Historical News
A number of cities are taking steps to
preserve, protect, and, in some
cases, reconstruct historical areas, the
American Society of Planning Officials
has reported. Such programs, the society
suggests, are to the benefit of the
cities because they stimulate tourist
trade and save certain areas from de-
clining into slums.
Charleston, South Carolina, has
established by law a zone known as the
"old and historic Charleston
district," which comprises the area in which
there is the greatest concentration of
early buildings. A city board of
architectural review passes on the
appropriateness of all exterior archi-
tectural features proposed for buildings
to be erected or altered in the area.
Natchez, Mississippi, by local ordinance
protects historic buildings in
an area covering twenty blocks in the
central business district.
New Orleans protects the famous old
Vieux Carre section through a city
aesthetic control agency. Newcastle,
Delaware, and Annapolis, Maryland,
are among other cities with operating
plans for protecting their fine his-
torical features.
The French refugee village, Azilum,
which existed on the upper Sus-
quehanna River from 1793 to 1803, is to
be restored by French Azilum,
Inc., a recently formed non-profit
organization. The village had fifty log
houses and "The Queen's
House," a large log building built as a refuge
for Marie Antoinette. The corporation
plans also the construction of an
amphitheater for an annual historical
pageant. The project is to be financed
in part from memberships, available at
from fifty cents annually to one
hundred dollars. Information may be
obtained from French Azilum, Inc.,
Towanda, Pennsylvania.
Harold Dean Cater has been named
executive director of the Sleepy
Hollow Restorations, Inc. He succeeds
Hugh Grant Powell, who retires
after long association with the
restorations. The organization maintains two
333
334 THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
restorations: Philipse Castle at North
Tarrytown, a Dutch manor of the
seventeenth century, and Washington
Irving's home at Sunnyside.
The Hayes Memorial Library has recently
acquired a number of in-
teresting old pictures of Fremont, Ohio,
as well as numerous additional
letters of R. B. Hayes, and a collection
of letterbooks of Andrew E.
Douglass, a son of President David B.
Douglass of Kenyon College (1841-
45) and himself a graduate of Kenyon.
The library now has a microfilm
copy of Kenneth Edwin Davison's
"Forgotten Ohioan: Elisha Whittlesey,"
a Ph.D. dissertation at Western Reserve
University, from which positive
prints are available upon request.
The Ohio-Indiana Chapter of the American
Studies Association was or-
ganized last October at Delaware, Ohio.
The present officers are: president,
John Ball of Miami University; vice
president, Terence Martin of Indiana
University; secretary-treasurer, William
Coyle of Wittenberg College; mem-
bers of the executive board, Tristram
Coffin of Denison University, Kenneth
Davison of Heidelberg College, Frank
Phipps of the University of Akron,
and Lyon Richardson of Western Reserve
University. A mimeographed
newsletter is published by the
association at Wittenberg College, which sub-
sidizes the organization.
The American Jewish Historical Society
announces awards of $500,
$300, and $200 as first, second, and
third prizes, respectively, in cash or
in the form of scholarships at
recognized schools of higher learning, for
the best essays in the field of American
Jewish history. The contest is open
to students of recognized schools of
higher learning, graduate and under-
graduate, without distinction of race,
color, or creed. Essays must be sub-
mitted on or before November 1, 1955.
Correspondence relating to the
Historical Essay Award should be
addressed to the American Jewish His-
torical Society, 3080 Broadway, New York
27, New York.
A short course in "Historic House
Keeping" will be offered by the Na-
tional Trust for Historic Preservation
and the New York State Historical
Association at Cooperstown, New York,
September 18-24. Outstanding
authorities will discuss problems
connected with the planning of historic
house projects and the interpreting of
this important phase of the American
heritage. The course is open to all who
are concerned with these problems.
HISTORICAL NEWS 335
Co-directors of the course are Frederick
L. Rath, Jr., director of the National
Trust for Historic Preservation,
Washington, D. C., and Louis C. Jones,
director of the New York State
Historical Association, Cooperstown, New
York. Correspondence relating to the
course content or to special problems
should be directed to the former; that
relating to registration, fees, housing,
or transportation to the latter.
The first number of Volume 2 of Ethnohistory,
the quarterly journal of
the Ohio Valley Historic Indian
Conference, appears in a new and attractive
format. It is now being published by
Indiana University under the editor-
ship of Erminie W. Voegelin of Indiana,
who is also executive secretary
of the organization. August C. Mahr of
Ohio State University is the chair-
man of the conference. Raymond S. Baby
of the Ohio Historical Society
and Dwight L. Smith of Miami University
are members of the executive
committee, Professor Smith being in
addition book review editor of
Ethnohistory.
At a meeting of the executive committee
of the Anthony Wayne Parkway
Board on April 30, long-range plans for
the development of the district
were discussed. Results of the
activities of the board are being seen at
Yellow Springs, where the town council
approved a plan prepared by the
board, and work on the project has been
launched.
One of the major current projects of the
Marietta College Library is
the indexing of the thirty-nine volumes
of the Martin R. Andrews papers.
Andrews was superintendent of schools at
Steubenville, 1870-79; principal
of Marietta Academy, 1879-94; and
professor of history and political science
at Marietta College, 1894-1910. He was a
crusader for a better teacher-
training program in Ohio.
About six hundred items, largely
correspondence, have been added to
the Ephraim Cutler collection.
Jacob R. Marcus, director of the
American Jewish Archives, was the
recipient of the National Jewish Welfare
Board's Frank L. Weil Award
for 1955. The award was given in
recognition of Dr. Marcus' scholarly
investigations and writings, which have
stimulated a renaissance in American
Jewish history. The medallion and
citation were presented at the annual
meeting of the board of directors in New
York City on April 24.
336
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Ernest L. Presseisen, who received his
Ph.D. degree from Harvard in
1955, and George Knepper, whose Ph.D.
degree was granted by the Uni-
versity of Michigan in 1954, have been
appointed instructors in history at
the University of Akron. Dr. Knepper is
also assistant adviser of men.
Roy V. Sherman, head of the political
science department, has been
named chairman of the social science
division since Dr. Summerfield
Baldwin's death. Clara G. Roe continues
as acting head of the history
department.
Louis Filler of Antioch College has been
appointed a consultant for
Supplement Two of the Dictionary of
American Biography. Dr. Filler is
teaching in the history department at
Roosevelt University during the
summer session.
Watt P. Marchman, director of the Hayes
Memorial Library and Museum,
had an article, "Lucy Webb Hayes in
Cincinnati: The First Five Years,
1848-1852," in the Bulletin of
the Historical and Philosophical Society of
Ohio for January.
George J. Blazier, librarian at Marietta
College, has recently been made
librarian and archivist of the college.
At Miami University Charles B. Forcey
will continue as assistant pro-
fessor of history for 1955-56 in place
of Paul Erwin, who is on leave
for a second year. Ronald E. Shaw will
be assistant professor of history
and social studies.
Thomas LeDuc of Oberlin College will be
a visiting professor at the
University of Wisconsin for the year
1955-56. During his leave of absence
David Lindsey of Baldwin-Wallace College
will be acting associate pro-
fessor at Oberlin. Dr. LeDuc is the
recipient of the Edwards Memorial
Prize of the Agricultural History
Society for his article, "State Disposal of
the Agricultural College Land
Scrip," which appeared in the July 1954
issue of Agricultural History.
Mrs. Ewart Lewis, author of Medieval
Political Ideas (Alfred Knopf,
1954), will teach part time in the
history department next year.
HISTORICAL NEWS 337
James H. Rodabaugh, head of the Ohio
Historical Society's division of
history and science, served as a
commentator at a joint session of the Ohio
Valley Historic Indian Conference and
the Mississippi Valley Historical
Association at the latter's annual
meeting in April at St. Louis. Dwight L.
Smith of Miami University was chairman
of the session, which had as its
topic, "Indians: Views and
Resources."
Two members of the history staff at Ohio
State University have pub-
lished books during the current year.
Foster Rhea Dulles, chairman of the
department, is the author of America's
Rise to World Power, published by
Harper & Brothers. Morton Borden's The
Federalism of James A. Bayard
was published by the Columbia University
Press.
Eugene H. Roseboom was elected president
of the Ohio Academy of
History at its annual business meeting
at the Ohio State Museum on
April 2.
Walter Dorn was elected to the council
of the American Historical
Association at the annual meeting of the
association in New York, De-
cember 28-30, 1954.
Lowell Ragatz is visiting professor of
history in the research school of
the social sciences at the Australian
National University, Canberra.
Carl Gustavson of the history department
at Ohio University is the
author of A Preface to History, recently
published by McGraw-Hill.
A. T. Volwiler contributed the seventh
chapter, "Harrison, Blaine, and
American Foreign Policy,
1889-1893," to the volume, Shaping American
Diplomacy, edited by W. A. Williams and published this year by
Rand
McNally.
The Rev. Alfred G. Stritch is the new
chairman of the history depart-
ment and head of the division of social
science at Our Lady of Cincinnati
College, succeeding the Very Reverend
Monsignor William J. Gauche,
who died on December 12, 1954.
Vincent Delaney has been appointed to
the history department and will
teach Latin-American history.