HISTORICAL NEWS
Historical Societies
ALLIANCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Alliance
Mrs. Fred Donaldson, President
The Alliance Historical Society is
cooperating with other groups in
the observance of the centennial of
Alliance this summer. A series of
events is planned, culminating in those
of the week of August 26 - Septem-
ber 2, 1950. Copies of old pictures of
Alliance are being made by the
society, which is also publishing a
centennial history of the city.
AMERICAN JEWISH ARCHIVES, Cincinnati
Jacob R. Marcus, Director
Two books are being prepared for
publication by members of the
archives staff. Dr. Marcus is working on
Early American Jewish Life, and
Dr. Stern-Taeubler's book, entitled The
Court Jews, is scheduled for
publication this year.
BUTLER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Hamilton
A. S. Anderson, President
Otto Kersteiner has been elected
secretary of the society in place of
Mrs. Henry Kessling, who had been
serving as secretary pro tem.
At the March meeting, plans of the board
of trustees and a special
planning committee for the development
of the Benninghofen home into
a combination house and case museum were
accepted by the society. The
speaker at this occasion was William
Grieselhuber, who discussed time-
pieces and their evolution. He demonstrated
his talk with pieces from
his own extensive collection.
Chairman of five committees were named
at the April meeting as
follows: membership, George Cummins;
projects, Carl Schulze; historical
objects, Charles Brennan; house and
grounds, Henry Kessling; and pro-
gram, Dr. C. J. Baldridge. Talks and
practical demonstrations in weaving
and spinning were presented at this
meeting by Miss Orpha Webster of
the department of fine arts at Miami
University and Mrs. Nell Bunting of
Hamilton.
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314 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
CLARK COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Springfield
Orton G. Rust, President
The society is participating in the
centennial anniversary of the
incorporation of Springfield as a city
in 1850.
Volume 4 of Yester Year in Clark
County, published by the society,
will probably appear about August 1.
Mr. Rust is now in charge of cataloging
the society's growing col-
lections.
CLINTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Wilmington
Howard H. Thorne, President
The Clinton County Historical Society
was organized on March 29,
1950, when a tentative constitution was
adopted and the following officers
elected: Howard H. Thorne, president;
Mrs. Harry Hague, vice president;
Miss Claire Hague, secretary; Charles R.
Starbuck, treasurer; and
Mrs. Ethel H. Hayes, historian. Eldon L.
Hayes, Judge Hugh J. Wright,
Mrs. W. J. Galvin, M. D. Barns, and Mrs.
Louis Lieurance, were named
directors.
CRESTLINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Crestline
Ernest G. Hesser, President
At a regular meeting of the society on
March 2, Don Ebright,
treasurer of state, spoke on "The
Responsibility of Citizenship."
Mr. Ebright presented the society with a
large Ohio state flag which has
been hung in the Crestline Museum. Karl
E. Hackman, of the Crestline
High School faculty, spoke on
"Conservation of Plant and Animal Life in
Ohio" at the meeting on April 12.
The Crestline Museum, sponsored by the
society, has had many
acquisitions in recent months. During
May the museum was visited by all
children in the public and parochial
schools, together with their teachers.
The society is promoting plans for the
Crestline centennial in 1951.
DARKE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Greenville
J. Lendall Williams, President
Margarete Stoltz is curator of the Garst
Museum which is maintained
by the society in Greenville. The
membership in the society has grown to
near the five hundred mark.
Historical News 315
DELAWARE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
Delaware
Mrs. Walter S. Cole, Secretary
One hundred persons attended the society
family night at Rohr-
bough's farm, Monday evening, March 27.
B. H. Cast of Prospect showed
films and slides of his trip through the
West and into Mexico.
FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Columbus
Charles A. Jones, President
On April 26, Daniel F. Prugh, secretary
of the society, addressed a
session of the fifth annual Program
Planning Work Shop sponsored by
the Librarians' Council of Franklin
County, the Community Services
Council, and the Franklin County Library
Association. He spoke on the
accomplishments and future plans of the
society.
"The Telephone Comes to Franklin
County" was the subject of an
address by Clarence A. Swoyer at the
April 28 meeting; "Pioneer Educa-
tion in Franklin County" was the
topic discussed by Dr. Francis P.
Weisenburger, professor history at Ohio
State University, at the meeting
on May 26.
The last of the Franklin County
homestead seminars for the present
season was held on April 11. The
seminars, which have been conducted
by Gilbert F. Dodds, research associate
of the society, have aroused a great
deal of interest.
The March issue of the Bulletin featured
a story on Clinton Town-
ship's first church as told to D. F.
Prugh by Mrs. J. Boyd Davis. This was
the Clinton Chapel of the Methodist
Episcopal Church erected in 1838 at
the corner of Walhalla Road and North
High Street. The building has
been remodeled and is now occupied by
the Southwick funeral home.
The society in cooperation with the
Woodrow Guild of Worthington
presented a review of 1890-1910 historic
costumes on May 12 at Hagerty
Hall on the Ohio State University
campus.
GREAT LAKES HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
Cleveland
Donna L. Root, Secretary
The annual meeting of the society was
held on April 14, 1950, at the
Cleveland Public Library, which sponsors
the society. Dinner was served
to one hundred members and guests in the
Great Lakes dining room of
the library. After a brief business
meeting, William Ganson Rose, author
of the new book, Cleveland: The
Making of a City, addressed the group
316 Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Quarterly
on the "Greatness of the Great
Lakes," and showed colored slides illus-
trating his talk. Following Mr. Rose's
speech, a new film, "Great Lakes:
Highway to Commerce," was shown.
The society cooperated with the
Vixseboxse Art Galleries in present-
ing an exhibition of paintings of lake
carriers by Arthur E. Bracy at the
galleries from May 24 to June 8.
HAYES MEMORIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM,
Fremont
Watt P. Marchman, Director of Research
During the spring months an increasing
number of school groups
visited the Hayes Memorial. In May these
groups included the Junior
High School and the Liberty School of
Bowling Green; the freshman class
of Perrysburg High School, and the
seventh and eighth grades of Gray-
town and Rocky Ridge, Ohio.
The Hayes Memorial is constantly
receiving additional manuscript
and other materials for its library.
Some recent acquisitions include
microfilm or photostat copies of
nineteen Hayes letters, two letters to
Hayes, twelve volumes on the War of
1812, and the papers of Samuel
Crowell.
Mr. Marchman and Burt Tolhurst,
supervisor of District No. 2 of the
state historical society with
headquarters at the Hayes Memorial, served as
pallbearers at the funeral of Mrs. Fanny
Hayes, the last surviving child
of Rutherford B. Hayes and Lucy Webb
Hayes. Mrs. Hayes died at
Lewiston, Maine, on March 19. Funeral
services were held on March 23
at Spiegel Grove.
HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF
OHIO, Cincinnati
Virginius C. Hall, Director-Librarian
The spring exhibition of the society,
"Scouting on the Old Frontier,"
was opened at the Taft Museum on May 12.
Old woodcuts, lithographs,
books, maps, and manuscripts depicting
frontier life from 1755 to 1813
form the basis of the display, which is
in connection with the observance
of the centennial of the birth of Daniel
Carter Beard in Cincinnati on
June 21, 1850. A nation-wide observance
opened on June 10 with a
celebration in Cincinnati.
Historical News 317
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NORTHWESTERN OHIO,
Toledo
Randolph C. Downes, Executive-Director
The society has published in
mimeographed form the Lucas County
Tourists' Guide by Kathryn Miller Keller, which outlines four tours in
Lucas County and gives data on historic
sites.
Judge Lehr Fess has been named president
of the society to succeed
the late Richard D. Logan, and Paul B.
Cook, Jr., has been elected vice
president.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF TALLMADGE,
Tallmadge
Henry Bierce, President
The ninety-second annual meeting of the
society was held on March 9.
This society, the oldest of its kind in
the state, keeps a record of the events
of the year, crop and weather reports,
and other data. Important historical
documents have been microfilmed by the
society and placed in the Akron
public library.
LORAIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Elyria
Mrs. James B. Thomas, President
The society observed the 133d
anniversary of the founding of Elyria
with an annual party at the Y. W. C. A.
on March 17. On this occasion
Judge Horace Nye spoke on "Fifty
Years on Washington Avenue," telling
of the homes and residents at the
beginning of the century. During the
same week, the society, under the
direction of Mrs. Kenneth Boylan, was
responsible for a display of historical
material in three store windows.
All officers of the society were
reelected for another year. They are:
Mrs. James B. Thomas, president; Prof.
Robert S. Fletcher, first vice
president; Mrs. Cloyd D. Gull, second
vice president; Mrs. Milton E.
Wilcox, recording secretary; Mrs. Frank
T. Horan, corresponding secre-
tary; and Max Podley, treasurer.
OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
SOCIETY, Columbus
Erwin C. Zepp, Director
The sixty-fifth annual meeting of the
state historical society was held
on Friday and Saturday, April 14 and 15.
At the afternoon session on
Friday, Arthur C. Johnson was reelected
president for the twenty-sixth
318 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
year, and Webb C. Hayes, Joseph E. Van
Meter, and Fred J. Milligan
were elected trustees, the last two
being new members of the board. The
principal speaker for the afternoon
meeting of county and local historical
societies was Louis C. Jones, director
of the New York State Historical
Association, whose topic was "Folk
Culture and Local History." During
the afternoon the new lounge was dedicated
with an informal tea.
At the annual dinner on Friday evening,
James M. Cox, former
governor of Ohio, and Earl N.
Manchester, librarian of the Ohio State
University library, were presented with
honorary life memberships, and
Arthur C. Johnson was honored for his
twenty-five years service as presi-
dent of the society. James B. Conant,
president of Harvard University,
gave the address of the occasion,* which
dedicated the new additions to
the Ohio State Museum and Library
Building.
On Saturday afternoon, the Committee on
Medical History and
Archives of the society held its annual
session, with Dr. Jonathan Forman
presiding. A number of papers of
interest to the medical historian were
read.
OTTAWA COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM, Port
Clinton
May Hesselbart, Curator
Radio station WFRO, Fremont, recently
broadcast a story of the
beginnings of Port Clinton and an
account of the museum, both of which
were prepared by Miss Hesselbart.
The curator has received a beautiful
French vase about 150 years old
which was sent to the museum on the Ohio
car of the French gratitude
train by a native of Port Clinton as a
token of her love for her birthplace
and native state.
SHAKER HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Cleveland
Mrs. Harry D. Piercy, Secretary
A large gathering of members of the
society was held this spring, at
which Shaker songs were sung and
pictures of North Union were shown.
Two publications by the secretary,
Caroline B. Piercy, The Valley of
God's Pleasure and Shaker Vittals, a booklet on Shaker food,
have
recently appeared.
John Hecker resigned as treasurer of the
society, and Howard Luce
has been named to the office.
* The address is printed on pages
231-238 of this issue of the Quarterly. ffl
Historical News 319
SHELBY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Sidney
George O. Harshbarger, Secretary
The society is making a study of the log
houses still standing in
Shelby County for the purpose of
compiling a short history of each. A
picture file of the houses is also being
made.
SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF PIONEER RIVERMEN, Marietta
Frederick Way, Jr., President
Numerous requests for information and
for instruction for building
model steamboats have come to the
organization as a result of two articles
published earlier this year which
mention or describe the River Museum
at Campus Martius, Marietta. One of the
articles, "Packet Boat Valhalla"
by Melvin Beck, appeared in the Ford
Times for March 1950; the other,
"So Much Happens Along the Ohio
River" by Frederick Simpich,
appeared in the National Geographic for
February 1950.
STARK COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Canton
E. T. Heald, Secretary-Treasurer
New officers elected at a meeting of the
board of trustees on April 6
are Donald K. Merwin, president; Howard
B. Sohn, vice president; and
Mrs. Rose Sengleitner, assistant
secretary-treasurer. E. T. Heald was
reelected secretary-treasurer.
Of the 1,000 copies printed of The
Stark County Story, Volume I,
The Cities, Towns and Villages of
Stark County, all except 140 have been
sold.
SUMMIT COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Akron
Carl H. Pockrandt, President
The society held its twenty-fifth
anniversary banquet on May 18 at
the Grace Reformed Church in Akron. The
speaker was Frank Siedel,
author of The Ohio Story, a book
and a radio series.
Articles on "The Counterfeiters of
the Cuyahoga Valley," "The
United States Naval Base in Summit
County," and "The Old Wolf Ledge,"
have appeared in the March, April, and
May issues of the Bulletin.
320
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
UPPER OHIO VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Wheeling, W. Va.
John A. Moore, Secretary
The society is carrying on a campaign
for new memberships and has
as its motto for 1950, "Every
member get a new member."
The speaker for the March 15 meeting was
Reece Peddicord, who
spoke on the history of the Upper Ohio
Valley.
WARREN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
Lebanon
Mary Lincoln, Secretary
The guest speaker at a meeting on March
27 was J. Richard Lawwill,
director of the Anthony Wayne Parkway
Board. The tenth anniversary
dinner meeting was held on May 22. Erwin
C. Zepp, Richard S. Fatig,
and Reed Masse of the state historical
society were guests.
The fourth annual pilgrimage to historic
houses in Warren County,
sponsored by the society, was conducted
on June 3 and 4. Eight houses
were included in this year's tour.
WELLSVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
Wellsville
Edgar S. Davidson, President
The society has had manufactured a ten
and a half inch plate of
translucent china in commemoration of
the 155th anniversary of the
settlement of Wellsville. The plate has
seven illustrations of things closely
connected with the history of the city.
Each design is framed by orna-
mental scrollwork which extends into the
well of the plate to form a
"W" for Wellsville. The plate
was made by the Wellsville China Com-
pany, the oldest pottery in the city.
The art work was done by Herbert
Bar and the engraving by John and Cedric
Stanway. C. L. Nickels is
chairman of the committee in charge of
the production and distribution of
the plate.
WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Cleveland
Russell H. Anderson, Director
The manuscript seminars for the current
season were concluded in
May. In March the subject was "Ohio
Transportation"; in April, "Zoar
Records"; and in May, "Early
Banks and Banking in Ohio."
The final Study Club program of the
current series was presented on
May 24. It consisted of a talk on and
demonstration of carding and spin-
ning wool by the director of the
society.
Historical News 321
WYANDOT COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Upper
Sandusky
Harry E. Kinley, Secretary
The Wyandot Museum, which is maintained
by the society, has been
redecorated during the past year, new
lighting fixtures installed, and the
exhibits rearranged. Many new exhibits
have been acquired by loan or
purchase. These include a double-seated
sleigh, which has been added to
the pioneer collection at the fair grounds.
During the current year the society
plans to erect a directional
marker to the Wyandot Mission Church and
to build a new monument to
Colonel Crawford to replace the present
one, which is beyond repair.
About Historians
A. T. Volwiler, chairman of the
department of history at Ohio Uni-
versity, will teach at Michigan State
College during the 1950 summer
session. Dr. Volwiler spoke at the
annual initiation banquet of the
Marietta College chapter of Phi Alpha
Theta.
"German Lutheranism: a
Psychological Study" by Carl G. Gustavson
appeared in the Journal of the
History of Ideas for April 1950.
Warren Hickman, a recent graduate of the
University of Geneva, is
teaching Dr. Binkley's courses in
history and political science at Ohio
Northern University this year. Dr.
Binkley is a Fulbright professor at
Oxford University, England, and will
serve as visiting professor at Co-
lumbia University this summer. He will
return to Ohio Northern for the
fall quarter.
Warren A. Beck, will replace Edward F.
Blount as instructor on the
history staff at Capital University. Mr.
Beck has his B. A. from Augustana
College and his M. A. from Wayne
University.
Albert G. D. Levy, professor of history
at Hiram College, conducted
ten students on an eight-weeks' tour of
Europe during the fourth term
(February 20 to April 19). Credit in
social science was given for the tour.
Paul I. Miller is spending the second
semester at American University
as visiting professor of the Interinstitutional
Washington Semester.
Eleanor Zelliot, M. A. Bryn Mawr, taught
European history at Hiram
College the fourth term.
322
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., of Harvard
University, gave the Taft
Memorial Lectures on American History at
the University of Cincinnati
in March.
Louis M. Sears of Purdue University and
Harry Stevens of Duke Uni-
versity will teach in the summer session
of the University of Cincinnati.
0. J. Fredriksen of Miami University has
been granted another leave
of absence to continue in the government
service in Germany, 1950-51.
Irene Meister is to continue teaching
Russian history and language while
Dr. Fredriksen is on leave.
William E. Smith has been appointed dean
of the graduate school at
Miami University. He will continue to
serve as chairman of the history
department.
John Hall Stewart, on leave from Western
Reserve University, writes
from Dublin, Ireland, that he is finding
a wealth of material on the French
Revolution in Irish newspapers, and that
working conditions in Dublin
are excellent.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer for
April 21 carried an article by David
Vormelker about Mrs. Annette Fitch
Nelson. Mrs. Nelson is a well known
radio speaker and writer of pioneer
history of Ashtabula County and the
Western Reserve. Much of her material is
based upon her own vast col-
lection of manuscripts, including family
letters of her grandfather,
Orramel H. Fitch, a pioneer settler in
Ashtabula County, and her father,
Edward H. Fitch, an Ashtabula lawyer in
the early days.
Harold J. Grimm, professor of history at
Ohio State University, will
give courses at San Diego State College,
California, this summer. He has
been on leave during the spring quarter
for an extended stay in Mexico.
Eugene H. Roseboom read a paper,
"Southern Ohio and the Union in
1863," at the meeting of the
Mississippi Valley Historical Association at
Oklahoma City, April 20-22. Dwight L.
Smith also read a paper at the
Oklahoma meeting. His subject was
"Peace Comes to the Old Northwest,
1795."
Sydney N. Fisher gave the mid-year
commencement address, January
27, at Ashland College. During the
winter he gave a series of lectures on
world affairs to the World Study group
of the Columbus chapter of the
American Association of University
Women.
Historical News 323
Walter L. Dorn has addressed several
groups on subjects relating to
American military government and the
German problem. He spoke at the
Annual Iowa Historical Conference on
March 3, at Wittenberg College on
March 22, and at Kenyon College on April
19.
Lowell Ragatz, chairman of the
department of history, spoke at a re-
gional meeting of Phi Alpha Theta at
Otterbein, gave the February lecture
at the Ohio State Museum, and addressed
the new chapter of Phi Alpha
Theta at the University of Cincinnati.
David Lattimer has accepted a teaching
position at Denison Uni-
versity.
Francis P. Weisenburger has been
appointed to the advisory board of
the Franklin County Historical Society.