Ohio History Journal

PROCEEDINGS                        287

 

MR. STOUT: To honor Mr. Sater I think it would be very

fitting that these resolutions become a part of the Minutes of our

Society.  Will someone make a motion to that effect?

A motion was made by Mr. Spetnagel and seconded by Mr.

Roof that these resolutions be made a part of the Minutes of the

Society. The motion was unanimously carried.

Mr. Spetnagel, chairman of the Nominating Committee, then

made the following report: "Speaking for your Nominating

Committee, I wish to propose for trustees for the ensuing term of

three years the following names: Dr. Carl Wittke, head of the

Department of History in Ohio State University, Chief Justice

Carl V. Weygandt, and, lastly, the reelection of our very efficient

treasurer, Mr. Oscar F. Miller."

By motion the secretary was instructed to cast a unanimous

ballot of the Society approving the report of the committee,

which was done.

Before adjournment, announcements concerning the after-

noon program were made and the attention of those present was

called to the loan exhibit now on display in the Museum building

which was made by WPA to illustrate the value of farm and

market roads; also to the original desk of Benjamin Hanby upon

which he wrote a number of his poems. This is of especial in-

terest just now since the Society has, during the year, acquired

the Hanby home in Westerville as a State historical monument.

The meeting then adjourned to reconvene at two o'clock.

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF

TRUSTEES OF THE OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL

AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, HELD APRIL 21, 1936.

The regular annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society convened in the Trustees' Room

of the Ohio State Museum at one P. M., Tuesday, April 21, 1936.

In the absence of the president and first vice-president of the Board,

Mr. Wilber Stout, second vice-president, called the meeting to order.

Members present were: Messrs. Stout, Miller, Rightmire, Spetnagel,

Wolfe and Florence. Governor Davey was officially represented by Con-

servation Commissioner Larry Wooddell. Director Shetrone and Secre-

tary Lindley were also present.

The Minutes of the adjourned meeting of April 9, 1936, were read

and approved.

The committee appointed to consider the possibility of ways and means

for securing the Bimeler property at Zoar for a State historical monument

and museum reported that they had continued their investigations and, after

having advised with the attorney general, approved of a plan providing for

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the creation of a Zoar Foundation, consisting of nine members, representing

the interests of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, the

Zoar Historical Society and the Tuscarawas County Historical Society,

which would be incorporated as a non-profit-making corporation, with

power to proceed in securing the property under consideration for permanent

preservation, and to make final disposition of the property after it was

secured and paid for, in such a way as to guarantee its preservation as a

permanent historical memorial.

By motion this report was approved, and the way cleared for such a

foundation to be organized.

The members then proceeded to the election of officers for the ensuing

year, as follows:

President, Arthur C. Johnson, Sr.

First Vice-President, Freeman T. Eagleson

Second Vice-President, Wilber Stout

Secretary, Harlow Lindley

Treasurer, Oscar F. Miller.

By motion of Mr. Miller, seconded by Dr. Rightmire, all members of

the present staff of the Society were reelected.

Upon the suggestion of Director Shetrone, it was moved and carried

that plans be made for a special call meeting of the Board to be held early

in the summer, at one of our State parks, preferably at the Hayes Memo-

rial, Fremont, to discuss a policy for the development of our historical

monuments.

The meeting then adjourned.

HARLOW LINDLEY, Secretary.

Afternoon Session--2 P. M.

The afternoon session convened at 2 P. M. The first feature

of the program was the presentation of a series of sound movies

which had been prepared by the Educational Department of the

Standard Oil Company of Ohio. The first of these, entitled

"Historical Ohio," crowded into one reel, in chronological se-

quence, some of the major events of historical importance in the

State. Beginning with the pre-historic remains of the Mound

Builders the picture follows through the time of the Indians, the

early period of settlement, the War of 1812, and later events.

This reel was followed by one, entitled "The Sohio Sketch Book,"

dealing with matters of interest in the State. The third reel,

entitled "Beautiful Ohio," started with a view of the State Capitol

Building in Columbus, and presented in succession, scenes from

Mill Creek Park, Youngstown, Nelson Ledges, the beauties of

Hocking County, the Ohio Caverns, views of interest in Cincin-

nati and Cleveland, the Blue Hole at Castalia, and, finally, sunset

on the Ohio River.

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PROCEEDINGS                           289

The guest speaker of the day was Mr. Wilbur D. Peat,

director of the John Herron Art Institute, of Indianapolis, who

spoke on the subject, "The Museum and Library in Modern Edu-

cation," parts of which follow:

 

The place that the museums and public libraries occupy in contempo-

rary life is so well known to curators and librarians that any further

comment is unnecessary, and instead of reviewing their achievements for

you here I would prefer to point out certain dangers that might result

from uniting their functions under one roof or from correlating their activ-

ities where the benefits are not mutual.

Museums and public libraries hold their important place in modern

education by virtue of possessing the most effective seeds of education--

books and objects--and by virtue of their approach to the public. Their

appeal is universal and they offer a kind of service that cannot be obtained

elsewhere. They believe in education, yet they do not maintain regular

class rooms, teaching staffs nor lesson plans, as do our schools and col-

leges. They delight in disseminating information, yet they see the necessity

of supplying certain forms of entertainment. And they constantly feel the

urge of devising new schemes for reaching a larger and wider audience.

In these respects they are mutual and except for the character of their

collections their problems are similar enough, in this light, to make some

people wonder if the two institutions would not do more effective work

if their resources were pooled. This feeling is strengthened by the fact

that the workers in one field show a strong desire to assist those in the

other, as seen in the many instances where public libraries have served as

foster parents to small museums and where museums have generously lent

their collections and staff members to the public libraries. But would the

union of administrative and functional activities produce a more effective

educational institution?  The answer, I believe, lies in an analysis of the

basic function of the two.

In their philosophy toward their material, the curator and librarian

are so opposed that it is reasonable to assume that a combination of their

functions would not be successful. A successful librarian must have abso-

lute faith in books. He must believe that books are the ultimate, unques-

tionable sources of knowledge and the greatest factors in acquiring informa-

tion or enjoyment. If he is a good librarian he must never question the

power of the printed page in leading humanity to boundless worldly goods

and aesthetic pleasures. He must agree with Andrew Carnegie, that libraries

"reach the aspiring and open to those the chief treasures of the world."

The museum worker, on the other hand, has an instinctive doubt in the

printed page. His natural tendency is to question the written account of

an event and to return to the source material--the objects themselves. The

history of mankind, for him, is in things, not in books, and the "chief treas-

ures of the world" are the objects that have been brought into the museums

for preservation and study.  This difference in the structure of the two

minds will always keep the museum and library apart, particularly if they

desire to be effective educational agencies, and it is reasonable to assume

that no single person can combine two opposite mental states such as these,

unless he is a very rare individual.

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It is obvious, of course, that both the curator and librarian see the

value of the other person's material.  Museums are constantly increasing

their own libraries--devoted, for the most part, to the subjects in which

they specialize--and many libraries form  collections of objects, ranging

from old paintings to specimens of minerals; but they do not use the

material in the same way.

This is clearly seen in the case of the library. With a few excep-

tions, the library collects and borrows material for the purpose of illus-

trating certain books or of increasing the public's interest in reading along

certain lines.  The science that underlies collecting in a certain field,

including history, research and preservation, is either unknown to the

librarian or is too involved for his limited time. In other words, the most

effective material for him is the material that has already been collected,

classified and catalogued.

It has already been pointed out that the process of turning from

passive guardians of old books and specimens to aggressive promoters of

educational material the museums and libraries have adopted new tactics

and new methods. The scope of their collections and the quality of scholar-

ship has not changed as much as the manner of presenting this material

to the public. Display, information, and publicity--common to both--have

undergone revolutionary changes and now offer fields for mutual assist-

ance. The library has realized, for some time, the value of objects for

increasing the interest in certain books. These, combined with posters,

pictures, stuffed birds and foreign curios serve as graphic illustrations

and tend to increase the public's desire to follow up certain subjects. Mu-

seums and private collectors have been generous in their loans, but it

should be pointed out that there is danger in increasing this service. The

effectiveness of museum material decreases in proportion to the extent of

its distribution outside of the galleries. This point deserves more am-

plification than can be given to it here. However this matter of display

can be worked out in such a way as will benefit both: by the careful

planning in advance of the scope of the collection, its function in the

library, its importance to the museum, and with as much emphasis on the

quality of the objects themselves as upon the books dealing with the

subject. By introducing its wares to the public, through the libraries, the

museums can reach a wider audience than they now possess, but they must

be certain that their wares will bring people to the museum to see more

complete and more important displays in their proper setting. The museum

and library can do much more together in arousing interest in more whole-

some subjects, and in helping people to actually look at things--an art that

is almost entirely lost in the twentieth century--to observe objects and

deduct certain facts from them without having to refer to books first.

For their part the museums can devise effective plans for calling

their visitors' attention to the books in the public library dealing with the

subject under consideration. Labels, amplified to include certain references

and book titles, or additional gallery standards, showing book-jackets and

giving bibliographies, can be very effective. Such a plan as this would

increase the effectiveness of each building and make the public realize that

a very definite correlation exists between them.

In many more ways the public libraries and museums could be mu-

tually beneficial, and by holding frequent conferences the curator and

librarian could devise many schemes for making their material more at-

tractive to the community. Up to this time the popularity of the former

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PROCEEDINGS                          291

 

has eclipsed the latter but with the growing belief in the value of visual

material in education, it is reasonable to assume that more and more

demands will be made on the museums, and the libraries will resort to

their sister institution for more help if they want to vitalize their position

in the community. For this reason both must fully understand their basic

similarities and natural differences--and act accordingly.

These brief remarks have been designed to point out the similarities

in the approach of the two institutions toward the public, their mutual

desire to help one another, their belief in the usefulness of the other's

material and the underlying differences in their ideals. It is natural that

in an age of efficiency attempts will be made to form unions, even of

library and museum workers. But it is reasonable to assume that more

effective work will not be achieved by merely adding museum galleries to

already existing libraries and by extending museum buildings to include

public libraries. Their common meeting ground is not in the domain of

institutional activities, but in the field of indirect popular education.

The final feature of the day's program was the singing, by

the entire audience, of "Ohio, the Beautiful."

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