Ohio History Journal


THE EDITOR'S PAGE

THE EDITOR'S PAGE

Publications In Ohio History1

Professor Weisenburger has efficiently reviewed the published

writings of Ohio historians for the past two decades. Since his last

article in 1945, the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quar-

terly has carried annual listings of writings in Ohio history. A

glance at these lists will not disclose many important works, works

which will stand for years as thorough and basic contributions to the

state's historiography. There is Harlan Hatcher's Lake Erie, pub-

lished in 1945, which offers a broad portrait of northern Ohio and

its great artery of traffic. Elbert J. Benton concluded the third

volume of his cultural history of Cleveland in 1946. James Ripley

Jacobs' study of the Beginnings of the U. S. Army 1783-1812 is

largely devoted to the Ohio scene. However, it hardly measures up to

the standards of mature historical scholarship. Walter Havighurst

attempted to tell the story of the history of the Old Northwest for

the general public, a worthy volume marred by the author's lack of

knowledge of the adequacy of his sources. There are a few other

book-length studies such as Frederick R. Waite's Centennial History

of the School of Medicine of Western Reserve University and other

writings in local history. The historical society in these years turned

out two bibliographies: Arthur D. Mink's Union List of Ohio News-

papers Available in Ohio (1946), and Richard G. Morgan's and

James H. Rodabaugh's Bibliography of Ohio Archaeology (1947).

An important volume in archaeology, The Adena People, by William

S. Webb and Charles E. Snow of the University of Kentucky, was a

major contribution in the study of the precontact Indians of Ohio

and other parts of the West and the South.

There were numerous minor writings and articles. In the field of

archaeology, Morgan's Fort Ancient presents new facts and interpre-

tations on the builders and the construction of that hilltop earth-

works. Norris Schneider's booklet on Blennerhassett Island tells a

detailed and factual story of the Blennerhassett family and the Burr

 

1 Delivered as a paper at the annual meeting of the Ohio Academy of History

held in Columbus, April 9, 1948.

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