A Report on the First Ohio
Institute
on Local and State History
By ROBERT C. WHEELER*
Imagine, turning people away from a
meeting on history! Yet it actually
happened at Newark this fall on October
30 at the first Ohio Institute on
Local and State History.
One hundred fifty persons from forty-two
Ohio communities, represent-
ing thirty-five local and county
historical societies and museums, squeezed
and elbowed their way into the Newark
Mound Builders Country Club.
Even the most optimistic members of the
planning committee had agreed
that seventy people would be as many as
we could possibly hope for. But,
when the closing date for reservations
passed, and requests continued to
come in, we decided to make it come-one,
come-all with 150 the maximus
maximum! So we adjusted plans. The
chicken luncheon would be served
buffet style, hoping too many wouldn't
have to eat a la lap; and chairs
were pushed closer and closer together
as the institute date approached. As
it happened, the chair-pushing more than
literally brought people closer
together, and the buffet service, too,
seemed to contribute to a pleasant
informality.
Several local historical societies were
well represented. Fifteen came from
the Brecksville Historical Association,
a half dozen from the Warren County
Historical Society of Lebanon, nine from
the Delaware County Historical
Society, five from the Milan Historical
Museum, and the Licking County
Historical Society furnished at least
twenty. The most distant organizations
represented were the Ashtabula County
Historical Society, the Fairport
Harbor Historical Society, the
Historical Society of Northwestern Ohio at
Toledo, and the Historical and
Philosophical Society of Ohio at Cincinnati.
Not only historians came, but teachers,
librarians, and business and pro-
fessional people with an interest in
history.
The institute had its real beginnings
last spring when a small group of
historical society leaders met at the
Ohio State Museum in Columbus. The
purpose of the meeting was to find ways
to strengthen the work being done
in the field of local and state history,
and to encourage a working-together-
ness on the part of all historical
societies and historical museums in Ohio.
* Robert C. Wheeler is field
representative of the Ohio Historical Society.
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LOCAL AND STATE HISTORY 83
It was decided that an
"institute" of local and state historical society
representatives would be helpful.
Newark, one of Ohio's most interesting
historic towns, was selected 'as the
meeting place.
During the months of July, August, and
September the Ohio Historical
Society's field representative took to
the road and visited almost every
county in the state, searching out local
and county historical societies and
museums. These visits gave him an opportunity
to talk about the institute
and to extend a personal invitation to
come. During this summer tour of
the state a heartening observation was
the appearance of new historical
societies and wheels in motion for
others. At least a half dozen local
museums had come into existence in
recent months, and a number of other
communities had museums in the dreaming
and scheming stage. Museum
fever in Ohio, it seemed, had reached
near-epidemic proportions largely
as a kind of residual benefit of the
state's year-long sesquicentennial. This
marked increase of interest in
community, regional, and state history, quite
naturally, gave rise to many problems
and many questions. What should
we collect? How are items cared for?
Should we accept everything that
is given us? How can we increase our
membership? What kind of pro-
grams should we have? How can we raise
money for a museum? And so
on. This first institute, we hoped,
would at least provide common meeting
ground to share these problems, ask
these questions, and work together
on techniques and possible solutions.
On October 30, in the autumnal,
prehistory atmosphere of the Newark
Earthworks, the first institute opened.
Don E. Weaver, editor of the
Columbus Citizen and trustee of the Ohio Historical Society, in his
greet-
ings to the new institute, pointed out
that the state society was "aware of
the importance of local history and a
program in the field, and intended to
lay great emphasis upon it." Mrs.
Richard S. Fatig, president of the
Licking County Historical Society,
member of the institute planning com-
mittee, and chairman of the committee on
local arrangements, welcomed
the group to Newark. The balance of the
program followed an unusual
format. Eleven five-minute papers were
presented, giving a quick over-
view of the gamut of historical society
problems. Brief selections from all
eleven papers follow:
Eugene D. Rigney, director of the Ross
County Historical Society,
Chillicothe, from his paper "The
Challenge":
There is a desperate need for a
penetrating re-statement of the American
heritage of dependence upon God's
providence, individual strength and
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THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
responsibility. . . . The real test of
our merit is whether we are superficial
purveyors of antiquarian entertainment,
or able administrators of an un-
equaled trust: the American heritage.
Randolph C. Downes, professor of history
of the University of Toledo
and director of the Historical Society
of Northwestern Ohio, from his
paper "Sources of Ohio
History":
I think that the best source material
advice to give on an occasion like
this is to follow your nose. Given the
assignment of a topic or a field, the
hunter must follow the scent wherever it
leads, being careful, of course, to
keep to the main objective. . . . Always
one should have a copy of the
handbook of the American Association for
State and Local History on
historical societies in the United
States and Canada, now ten years out of
date. This is one of the most important
tools of the trade, because it is
always a good rule to be able to know
what special collections the various
societies have. . . . One of my dreams
is that the local historical societies
might cooperate in a master project of
indexing back newspaper files. One
of the toughest, most boring, most
discouraging phases of research is the
everlasting hunting for needles in
newspaper stacks. . . . The main im-
pression I would like to leave with you
is that local history cannot be
studied too locally. Some day when the
new grass roots history of the
American people is written it will be
known beyond the slightest doubt
that the parts that make up the whole of
American history are interlaced
and intertwined in a way that defies the
research isolationist. There is no
field of historical research where
cooperation is more necessary. The
scattered sources, screened and pieced
together, make units capable of great
synthesis and not necessarily an
unintegrated patchwork of isolated anti-
quarianism.
Mrs. William Mason Phillips, president
of the Warren County Historical
Society and curator of the Glendower
Museum of Lebanon, from her paper
"The Historical Society and/or
Museum":
The historical society and museum no
longer provides merely a storage
place for records and collections but is
obligated to play an important part
in the educational program of our state
and nation. ... It should be the
purpose of each historical society to
interpret history to its community.
Daniel F. Prugh, executive director of
the Franklin County Historical
Society, Columbus, and chairman of the
institute planning committee, from
his paper "Programs":
Programs are the life-blood of an
effective county historical society. . . .
LOCAL AND STATE HISTORY 85
They bring new members, they help to
establish our respective reputations
as active historical associations, and
they provide a means by which mem-
bers can participate in various
historical projects . . . . I am pleased to
find that some historical societies are
now creating programs for young
people. This is one phase of the local
history program that has been
tragically neglected by many county societies.
Colton Storm, director of the Western
Reserve Historical Society, Cleve-
land, from his paper
"Collecting":
The founders of a society often may have
gathered relics and records
because of filial pietism, wanting only
to sigh pleasantly over the dear,
lost past; and the resultant mass
consists largely of unrelated trivia. No
teaching service could have been
performed under such circumstances, nor
was it intended. A second generation of
enthusiasts, recognizing that to
understand today yesterday must be
explained, will coordinate a society's
holdings, collect only to supply missing elements, and
use the society to
enlarge the community's cultural
resources. . . . I hope historical societies
will form coordinated collections in
which the past can be related to the
present understandably. We exist to
preserve and to teach. One function
is meaningless without the other. If any
historical society collects with
these factors in mind, it will achieve
significance in its community.
James H. Rodabaugh, head of the division
of history and science of the
Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, from
his paper "Care Problems":
It is of first importance that any
collecting agency be fully aware of the
responsibility for the proper care of
its materials before it enters into a
collecting or acquisition program. To
collect and then destroy by failure to
use adequate means of preservation, in
so far as they are available, is to
commit fraud against those who give or
sell their valuables in the belief
that they are going to be safe and
secured against deterioration.
E. T. Heald, historian of the Stark
County Historical Society, Canton,
from his paper "Publications":
Publications provide a permanent and
therefore a most valuable historical
service. . . . The annual report is an
important item for a society to publish.
. . . It can be the best source of
information regarding the society for future
historians. . . . The Historical Society
of Northwestern Ohio should be
commended for the 7th and 8th grade
history texts it has published for use
in the schools.
W. A. Hammond, president of the Greene
County Historical Society,
Xenia, from his paper "Finance":
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THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
It is a fortunate fact that able and
responsible people who are not primarily
interested in historical work are,
nevertheless, conscious of its value and are
willing, even glad, to aid in the
promotion of historical programs in such
ways as material contributions, monetary
donations and endowments, and
legal action.
Norman Dohn, Sunday editor of the Columbus
Dispatch, from his paper
"Publicity and Public Relations":
Often the key to a good story is being
able to tie in the historical with a
current event or development. That
removes history from the abstract and
projects it into the present or even
into the future. ... As for public
relations, I think it would be well to
invite the press to your museum or
society meetings. . . . If you are a
do-nothing organization, you can't hope
to get much attention from the press.
Fred J. Milligan, trustee of the Ohio
Historical Society, newly elected
president of the Franklin County
Historical Society, and Columbus attorney,
from his paper "Laws: Present and
Desirable":
Section 307.23 of the Revised Code of
Ohio provides that the board of
county commissioners may appropriate
funds to the historical society of the
county to be used for the promotion of
historical work within the borders
of the county, and for the collection,
preservation, and publication of
historical material, and to disseminate
historical information of the county,
and in general to defray the expense of
carrying on historical work in such
county. . . . It also provides that such
funds may not be used for the
construction of buildings; however,
Attorney General O'Neill, in an opinion
to the prosecuting attorney of Medina
County rendered April 20, 1953,
ruled that a county historical society
may use the money paid to it under
Section 307.23, Revised Code, to
purchase an old house for the purpose of
preserving said house as an example of
early architecture, and, as an incident
thereto may use said house as a place of
storage and display for its col-
lection of historical relics.
Attorney Milligan stressed the need for
legislation to create an historical
markers and signs commission.
Robert C. Wheeler, field representative
of the Ohio Historical Society,
Columbus, from his paper "A United
Approach":
The organization I represent has a deep
and constant interest in you and
in what you are doing, realizing that we
are all working toward the same
goal. . . . The possibilities for all of
us in the field of state and local
LOCAL AND STATE HISTORY 87
history are tremendous. . . . The
greatest single strategy in this institute
will be sharing.
In all of the papers, of course, only
the high spots were hit, but we feel
reasonably sure that those who attended
came away with substance. The
literature table was a busy place for
"collectors" following the meeting.
During the luncheon program, Richard S.
Fatig, superintendent of state
memorials of the Ohio Historical
Society, gave the history and significance
of the Newark Earthworks, at which site
the institute was being held.
Completing the noon program was a
color-sound movie, "The Presence of
Our Past." This excellent film was
produced for the State Historical Society
of Wisconsin, and told the how and
why not only of that society, but of
the many local historical groups in
action throughout the state. Outstanding
portions of the film, so far as the
institute was concerned, were those dealing
with local societies and the emphasis on
working with schools.
The afternoon session, with Eugene D.
Rigney presiding, was a kind of
workshop, with many delegates getting
down to cases as to their particular
problems and needs. The morning speakers
served as a resource panel.
Audience participation was spontaneous,
there was much enthusiasm and
good humor, and the nature and number of
questions indicated an interest
in all subjects. Many questions showed
particular concern with finances and
county appropriations to local
historical societies. "At what stage should a
newly formed society request county
funds? What is the procedure? Does
the present law permit an historical
society to get an actual money appropri-
ation from county commissioners or must
they submit bills for commissioners
to approve and pay? Which plan is
desirable? Can more than one historical
society in a county receive funds from
the county? What is the best way
to preserve such important papers as
valuable old letters?"
The session also heard suggestions for
the next institute: I would like to
see a workshop on establishing a museum;
the training of a curator for a
county museum; how to cooperate with
groups in the community interested
in historical projects; what kind of
incentive can be offered to gain new
members, especially young people; how to
define and initiate a collecting
program for a county historical society;
projects that the historical society
could sponsor; demonstration of methods
and materials to stimulate interest
in local history; exhibit techniques;
labeling; the purpose of a county his-
torical society; a closer working
relationship between county historical
societies and the schools; how to refuse
items without offending the
prospective donor.
At 3 P. M. the formal portion of the
institute was adjourned and the
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THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
entire group made its way to a reception
at the Davidson House, where,
again, the Licking County Historical
Society, was the gracious host. In
the charm of a ninetenth-century setting
refreshments were served with
taste and elegance. Young ladies dressed
in authentic period costume added
grace and atmosphere.
Those of us at the Ohio Historical
Society are pleased with what hap-
pened in Newark. Our sincerest thanks to
the speakers, planning com-
mittee, Mrs. Fatig and her committee on
arrangements, and to all the fine
folk who attended. We hope that the
institute will continue and bear
good fruit. Next year the institute will
be held in another Ohio com-
munity with an altogether different
format. We hope to see you all in '55.