Ohio History Journal

HISTORICAL NEWS

 

Historical Organizations

 

AMERICAN JEWISH ARCHIVES, Cincinnati

Jacob R. Marcus, Director

Herbert Bronstein has been appointed assistant to the director. His ap-

pointment became effective in June.

In celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of the arrival of the

first Jews in America the archives has published a special, large tercentenary

issue of the American Jewish Archives, a second part to which will appear

in January 1955. In the next few weeks the first of a new series of books

to be published by the archives will appear: Eventful Years and Experiences

by Dr. B. W. Korn. Several other volumes are in preparation, including an

exhaustive dictionary of eighteenth-century Jewish biography. Also being

prepared for publication are an index to the Publications of the American

Jewish Historical Society from volume 20, an index to Occident, and a

catalog of books and articles by Jews and relating to them. The last will

appear in the late fall of 1954. A book of genealogies of Jews is being

compiled by Rabbi Malcolm Stern.

 

BRECKSVILLE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, Brecksville

Benjamin P. Forbes, President

The present curators of the museum are Marion Conant McPherson and

Margaret Conant. They succeeded Mr. and Mrs. Harold Wallin, who re-

signed.

 

CLINTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Wilmington

C. Clayton Terrell, President

The society has an option on a property in Wilmington and is at present

soliciting money to purchase it as a permanent home.

 

CRESTLINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY, Crestline

Ernest G. Hesser, President

The Crestline Shunk Museum was opened especially for the district con-

vention of the American Legion, which met in Crestline in July. Attendance

at the museum has been very good during the summer. Its collections have

been augmented by many recent gifts.

The weekly paper, the Crestline Advocate, continues to print a front-page

column on the activities at the museum and the history of the area.

407

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408     Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

DARKE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Greenville

J. Lendall Williams, President

Gertrude Holzapfel has been named curator of the Garst Museum to

replace Margaret Stoltz. Mrs. Stoltz was elected a member of the board of

directors to fill the unexpired term of Earl Lakin.

 

DELAWARE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Delaware

Wyford Jones, President

On May 2 the society conducted its first annual pilgrimage. Places visited

included St. Peter's Episcopal Church, the homes of Mr. and Mrs. Robert

Powers, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dennison, Mr. and Mrs. Wyford Jones, and

the Mansion House on the Ohio Wesleyan University campus. The last stop

on the tour was the William Street Methodist Church, where refreshments

were served. A printed folder with brief descriptions of the places visited

was distributed.

Programs during the past year have included a showing of paintings by

Sallie Thomson Humphreys with comments by the artist and papers on a

number of subjects of local historical interest. Among the papers were ones

on the Thomson family by W. D. Thomson; on horse and buggy doctors of

the county by Mrs. C. Lowell Johnson; on present-day handicraft in the

county by Mrs. Paul Cunningham and committee; and on the gallant Forty-

niners by Mrs. George Pugh.

The March meeting, held at the Powell Methodist Church, was devoted

largely to a history of the Powell community, papers being presented by

Ethel Crist, May Duffy, Minerva D. Case, Lucile Canfield, C. A. Risley, and

Carolyn Sauner.

Present officers of the society are Wyford Jones, president; Robert Powers,

vice president; Mrs. W. F. Hahnert, recording secretary; Dr. M. S. Chering-

ton, corresponding secretary; Bernard Hatten, treasurer; Dr. H. C. Hubbart,

research chairman; and Mrs. Walter Pabst, program chairman.

 

FAIRPORT HARBOR HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Fairport Harbor

Carroll C. Mitchell, President

At the meeting of the society on April 1 the following officers were elected

for one-year terms: Carroll C. Mitchell, president; Bernard L. Farmer, first

vice president; Frank Converse, second vice president; Alma W. Saari,

secretary; and Elma Converse, treasurer. George Gedeon and John Killinen

were elected trustees for three-year terms. The historian, Pearl Killinen, who

is elected for an indefinite term, serves also as acquisition clerk.

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Historical News                         409

 

The museum is open to the public on Sundays and holidays from May 30

to Labor Day each year. Officers and members serve as museum hosts, con-

ducting tours for school, club, and other groups.

 

FINDLAY COLLEGE MUSEUM, Findlay

Ida Hickernell, Director

The museum on the third floor of the main building of Findlay College

has recently been restored and enlarged. It is now open to the public on

Sunday afternoons and on special occasions.

The museum was started during the 1880's by William Taylor, a Hancock

County resident, who used as a nucleus a collection of Japanese relics as-

sembled by his brother, an early missionary to Japan. The collections now

include also American Indian relics, geological and mineralogical specimens,

bird collections, and East Indian relics.

A period room, 1835-75, contains early American furnishings which were

the property of Elder John Hickernell, grandfather of Ida Hickernell, the

director of the museum, who lent the materials for exhibition.

It is hoped to establish an alumni-sponsored room at the museum in the

near future.

Miss Hickernell is assisted by Glenna Whities Sanner, curator of the

museum.

 

FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Columbus

Frank A. Livingston, President

The society's sixth annual pilgrimage to historic sites in Franklin County

was an event of May 22. This year's tour visited sites in Blendon Township,

including the pioneer homestead of Gideon Hart and a historic dormitory

of old Central Presbyterian College. Special features were the dedication

of Central Cemetery, in which descendants of the first settlers of the town-

ship participated, and a picnic at Central College.

Two tours by chartered buses were sponsored by the society last summer.

The first tour, on June 12, was made to historic sites in Ross County, in-

cluding Mound City National Monument, Adena, and the Ross County

Museum. The second, a two-day tour on August 21-22, visited historic

points in and near Marietta.

The society's July-August Bulletin has announced the programs for the

1954-55 season. The season opened with a German Folk Festival in

Schiller Park on Saturday, October 2. All immigrant groups in the city

participated, but the occasion honored especially the German soldiers from

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410     Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

Columbus who fought in the Mexican War. The society's sixth annual

meeting will be held at the First Congregational Church, Friday, October 22.

H. E. Cherrington, former theater critic of the Columbus Dispatch will

speak on "Personalities of the Early Columbus Theater." Music will be

furnished by the chapel choir of Capital University. The theme of the

November meeting, which will be held at the Ohio State Museum, will be

"The Spinning Wheel and the Loom."

 

GREAT LAKES HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Cleveland

R. W. G. Wilson, President

The annual meeting of the society was held on June 5 at Hotel Cleveland

with seventy members and guests in attendance. The president announced

the adoption in May of a new code of regulations revising the number of

trustees and their terms and providing for a chairman of the board. Donald

C. Potts, president of the Pittsburgh steamship division of United States

Steel, was elected to this position. Colton Storm, director of the Western

Reserve Historical Society, was elected a new member of the board. All

other trustees were reelected.

During the session, Clarence S. Metcalf, curator of the society's new

Wakefield Museum at Vermilion, reported gratifying attendance at the

museum this summer, with as high as 150 in a single day.

The complete series of Wedgwood commemorative plates, "Historic Ships

of the Great Lakes," which is sponsored by the society is now available.

There are four plates of seagreen queensware bearing drawings by Rowley

Murphy of the Griffon, Niagara, Eureka, and Nancy, selling at $3.75 each

or $15.00 the set. The society has the exclusive right of sale in the United

States.

 

HAYES MEMORIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM, Fremont

Watt P. Marchman, Director

The library has recently obtained a very fine collection of papers of

Governor and Mrs. William Claflin of Massachusetts. The collection con-

tains about nine thousand pieces. Governor Claflin was a representative in

congress during the Hayes administration; Mrs. Claflin was a writer. They

were personal friends of President and Mrs. Hayes.

The wind storms in the spring caused some damage to Spiegel Grove.

Five or six trees were blown down and a few large limbs torn off. The

storm damage and the severe drought in the northern part of Sandusky

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Historical News                       411

 

County placed a heavy burden on the Hayes Memorial staff. Recent rains

have, however, made Spiegel Grove as beautiful as ever.

A considerable increase is noted in the number of groups visiting the

Hayes Museum and Library during the spring and summer, particularly

out-of-town clubs and organizations and school groups.

A special exhibition on Colonel George Croghan and early Fremont

history was opened in the museum on August 2 as part of Fremont's

Croghan Day Festival. The exhibition remained on display throughout the

month. The director served on the executive committee for the three-day

festival, wrote half of the official program, and gave talks before the local

Kiwanis and Rotary clubs on little-known facts about George Croghan.

The director had an article, "The Washington Visits of Jenny Halstead,"

in the July number of the Bulletin of the Historical and Philosophical So-

ciety of Ohio.

Patricia Smith has been appointed as secretary, effective June 1, replacing

Ruth Raifsnider, who resigned.

 

HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF OHIO, Cincinnati

Virginius C. Hall, Director

The society is planning to charter a bus (or buses) for a trip to Adena

on October 16. Members have been asked to sign up for the trip, and the

response is expected to be good. Cooperation is being given by the Ohio

Historical Society.

The society's annual meeting is scheduled for the evening of December

6 in the auditorium of the Cincinnati Art Museum.

 

LAKEWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Lakewood

Mrs. Clyde H. Butler, President

A "sneak" preview of the Stone House was held on August 11 for mem-

bers of the society to view the remodeled kitchen and the new period herb

and flower garden. In connection with this event, a garden party was given

at the home of one of the members, Mrs. C. R. Heilig, directly opposite

the Stone House.

 

MIAMI COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Troy

Leonard U. Hill, President

The Miami County Historical Society was organized in May 1954. Officers

elected to serve until the October meeting are as follows: Leonard U. Hill,

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412     Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

Piqua, president; Walter Anderson, West Milton, vice president; Mrs.

Hartman Kinney, Tipp City, secretary; and J. A. Thoma, Piqua, treasurer.

The society grew out of the county sesquicentennial committee and re-

ceived from that organization some cash and about two hundred copies of

the Miami County history published by the committee, to be sold for the

benefit of the historical society.

At its first regular meeting on July 12 Charles E. Drury of Van Wert

gave a talk on Indians. Several local troops of Boy Scouts participated in

the program by demonstrating Indian dances, the building of an Indian

bark cabin, and starting fire by primitive methods.

The society had a display of interesting documents pertaining to the

history of the county at the Miami County Fair in August.

 

MORGAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, McConnelsville

Maydell Alderman, President

The society was organized on November 30, 1953, with the following

officers: Maydell Alderman, president; William O. Porter, vice president;

Ruth F. Knechtges, secretary; Mrs. B. D. Richardson, treasurer. Mrs.

Richardson has since died, and Mrs. Knechtges resigned, but the positions

had not been filled at this writing.

 

OHIO ACADEMY OF HISTORY, Columbus

John S. Still, Secretary

The awards committee of the Ohio Academy of History is preparing to

select the most outstanding historical achievement by an Ohio historian in

1954. The award, which is announced annually at the April meeting of the

academy, is conferred in recognition of a book, a major research project, or

some comparable contribution to the field of history. Copies of historical

works published in 1954 or detailed descriptions of any other achievements

which would qualify, should be mailed by January 1, 1955, to Dr. Paul I.

Miller, chairman of the department of history, Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio.

Suggestions for awards may be made by persons other than the candidates.

 

OTTAWA COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM, Port Clinton

May Hesselbart, Curator

The curator reports that Paul F. Laning, president of the Erie County

Historical Society, has presented to the museum a manuscript embracing his

researches pertaining to the railroads of Ottawa County.

Joseph R. Prentice, superintendent of Perry's Victory National Monu-

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Historical News                       413

 

ment at Put-in-Bay, is the author of a manuscript on the Battle of Lake

Erie, Commodore Perry's ships, and related topics. He is available as a

speaker on these subjects.

PORTAGE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Ravenna

M. Herbert Heighton, President

The meeting of the society on May 28 was held in the town hall at

Charlestown. Charles Phile, who is eighty-seven, gave a history of the

Charlestown church built in 1829-32. He also sang "My Grandfather's

Clock." Hon. V. W. Filiatrault of Ravenna spoke on "Past Government

and Politics in Portage County."

On June 25 a meeting was held in the township hall at Kent with Mrs.

G. Frank Elgin, Mrs. Cecil Bumphrey, Mrs. James B. Holm, Sr., and Metta

Kunsman as hostesses. Lewis L. Burkhart, superintendent of Kent Public

Schools, gave a sketch of Kent's historic township hall, and John B.

Nicholson, Jr., librarian of Kent State University, gave an address on

"Adventures in Book Collecting."

The July 30 meeting at Fuller Park, Kent, featured a basket picnic and an

address on "Recollections of Kent State University" by Dean Raymond E.

Manchester.

 

RADNOR HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Radnor

George L. Pugh, President

The society holds a yearly meeting in November. A number of interest-

ing papers on the early history of Radnor, a Welsh settlement, have been

presented at past meetings and are on file in the society's collection.

 

SALEM HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Salem

George H. Bowman, Jr., President

The society is planning active participation with other city organizations

in Salem's sesquicentennial in 1956. A proposed organization chart for

setting up the celebration, prepared by President Bowman, was presented

to the members at the June meeting. Further plans were outlined at a

meeting in August.

 

SHAKER HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Cleveland

Caroline B. Piercy, Secretary

A number of pieces of Shaker furniture made at North Union Shaker

Community have been added to the museum collection, which was opened

to the members in October.

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414     Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

Current projects are the collection of pictures of North Union for screen

presentation and the preparation of a map of early Warrensville.

 

SHELBY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Sidney

George O. Harshbarger, Secretary

The society participated in the dedication of the memorial to Colonel

Hardin at Hardin, Ohio, on July 22.

 

SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF PIONEER RIVERMEN, Marietta

Frederick Way, Jr., President

The resources of the historical files of the organization were utilized in

compiling a new and enlarged edition of The Ohio River Handbook and

Picture Album edited by Benjamin and Eleanor Klein and published in

August 1954 by Young and Klein, Cincinnati. The new volume of 432

pages explores the Ohio River and its principal tributaries from pioneer

times to the present. Several members of this organization rendered volun-

teer assistance: Robert Thomas, Capt. Frederick Way, Jr., J. Mack Gamble,

Roy Barkhau, Lucilia Hock, and Andrew Lodder.

S. Durward Hoag, proprietor of the Hotel Lafayette, Marietta, has pre-

sented the Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen with a complete actual

pilothouse interior, including pilotwheel, signal indicators, steering levers,

bell pulls, and necessary hardware. Most of this was recovered from several

steamboats recently dismantled near Pittsburgh. When this pilothouse is

built in the River Museum, the illusion of reality will be vivid as the

spectator looks forward over the pilotwheel into a large photo mural in

full color. Mr. Hoag took the photograph from the pilothouse of a tow-

boat approaching Marietta, one of the most attractive locations along

the Ohio.

 

STARK COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Canton

Joseph M. Markley, President

E. T. Heald, historian of the society, spent the summer at Harvard Uni-

versity taking a course in the Institute of Historical and Archival Manage-

ment. One of the papers he prepared for this course was a "Comparison of

the Ohio and Massachusetts Historical Societies."

 

SUMMIT COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Akron

Carl Pockrandt, President

The annual banquet of the society was held on Thursday evening, June 17.

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Historical News                        415

 

Judge Donald F. Lybarger, judge of the court of common pleas of Cuyahoga

County, was the speaker.

The society has recently received a substantial fund as the gift of Mrs.

Crandall Morgan and is also the beneficiary of the estate of the late Mrs.

Carrie Koplin. These two funds will make possible several important

projects in the museums.

William D. Overman, director of the Library and Archives of the Fire-

stone Tire and Rubber Company, has been recently elected a trustee to fill

the unexpired term of Harlan Kent.

 

UNION COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Marysville

Clarence Hoopes, President

At a meeting of the society on August 6 plans were formulated for a

canvass for money to repair the Morey property, bequeathed to the society

last year. Repairs will cost an estimated $880, and a fund of $1,500 is

sought. Paul Hultz is responsible for organizing the membership and fund

drive in the various townships.

The officers of the society hope to develop a museum in the Morey home.

The society has the beginnings of a collection stored in the Marysville public

library, and other items have been promised when suitable housing is

available.

 

WARREN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Lebanon

Hazel S. Phillips, President

Positive copies of microfilmed court records of Warren County are being

made and filed by the society for research purposes.

The society encourages the study of history in the local high schools by

providing annual awards for outstanding work.

 

WELLSVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Wellsville

Edgar S. Davidson, President

In June the society sponsored a motorcade to Wheeling, West Virginia,

to visit the Oglebay Park and Museum. In July a tour of the Sandy and

Beaver Canal was sponsored.

On Friday, July 23, Arlene Scotton, past president of the society, ap-

peared on the "Look, Ladies" program over WSTV-TV, Steubenville, pre-

senting the story of the society and its river museum in an interesting

manner. She exhibited a number of items from the archives of the society

and the museum.

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416     Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

The University of Pittsburgh Press published in June A Traveler's Guide

to Historic Western Pennsylvania. The society's vice president, Edwin V.

Pugh, collaborated with Lois Mulkearn, librarian of the University of

Pittsburgh's Darlington Library, in collecting the material and writing this

valuable guide book.

 

WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Cleveland

Laurence H. Norton, President

Special exhibitions during the summer months have included selections

from Civil War collections (July), Mrs. Walter G. Nord's collection of

antique fans (August), and teaching aids (September).

The Women's City Club of Cleveland was entertained at the museum in

July with a tour, a talk by the director, and a tea. Another group, the

Collectors Club, held a picnic at the museum during the summer.

The society sponsored a historical tour to Marietta in June, one to Fremont

in July, and one to Poland and Canfield in August.

The director, Colton Storm, spoke at the annual meeting of the Brecks-

ville Historical Association in June, at the Cuyahoga Educational Association

workshop in July, and before the Women's City Club, also in July.

 

About Historians

Richard Griffin, who received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University in

June 1954, has been appointed instructor in history at Capital University

for the year 1954-55.

 

Erving E. Beauregard has been promoted to associate professor of history

at the University of Dayton. Prof. Beauregard has an article, "A Suggestion

to Professors," in the Winter, 1953-54, issue of the American Association

of University Professors Bulletin. He has participated as a panelist recently

in several television programs on international matters sponsored by the

Dayton Council on World Affairs.

 

Miss Helen Gray, professor of history and government at Lake Erie

College, who retired at the close of 1952 and in 1953 was on a trip to

Europe and the Near East, assisted with part-time teaching at the college

during the past academic year.

Philip L. Ralph, chairman of the department of social studies, was chosen

"Author of the Week" (week of August 2) by W. G. Rogers, book review

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Historical News                         417

 

editor of the Associated Press, for his book, The Story of Our Civilization,

published by E. P. Dutton & Company.

 

At Miami University, Ronald Erwin Shaw (A.B. Charleston College,

Ph.D. University of Rochester) has been employed to teach in the history

department for the year 1954-55 to replace Paul Erwin, who will be on a

year's leave of absence to teach at Northwestern University. Charles Budd

Forcey (A.B. Princeton University, A.M. Columbia University, and Ph.D.

University of Wisconsin) will replace Dwight Smith, who is on leave of

absence to teach at Columbia University.

 

The department of church history at Mt. St. Mary Seminary sponsored

an archival exhibition during the alumni reunion, Easter Monday and

Tuesday, 1954, according to the Rev. Carl R. Steinbicker, chairman of the

department.

 

Two new appointments have been made to the history faculty at Ohio

State University. Frank J. Pegues, formerly of the University of Colorado,

has been named assistant professor. He will teach courses in medieval

history. Gilman Ostrander, who has his Ph.D. from    the University of

California, will serve as an instructor in survey courses.

Sidney N. Fisher taught during the past summer at the University of

Southern California.

James M. Smith was awarded a grant-in-aid for the summer of 1954 by

the American Philosophical Society. He has been granted a leave of absence

by the college of arts and sciences for 1954-55 so that he may accept an

appointment by the graduate council as Elizabeth Clay Howald Scholar for

the year to continue his researches on the Alien and Sedition Laws. Dr.

Smith had articles published during the summer in the Journal of Southern

History, the Mississippi Valley Historical Review, and the Review of Politics.

 

Ohio University's ninth annual Summer Conference on Current Problems

and World Affairs was held on July 19-20, the topic being "Contemporary

Africa." The guest professors were Kenneth Robinson and James S. Cole-

man. Professor Robinson, who was educated at Oxford, served with the

British colonial office for twelve years, being in West Africa, 1942-43, and

has traveled extensively in Africa since 1950. He is now a fellow of

Nuffield College, Oxford, 'and university reader in colonial government. Dr.

Coleman (Ph.D. Harvard) spent 1951-52 on a Fulbright award studying

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418     Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

 

political developments in British and French West Africa. He has taught

at Harvard and is now on the political science staff at the University of

California.

 

Hastings Eells, chairman of the department of history at Ohio Wesleyan

University, is the author of Modern Europe (Since 1500), published this

year by Doubleday.

Chapter Epsilon Zeta of Phi Alpha Theta was installed at Wesleyan on

May 24.

 

Warren Griffiths, professor of history and political science at Wilmington

College, left Wilmington in September to spend his sabbatical year with

the Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington, D. C.

A chapter of Phi Alpha Theta was recently installed at Wilmington. This

is the 123d chapter of the organization.

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