HISTORICAL NEWS
Historical Societies
BRECKSVILLE EARLY SETTLERS HISTORICAL
ASSOCIATION, Brecksville
Ernest M. Green, President
Present officers of the society are
Ernest M. Green, president; Alice
Green Lewis, vice president; and Mrs.
Minnie Bartlett Jones, historian,
secretary, and treasurer. Trustees are
Betty Teter Barrett, Susie McCreery
Birdsall, Benjamin P. Forbes, Raymond J.
Thayer, Raymond B. Perry,
and Harriet A. Wright.
CLARK COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
Springfield
Orton G. Rust, President
The society is now engaged in filing and
cataloging a collection of
historical material consisting of
several thousand pieces accumulated
over a period of fifty years. Much of it
will be printed in forthcoming
issues of the society's Yesteryear in
Clark County, Volume 3 of which
is now available.
CRESTLINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Crestline
Ernest G. Hesser, President
An historical pageant was recently put
on by the membership of
the society for the Crestline Woman's
Club in the Crestline High School
depicting "Rensselaer Livingston
and the Founding of Crestline." The
story portrayed was of his distinguished
New York state background
and his coming to Crestline in 1850.
There was music and dancing of
the period, and honored guests were the
Crestline descendants of the
original settlers.
The president of the society gave an
illustrated talk for the Consti-
tution Chapter of the Sons of the
American Revolution at Mansfield,
February 1, on "The Life and Times
of Colonel William Crawford,
Friend of George Washington."
DARKE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
Greenville
J. Lendall Williams, President
New officers of the society, elected at
the annual business meeting
held at the Garst Museum, Greenville,
Friday, February 3, are J. Lendall
196
Historical News 197
Williams, president; J. W. Flagg, vice
president; and Mrs. Ruth M.
Meyer, secretary-treasurer. Three new
members of the board of trustees
were also elected: Mr. Flagg, Elizabeth
Menke, and William A. Browne,
III. Other members of the board are
Homer F. Prakel, George Klip-
stine, Carl Mills, Harold Rosser, Howard
Hoel, Vernon L. Marchal, C. E.
Lakin, Warren Husted, Guy D. Hawley, W.
D. Brumbaugh, Jr., and Fred
D. Coppock.
FAIRFIELD COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Lancaster
Herbert M. Turner, President
Preparations are now being made by the
society for the celebration
of the sesquicentennial of the founding
of Lancaster during the week of
June 4-10.
HAYES MEMORIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM, Fremont
Watt P. Marchman, Director of
Research
Among the recent acquisitions by the
library are the following:
four old photographic prints of Civil
War scenes from original nega-
tives made by R. M. Linn in December
1863, the gift of A. G. Walter,
Fremont; about 1,000 books in the period
of American history 1865-1900
from the O. J. Brunthaver estate, the
gift of Wilbur and Harry Brunt-
haver, Fremont; an original letter
written by Rutherford B. Hayes to
General Henry C. Corbin, his military
aide, a gift of Gen. Corbin's
daughter, Mrs. William Usher Parsons; a
number of personal letters
and newspaper clippings added to the
George William Curtis collection;
two letters of John Sherman to S. J.
Hathaway; and numerous miscel-
laneous letters.
A large number of photostats of original
materials have been added
to the library, including a copy of the
private diary of Chloe Smith
Hayes, President Hayes's grandmother,
many legal documents and other
papers of President Hayes's father and
grandfather, and numerous
letters written by President Hayes;
selections from the George W. Julian
and R. W. Thompson collections at the
Indiana State Library; Hayes
letters from the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society; and
Hayes's letters as city solicitor of
Cincinnati from the city solicitor's
office, Cincinnati. Microfilm copies of
selections referring to President
Hayes from the Alexander Ramsay and
William G. LeDuc papers have
been obtained from the Minnesota
Historical Society.
198 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
The director of research had an article,
"The Hayes Memorial
Library," published in the Winter
issue of the Northwest Ohio Quarterly.
HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF
OHIO, Cincinnati
Virginius C. Hall, Director-Librarian
The most recent number of the quarterly Bulletin
carried John W.
Merten's richly illustrated article on
the hundred-year history of the
Strobridge Lithograph Company of
Cincinnati.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MT. PLEASANT, OHIO,
Mt. Pleasant
J. C. Wilson, President
The following officers were reelected at
the annual meeting, held in
December: J. C. Wilson, president;
Adaline Bainbridge, secretary; and
Ruth Lupton, treasurer. Dr. R. H. Wilson
of Martins Ferry succeeded
H. O. Geise as a member of the board of
directors.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NORTHWESTERN OHIO,
Toledo
Randolph C. Downes, Executive
Director
Richard D. Logan, president of the
society since 1942, died at Toledo
on December 13, 1949.
HUDSON LIBRARY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
Hudson
Raymond Mickel, President
The society is now well along in its
plans for a community cele-
bration of the sesquicentennial of the
founding of Hudson. The major
celebration will be on June 17, 1950.
LORAIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Elyria
Mrs. James B. Thomas, President
A research committee to obtain
historical data, composed of Harriet
Root, Edith Metcalf, and Dr. Robert S.
Fletcher of Oberlin College, has
covered the county and secured a
chairman for every township.
The society has had the privilege of
hearing at its monthly meetings
Julian Fowler, librarian at Oberlin
College; Dr. Russell H. Anderson,
director of the Western Reserve
Historical Society; Dr. Robert G. Gun-
derson of Oberlin College; and
ex-Ambassador Wesley Frost.
MAHONING VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
Youngstown
Donald J. Lynn, President
At the annual meeting of the society,
held on February 8, the follow-
ing officers were reelected: Donald J.
Lynn, president; Mrs. Henry A.
Historical News 199
Butler, first vice president; Joseph G.
Butler, second vice president and
assistant treasurer; Mrs. Franklin B.
Power, third vice president; Mrs.
Ernest A. Goodman, recording secretary;
Ada M. Rogers, corresponding
secretary; and James L. Wick, Jr.,
treasurer.
MEDINA COUNTY HISTORICAAL SOCIETY, Medina
Florence J. Phillips, President
On January 20, Macy Hallock gave a talk
to members of the society
on "Early Woodenware." There
was a display for the public on the
following day, Saturday.
STARK COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Canton
Paul B. Belden, President
The annual meeting of the society was
held on January 26 at the
American Legion Hall in Canton.
President Paul B. Belden presided.
Two centennials were featured by
speakers: the centennial of the Canton
public school system, presented by H. T.
O. Blue, vice president of the
society and for thirty-two years a
teacher of history in Canton's schools;
and the centennial of Alliance, presented
by B. F. Stanton, an instructor
in education at Mt. Union College and
formerly superintendent of the
Alliance public schools. One hundred and
twenty members attended the
dinner.
The fourth annual report of the society,
distributed at the meeting,
shows an increase in membership of 96
over the previous year. The
society now has 528 members.
TRUMBULL COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Warren
James J. Tyler, President
Three rooms of the Edwards-Webb House
have been painted and
papered with colonial paper. The paper
is a gift of the Birge Paper
Company of Buffalo, New York.
WARREN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Lebanon
Harry C. Schwartz, President
At the annual meeting of the society,
held on the evening of
January 2, Harry C. Schwartz, Sr., was
elected president to succeed
200 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
G. H. Townsley, who served for the past
two years. Other officers named
were Mrs. Edward Herrick, vice
president; Mary Lincoln, secretary;
Otto Augsburger, treasurer; Mrs. Hazel
Spencer Phillips, curator; and
Mrs. Leah Jones, historian. Mrs.
Phillips read a paper on the life of
John McLean, founder of the Western
Star and for thirty-two years a
justice of the United States Supreme
Court.
WELLSVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Wellsville
Edgar Davidson, President
The society is sponsoring the 155th
anniversary celebration of the
settlement of Wellsville, the greatest
cooperative undertaking in the
history of the city. It will be a
four-day celebration, lasting from June
28 through July 1. An historical
pageant, "Gateway to the West," de-
picting the history of Wellsville, will
be shown in Nicholson Stadium on
each of the four days. The society is
interested in obtaining old costumes
or patterns of old costumes. Historical
societies that have sponsored
similar celebrations are requested to
send suggestions on program,
pageants, and exhibits.
WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Cleveland
Russell H. Anderson, Director
Among the recent special exhibits in the
museum were Colonial
Coverlets, The Coffee Story, and a Stamp
Design Display.
A stamp club, "The 50 Stamp
Club," was organized on January 14
for junior and senior high school
students. Donald W. Martin and
Charles I. Ball of the Garfield-Perry
Stamp Club serve as instructor-
advisors of the group, which meets on
Saturday mornings.
Among the recent talks sponsored by the
Study Club were: Donald
Lybarger, "Historic Spots on the
Western Reserve," and William Ganson
Rose, "Interesting Personalities of
Early Cleveland." Raymond S. Baby,
curator of archaeology of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical
Society, and Frank Siedel, script writer
for "The Ohio Story," are sched-
uled for talks in March and April.
The manuscript seminars are being
continued. The Shaker records
were covered in December, the Civil War
in January, and Whittlesey,
Kirtland, Walworth, Hitchcock, Trimble,
and other papers of the period
1815-45 at the February meeting.
The records of the Cleveland Cinema Club
have been presented to
the society.
Historical News 201
A welcome addition to the genealogical
collection are the records
of the church in Aurora, which have been
placed in the library. The
records, 1809-1909, cover the three
churches which have formed the
present Aurora church. The genealogical
data are being placed on cards.
The society benefited handsomely from
the opening performance of
Mrs. B. P. Bole's play, "Poor
Richard," which was produced at the
Eldred Theatre on January 16. Through
the generosity of Mrs. Bole
the society took over one night's
performance, and the Women's Ad-
visory Council handled the ticket sales.
The library has received from the
Brush-Moore Newspapers, Inc.,
183 rolls of microfilm of the Steubenville
Herald-Star. The remainder
will follow.
The attendance at the museum increased
nearly 14 percent over that
of 1948, and that of the library over 11
percent. The number of loan
exhibits sent out to schools and
business houses has increased ninefold
since 1946.
At the annual meeting of the board of
trustees held on January 27,
the following officers were reelected:
president, Laurence H. Norton;
vice president, Herman L. Vail;
treasurer, Henry S. Sherman; and
secretary, Russell H. Anderson.
About Historians
Richard G. Salomon of the history
department of Kenyon College
is the author of an article entitled
"An Unpublished Letter of Ulrich
Von Hutten," in a recent issue of
the Journal of the Wartburg and
Courtauld Institutes.
During the coming summer Paul A. Varg,
assistant professor of
history at Ohio State University, will
teach at the University of Virginia,
and Assistant Professor Everett Walters,
at Whittier College, Whittier,
California.
The American Journal of Economics and
Sociology for January
1950 contained the fifth installment of
"The Civic Revival in Ohio" by
Robert H. Bremner of Ohio State
University. The article is entitled
"Artist in Politics: Brand
Whittock." Dr. Bremner also has an article,
"Turnabout on 'Something for
Nothing,' " in the February issue of the
Survey.
The Society for the History of the
Germans in Maryland has re-
cently notified August C. Mahr of the
German department at Ohio State
202 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
University of his election as a
corresponding member of the society.
There are only ten such members in the
United States, another of whom
is Carl Wittke, dean of the graduate
school and professor of history at
Western Reserve.
Frederick H. Jackson, assistant
professor of history at Marietta
College, received the degree of doctor
of philosophy at the February
commencement at the University of
Pennsylvania.
Frederick B. Artz, chairman of the
history department at Oberlin,
attended the Conference on French
Studies at Princeton, on February
1-4. The conference was arranged by
Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and
Princeton universities in cooperation with
the Institute of Advanced
Studies.
Ellsworth Carlson has been appointed
assistant professor of Far
Eastern and European history.
Charles D. Cremeans is the author of The
Reception of Calvinistic
Thought in England, published at Urbana last year by the University
of Illinois Press.
Philip L. Ralph, professor of history
and chairman of the division
of social studies at Lake Erie College,
has announced the introduction
of a new course for 1949-50 in the
division of social studies (composed
of the departments of history,
government, economics and sociology, and
home economics). The course, which is
offered on the junior-senior level,
is entitled "Readings in Western
Culture and Society" and is based upon
reading from original sources (or
English translations) illustrative of
historical, political, and economic
thought from the Greek classical age
to modern times. Dr. Ralph is the author
of an article, "Mo Ti and the
English Utilitarians," in the Far
Eastern Quarterly, November 1949.
The Antioch Press has just published a
reissue of Crusaders for
American Liberalism by Louis Filler, professor of American civilization
at Antioch College and book editor of
the Antioch Review.
Paul I. Miller, chairman of the history
department at Hiram Col-
lege, is teaching the second semester at
American University as a part
of the "Washington Semester"
of Hiram, Oberlin, Wooster, and other
colleges.
Historical News 203
Members of the staff of the history
department at Capital University
compiled a history of the university for
the Community Festival on
January 27, commemorating the centennial
anniversary of the university.
They are participating intensively in
preparation for the pageant and
other activities in connection with the
celebration of the Charter Day
Centennial, March 2, 1950.
Irene Meister of the department of
history at Miami University is
giving a seminar on "Russia
Today" for members of the faculty and
their wives. The seminar meets twice a
month and is attended by fifty
or more persons. Miss Meister is
instructor in Russian and Near Eastern
history and the Russian language. She
was for a time commander of an
occupied area in Germany.
Frederick D. Kershner, Jr., assistant
professor of history at Ohio
University, was awarded the doctor of
philosophy degree by the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin at the midyear
graduation exercises. The title of
Dr. Kershner's dissertation is A Social
and Cultural History of Indian-
apolis, 1860-1914. An article by Dr.
Kershner, "From Country Town to
Industrial City: The Urban Pattern in
Indianapolis," appeared in the
December issue of the Indiana
Magazine of History.
Stanley Wagner of the University of
Pittsburgh has joined the de-
partment of history at Muskingum College
to teach the social science
survey course during the second
semester.
David Burks, instructor in the
department, has completed his doctor-
ate in Latin-American history at the
University of Chicago.
Harold Hancock and L. William Steck of
the history department of
Otterbein College are doing graduate
work at Ohio State University.
Ellis Rivkin has been appointed
professor in the department of
Jewish history at Hebrew Union College.