348
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
INDIANA'S GOLD STAR HONOR ROLL.
Of all the publications that have come
to our notice
devoted to the service of American
soldiers in the World
War, none is more attractive and
appropriate than the
Gold Star Honor Roll recently published by the Indiana
Historical Commission. This book includes photo-
graphs and biographies of more than
three thousand
Indiana soldiers who died in the World
War. Almost
every brief biography is accompanied by
a portrait.
The work is well executed and
attractively and sub-
stantially bound. Extensive correspondence and care-
ful editorial work were necessary in
its production. It
is in every way highly creditable to
the Indiana Com-
mission.
Fortunately the State of Indiana had
made provision
for the Historical Commission before we
entered the
World War. On March 8, 1915, a law was enacted
creating the Indiana Historical
Commission and provid-
ing for the collection and publication
of documentary
and other material on the history of
Indiana. The law
also provided for the printing and
binding of such pub-
lications at the expense of the state.
The Commission
promptly organized and systematically
collected every-
thing relating to the participation of
that state in the
World War.
It is unfortunate that other states
were not similarly
prepared for collecting the materials
of their history
through the war. In Ohio no steps had
been taken in
this direction until February, 1918,
and no appropria-
tions were available for support until
July first of the
following year. Professor A. M. Schlesinger, how-
ever, took great interest in this work
and chiefly through
Reviews, Notes and Comments 349
his voluntary service and the
assistance of the regular
employees of theSociety a mass of
valuable material was
collected. This consists chiefly of local newspapers
from which clippings have been made,
indexed and
bound.
When the General Assembly finally acted it
made only meager appropriations for the
work. At its
last session no provision was made for
the Commission
but the work has been continued by the
Society. It
should collect material for a memorial
volume similar to
the one published by Indiana. Of course
it would now
be next to impossible to get
photographs for each Ohio
soldier who lost his life in the war,
but much valuable
biographical material could still be
collected for such a
publication. Just what provision will ultimately be
made for the surviving soldiers of the
World War is yet
to be determined, but there can be no
question in regard
to the lasting debt of gratitude that
the state owes to
those who made the supreme sacrifice in
answer to the
call of the Republic. Our soldiers who won the gold
star in the hospitals and on the
battlefield should be
honored by a fitting permanent record
in the archives of
the Buckeye State.
UNDER THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE.
The reorganization of the departments
of the state
government for which provision was made
at the last
session of the General Assembly assigns
the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society
to the Department
of Education. Before this transfer could be made,
however, certain action had to be taken
by the Society
through its Board of Trustees. A
special meeting was
called for this purpose for June 29th.
At this meeting