THE OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HIS-
TORICAL SOCIETY IN A CHANGING WORLD
By JAMES H. RODABAUGH
These are critical times when every
institution must look
well within itself and ask: Are we
necessary? Is our purpose
worthy? Do we contribute to the welfare
of a people at war?
Have we fulfilled our social
obligations? Are our plans for the
future well considered and in step with
social transformations?
Reduced to its simplest terms, the
purpose of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society is
to collect and preserve
the history of Ohio and make it
available to the people. The
Society meets its purpose in various
ways, by maintaining the
Ohio State Museum and Library in
Columbus and specialized
museums and memorials throughout the
State, by carrying on
research activities in Ohio history,
archaeology and natural his-
tory, by publishing materials pertaining
to Ohio history in books,
pamphlets and periodicals, by offering
an educational program for
public schools and radio and by
cooperation with State and
municipal agencies, local societies and
other groups.
History and tradition are forces which
unite the people of a
state or nation, give them a singleness
of purpose and a desire
to preserve their state and democracy.
In Ohio we are a mix-
ture of peoples; we are whites and
blacks, we are natives of every
part of Europe or descendants of
Europeans, we are of every
sort of religious faith and philosophy,
we are of differing and
sometimes conflicting traditions. The
cohesive force of Ohio's
memory unites this variant population in
loyalty and sentiment
and in the effort to build a better
home. The State Historical
Society, if it fulfills its
responsibility as custodian, reporter and
disseminator of Ohio's history, thus
establishes the base of social
integration and seeks to broaden it
through research and educa-
tional programs.
Our purpose is to recreate the past in
the minds of Ohioans
of today. We are, however, keenly aware
of the problems of
the present, and we seek to interpret
the past with a full con-
223
224
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
sciousness of life today. We try to aid
past experiences to guide
us through today and toward tomorrow.
It is not the writer's intention to
repeat a chronological
narrative of the Society. This has been
done in earlier issues of
the Quarterly and Museum
Echoes. This paper will attempt
rather to place the Society in its
proper perspectives, historical
and contemporary.
The history of the Society is in a sense
a reflection of social
change in Ohio. As the State has grown
and transformed from
an agricultural to an urban and
industrial economy, the Society
has advanced from a mere antiquarian
repository to a state-wide
organization with definite obligations
to the government and
citizens of Ohio.
Curiosity and amateur and scholarly
interest thrived upon the
rich field of Ohio history. The
earthworks and other remains
of the prehistoric Indians attracted the
attention of the early
travelers and settlers in the region.
Mounds and village sites
won the attention of the bungling
untrained digger, the dilettante
and the professional archaeologist and
ethnologist; the story of
the historic Indian, of the life of the
pioneer and the formation
of government in the Ohio region have
been subjects of fascina-
tion for the antiquarian, the
genealogist and the scientific his-
torian. Out of these interests arose
societies or associations for
the study of Ohio's archaeology and
history.
The interest in a State historical
society dates back at least
as far as 1822, when an Historical
Society of Ohio was incor-
porated by an act of the General
Assembly. It soon passed out
of existence and a new attempt at a
general organization was
made in the formation in 1831 of the
Historical and Philosophi-
cal Society of Ohio. Although born in
Columbus, this society
soon moved its headquarters to
Cincinnati, where it has since
served well as custodian of historical
resources, especially of the
Miami Valley. Other local pioneer and
historical associations
sprang up during the following years to
bulwark the next effort
to form a State society.
These were the days of Henry Howe,
Ohio's most famous
and most popular historian. Howe was a
chronicler of events
SOCIETY IN CHANGING WORLD 225
and a reporter of detail of human
interest. He traveled through-
out the State, recording the stories and
traditions of the pioneers
of each county. Lacking the critical
judgment of the profes-
sional historian, he often adapted false
tradition into his story as
fact. His work as recorder and reporter
was of value in itself,
since few others were playing this role.
His writings, however,
must be used with a critical eye to
eliminate the false from the
true.
The State Historical Society originated
in somewhat of this
tradition. A band of men interested in
Ohio's mounds and pre-
historic peoples met in Mansfield in
1875 to form the State
Archaeological Association of Ohio.
Among the leaders were
Charles Whittlesey, Stephen D. Peet, M.
C. Read and Isaac
Smucker. Of the group probably
Whittlesey was the most
scientific minded or the least fanciful.
The essential interest in
Ohio archaeology at the time was a
fantastic or mystical con-
ception of the prehistoric peoples. In
general, there was little
effort made to analyze earthworks and
artifacts in terms of an
understanding of the cultures of the
Indians of the period im-
mediately preceding white contact. The
Mound Builders were a
people unto themselves, separate and
distinct from the Indians.
They were believed to have a high type
of civilization, large
cities surrounded by great fortification
walls. Here was a won-
derful field for conjecture. The Mound Builders, apparently
dropped from the heavens to people the
Ohio Valley thousands
of years ago, disappeared like the
dinosaurs. The shapes of the
earthworks they built took all sorts of
meanings in the fertile
imaginations of men like the Reverend
Stephen Peet. The pages
of the Quarterly carry an
interpretation of Serpent Mound, des-
ignating that barren area in Adams
County as the Garden of
Eden and the effigy mound as the
representation of the serpent
of temptation left by the hand of God.
The author found the
dawn of modern civilization in Asia
Minor all right. He took
care of this by transporting Noah and
his family in the Ark from
Adams County to Mount Ararat during the
Biblical flood. The
artifacts of the Mound Builders had
little meaning as implements
of economy; but they took on rare values
as collectors' items.
226
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
But there has to be a beginning, and
American archaeology
got its big start in the Ohio region.
The antiquarian archae-
ologists had the fine preliminary works
of Caleb Atwater and
Squier and Davis as a foundation for
their activities. Some of
them didn't pay much attention to these
studies. Nevertheless,
the work of these Ohio archaeologists
after 1875 was of value.
They recorded earthworks since
obliterated by the advance of
civilization, and their very interest in
Ohio's prehistory prepared
the way for more scientific studies. The
chief tangible contribu-
tion of the State, Archaeological
Association was the collection of
artifacts for the Ohio exhibit at the
Centennial Exposition at
Philadelphia in 1876.
When this organization became
inoperative, a number of its
members and others banded together in
1885 to form a State
society with the broader interest of
general Ohio history as well
as archaeology. It was a rather imposing
organization with the
purpose "of promoting a knowledge
of Archaeology and History,
especially in Ohio," by maintaining
a library and museum, offer-
ing courses of lectures, and publishing
books, papers and docu-
ments pertaining to Ohio. Among the
Society's first members
were President Hayes, Allen G. Thurman,
Joseph B. Foraker
and Charles Foster, well known Ohio
political figures, members
of the Cutler, Dana, Dawes, Tiffin and
other families prominent
in the State's early history, college
and university professors,
amateur archaeologists and historians.
The emphasis upon the
archaeological interest is apparent in
the membership of the noted
archaeologists, Frederic Ward Putnam, of
Peabody Museum, and
Major John W. Powell and Cyrus Thomas of
Smithsonian Insti-
tution.
The last decade of the nineteenth
century saw the beginnings
of a great transformation in Ohio's
social and economic life. The
central geographical position of the
State in relation to other parts
of the country, the availability of raw
materials, the development
of transportation facilities and other
technological advances, and
the growth of population combined to
convert Ohio's agricultural
economy into one predominantly
industrial and urban in charac-
ter. It was a transmutation from a
simple, more or less static,
SOCIETY IN CHANGING WORLD 227
rural society to a highly complex social
organization in which
science and technology are ruling
forces. It was a change from a
period in which the mentality was
controlled by highly emotional
religions to a period of rationalism,
empiricism and pragmatism.
Acceptance on faith was replaced with
the desire for knowledge
of what, whence, why and how. New values
are concerned with
utility and human development.
History has taken on new meaning in the
twentieth century.
It is no longer a mere recorder of
events. It delves below the
event and within it, seeking to
understand why and how it hap-
pened, what its meaning or significance
was in its time and what
its relationship to the present may be.
The historian is no longer
solely reporter; he is as well
anthropologist, sociologist, psycholo-
gist, economist, political scientist and
philosopher. But he is
more than this. Indeed, the historian is
teacher and, shall we
say, propagandist. For through the
exercise of his powers of
technique and criticism, he selects
values to pass on to his read-
ers and students. He commends the
virtues of democracy; he
teaches, at least by implication,
loyalty to the constitution and
government of nation and state; he
preaches the benefits of in-
dividual freedom at the same time
recognizing the need of greater
integration, especially on the economic
plane.
The State Historical Society is the
historian of the masses
of the State's citizenry. Its
responsibility is greater than the
simple housing of a store of artifacts.
It must make these arti-
facts talk, teach, explain. In the field
of archaeology in the past
twenty years the Society has made great
advances. The earlier
explorations of Warren K. Moorehead and
William C. Mills
formed the foundation for further work
by Henry C. Shetrone,
Emerson F. Greenman, and Richard G.
Morgan. The prehistoric
Indians have come out of the mist of
conjecture and fantasy. They
have taken their places in Ohio
prehistory as distinct and easily
recognizable cultures. They are no
longer mystifying Mound
Builders, but Indians of the Adena,
Hopewell, Fort Ancient and
other cultures, whose modes of living in
general are not unknown
to us now. Science has contributed
techniques which are the
means of understanding.
228 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
The historic period perhaps has not felt
the same concentra-
tion of effort until within recent
years. Nevertheless, the Society
has prepared the way for development of
its history field. The
Library is a storehouse of valuable
items which pertain to the
State of Ohio, books, manuscripts, State
archives and newspapers.
Furthermore, the Society has passed on
knowledge of the State's
history in publications, including the Quarterly,
now in its fifty-
fourth volume, the Ohio Historical
Collections, a series of eleven
volumes, the recent six-volume History
of the State of Ohio,
edited by Dr. Wittke, and many other
monographs and booklets.
Finally, the museums of the Society at
Columbus, Zoar and
Marietta, as well as reproductions at
Schoenbrunn and Fort Re-
covery, tell portions of the story of
Ohio through exhibition means.
It is not amiss here, perhaps, to beg
indulgence for certain lapses
in the exhibit work. Manpower shortages
can hit museums as
well as industry. Historical research
has not been given the
emphasis that some Ohio historians would
like to see. Plans are
on foot to build the research program,
to carry on studies within
the institution and to carry research
problems with offered assist-
ance and guidance to the several
graduate schools within the State.
The problem of reaching the people, of
preserving their his-
tory and teaching it is a large one. The
Society has only partially
solved it. Through its educational
service it reaches fifty or sixty
thousand school children a year with
loan collections of artifacts
and photographs. This does not include
the museum instruction
program of Columbus schools. The weekly
radio broadcast over
WOSU reaches into the school rooms and
homes of thousands of
youngsters. The lecture courses at the
Ohio State Museum attract
several hundred people annually.
The most potent force of the Society in
reaching beyond the
bounds of Columbus is the Division of
State Memorials. Oper-
ating 46 properties of historical
interest throughout Ohio, its in-
fluence is felt in all sections. Since
its reorganization in 1938-39,
it has become an important factor among
the historical, conser-
vational and recreational facilities of
the State. Today localities
look to the Division for guidance and
assistance in preserving
SOCIETY IN CHANGING WORLD 229
their historical interests. Legislators
are constantly approaching
the Society, asking that it become
custodian of properties in their
districts.
The advance or growth of the Society is
apparent from an
analysis of the value of its properties
and its receipts and disburse-
ments. In 1925 the Society's permanent
investment was estimated
at around $950,000. Today the estimate
is placed at the $5,000,000
mark. Total receipts of $114,932.11 in
1926, jumped to $238,-
458.41 in 1944. The Society serves the
citizens of the State, it
cooperates with various offices and
agencies of the State and local
governments, it assists historical
societies and other organizations.
During the past year, it helped develop
the plans for the Anthony
Wayne Memorial Parkway, at the request
of the Joint Legislative
Committee. With the outbreak of World
War II, it sponsored
the official collecting agency of
records of Ohio in the war, namely,
the Ohio War History Commission.
The Society has by no means achieved
perfection. It has
advanced slowly and experimentally. If
any serious criticisms
were to be directed at it, perhaps they
would fall along this line.
There is some apparent lack of
integration within the organiza-
tion itself. In these days when we are
forced to be planning-
conscious, it may be that the absence of
a clearly defined program
is more readily perceived. While there
is some tangent-running,
nevertheless, the record of achievement
of the departments is
good.
The Society finds itself today with a
firm standing in the
educational realm. It has grown as Ohio
has become a great State,
from a mere group of men with an
antiquarian interest in Ohio's
history, into an institution with a
social-mindedness and an aware-
ness of its obligations in the field of
education. It is no longer a
mere storehouse of miscellaneous items;
it is now philosopher,
scientist and teacher.
THE OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HIS-
TORICAL SOCIETY IN A CHANGING WORLD
By JAMES H. RODABAUGH
These are critical times when every
institution must look
well within itself and ask: Are we
necessary? Is our purpose
worthy? Do we contribute to the welfare
of a people at war?
Have we fulfilled our social
obligations? Are our plans for the
future well considered and in step with
social transformations?
Reduced to its simplest terms, the
purpose of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society is
to collect and preserve
the history of Ohio and make it
available to the people. The
Society meets its purpose in various
ways, by maintaining the
Ohio State Museum and Library in
Columbus and specialized
museums and memorials throughout the
State, by carrying on
research activities in Ohio history,
archaeology and natural his-
tory, by publishing materials pertaining
to Ohio history in books,
pamphlets and periodicals, by offering
an educational program for
public schools and radio and by
cooperation with State and
municipal agencies, local societies and
other groups.
History and tradition are forces which
unite the people of a
state or nation, give them a singleness
of purpose and a desire
to preserve their state and democracy.
In Ohio we are a mix-
ture of peoples; we are whites and
blacks, we are natives of every
part of Europe or descendants of
Europeans, we are of every
sort of religious faith and philosophy,
we are of differing and
sometimes conflicting traditions. The
cohesive force of Ohio's
memory unites this variant population in
loyalty and sentiment
and in the effort to build a better
home. The State Historical
Society, if it fulfills its
responsibility as custodian, reporter and
disseminator of Ohio's history, thus
establishes the base of social
integration and seeks to broaden it
through research and educa-
tional programs.
Our purpose is to recreate the past in
the minds of Ohioans
of today. We are, however, keenly aware
of the problems of
the present, and we seek to interpret
the past with a full con-
223