Thirty-fourth Annual Meeting 407
various mounds and parks. He
congratulated the Society on
its work, and stated this meeting will
give him renewed en-
thusiasm.
Mr. Randall stated that the Historical
Commission of Ohio,
was appointed without legal authority, a
year ago last January
or February, by Governor Cox; it is
simply a committee acting
voluntarily. The purpose is to gather at
once the material and
data of the activities of Ohio in
connection with the Great War.
This includes Y. M. C. A., Red Cross,
Knights of Columbus,
enlistments, war chests and similar
activities. The committee
consisted of nineteen, mostly the
professors of history in the
different colleges. That committee has
acted as an adjunct, so
to speak, to this Society, owing to the
fact that I, being secretary
of this Society, was made ex officio a
member. We furnished
them with quarters in this building.
Prof. A. M. Schlesinger
was made chairman of the commission. He
has resigned and
now lives in another state. He acted
also as secretary of the
commission. The officers of the commission requested Mr.
Felch to come and take his place here.
He will now read his
report.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY TO THE OHIO
HISTORICAL COMMISSION.
The writer of this statement of the
condition of the archives
of the Historical Commission of Ohio,
has been in the office as
executive secretary of the Commission
for only two short
months, and can not, therefore, give
anything more than a cur-
sory and insufficient report of the
work.
Owing to the retirement of Dr. Arthur M.
Schlesinger, the
duties thereof have devolved upon the
Acting Chairman, Dr.
E. O. Randall, from whom a full report
can be expected at the
end of the year.
The Historical Commission was appointed
by Governor
James M. Cox in February, 1918. The members
designated to
conduct its work were, in the main, the
leading historical pro-
fessors of all the colleges and
universities of the State. This
Commission has since been augmented by the
appointment of a
series of County Chairmen, acting under
the instructions of
the State Chairman, to gather all
available material in the coun-
ties that might otherwise be thrown
away.
The only complete and satisfactory
history of any county's
participation in the war can be printed,
after it has been edited
or largely compiled from the archives of
the State Commission.