveland

Mrs. Harry D. Piercy, Secretary

The society sponsored a tour of historical Shaker sites in Shaker Heights

on September 8. The tour began at the site of the Center House of the

North Union Church Family and ended at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred

Gibson, where an authentic Shaker gate has been erected and two Shaker

wells have been restored.

The Shaker Business Men's Association held a street fair on September

19 at which there was an exhibition of early Shaker implements and tools.

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Historical News                       411

SHELBY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Sidney

George O. Harshbarger, Secretary

Three new trustees were elected at a general meeting on June 26. A. F.

Moon and the Rev. R. Wobus were named for three-year terms and Mrs.

Maude Carey for a one-year term to replace Paul Sherman, Dr. C. L. Hall,

and Judge Robert Eshman.

An illustrated lecture, including scenes from the Miami-Erie Canal, was

presented at the meeting by L. S. Pearson of Troy, Ohio.

 

SUMMIT COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Akron

Carl H. Pockrandt, President

The annual banquet of the society, held on June 21, featured an address

by Judge Earl R. Hoover on "Your Flag and Your National Anthem."

Music was furnished by the Seiberling Singers, a group of forty voices under

the direction of Clyde Reighard. No general meetings were held in July

and August.

The society's Bulletin has inaugurated a plan of publishing in a "Folk-

lore" column excerpts from family history contributed by members of the

society.

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

John A. Moore, Secretary-Treasurer

Don McVeigh of the history department of West Virginia University

was the speaker at a dinner meeting of the society on June 20.

The committee on the collection of photographs of local historical in-

terest is continuing its activity.

 

WARREN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Lebanon

Harry C. Schwartz, Sr., President

The society participated in the Warren County Centennial Fair and con-

tributed the history of the fair for the centennial fair programs.

The society's collection of documentary materials on early Warren

County has been augmented substantially by recent purchases.

 

WELLSVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Wellsville

Edwin V. Pugh, President

Miss Thelma Baum was appointed recording secretary and Miss Louella

Thompson was named treasurer on July 20 for one-year terms.

The society is planning numerous activities in the immediate future.

These include a Wellsville pilgrimage and motorcade to historic sites and

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412      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

the gathering of a collection of snapshots of events, local citizens, and family

and organization reunions for the society's "Photographs for Posterity."

Plans for participation in the Ohio Sesquicentennial are being made also.

Mr. Pugh represented the society on the history tour of Marietta on

July 21, sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania Historical Society, the Uni-

versity of Pittsburgh, and several Marietta groups.

About Historians

Irwin Abrams has been promoted to professor of history at Antioch

College. Louis Filler is returning to Antioch after a year at the University

of Bristol, England, on a Fulbright teaching fellowship.

The senior seminar in history at Antioch is increasingly concerned with

the history of the college and the utilization of the materials in the An-

tiochiana Collection in the library. Last year three papers were written using

these documents, two on the period of Horace Mann and one on the first

years of Arthur Morgan's administration.

 

Warren Beck, part-time instructor in history at Capital University, has

become an instructor in the department on a full-time basis.

 

Irene W. Meister has resigned her position as instructor in the depart-

ment of history at Miami University to accept a fellowship for the coming

year at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where she will complete work

for a Ph.D.

The Russo-American Affairs Institute and Conference, July 19-21, was

successful beyond expectations.

 

Theodore Fisch, instructor in history at Ohio State University, has been

granted a university research fellowship. He will be working in New York

on a biography of Horace Greeley during the coming year.

William Williams has been appointed instructor in history.

Clifford Morrison, formerly instructor in the department, has accepted

a position in historical research with the Air Materiel Command at Wright-

Patterson Air Force Base.

Charles Morley has been promoted to the rank of associate professor

of history. He has also been elected a corresponding member of the Polish

Institute of Arts and Sciences in America.

Harold Grimm, professor of history, contributed a chapter, "Luther,

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Historical News                          413

Luther's Critics and the Peasant Revolt," to Herman Ausubel's volume, The

Making of Modern Europe, published in New York.

Robert H. Bremner has been promoted to the rank of assistant professor.

 

Roman J. Zorn has been appointed acting assistant professor of history

at Ohio University for the year 1951-52.

The Sixth Annual Summer Conference on Current Problems was pre-

sented at Ohio University on July 30-31. This year's topic was "Russo-

American Foreign Policies in Europe Today." The principal speakers were

Lawrence C. Vass, who is officer in charge, political and military affairs,

Office of European Regional Affairs, Department of State, and Dr. Robert

J. Kerner, director of the Institute of Slavic Studies and professor of history

at the University of California.

 

Oliver H. Radkey of the University of Texas will be visiting professor

during the coming year at the University of Cincinnati, lecturing on Russian

history.

 

Willard A. Smith, assistant professor of history at the University of

Toledo, contributed an article, "The Diplomatic Background of the Spanish

Revolution of 1868" to The Historian, XIII, No. 2 (Spring 1951).

Randolph C. Downes, professor of history, is the author of Lake Port,

a volume published recently by the Historical Society of Northwestern Ohio.

 

Harvey Wish of the department of history at Western Reserve Uni-

versity, who taught during the summer session of the University of Michi-

gan, has a leave of absence for the first semester of 1951-52. Donald Grove

Barnes has a leave of absence for the second semester.

Three members of the department have been raised to the rank of full

professor: A. B. Erickson, John Hall Stewart, and Harvey Wish.

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