Echoes Magazine May/June 2020

MAGAZINE

MAY & JUNE 2020 THE KENT STATE SHOOTINGS

A PLACE IN NATIONAL HISTORY

THE MARTYRS OF MAY 14

INVENTING OHIO STATE

Living With the Past

Preserving the Kent State Site

The 1970 Shootings at Jackson State College

Page 34

Page 38

How Rutherford B. Hayes Shaped the University We Know Today

Page 28

Page 42

MAGA ZINE

Cover: A Kent State University student studies among the 58,175 daffodils on Blanket Hill near Taylor Hall. Part of the May 4 Memorial dedicated in 1990, the daffodils symbolize the number of American service members who lost their lives in the Vietnam War. See page 34.

Kent State University

Vol. 59, No. 3 EDITORS

Bill Eichenberger Tom Wolf CONTRIBUTORS

Contents M A Y & J U N E 2020

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The Kent State Shootings— Living With the Past

34

A Place in National History— Preserving the Kent State Site

38

The Martyrs of May 14— The 1970 Shootings at Jackson State College

42

Inventing Ohio State— How Rutherford B. Hayes Shaped the University We Know Today

Sophia Alleman Nanc y K . Bristow Randy Edwards David E . Rohr David A . Simmons Katie Swett ADVISORY BOARD

Donna DeBlasio Youn gstown St ate Unive r sit y

Nishani Frazier Miami Unive r sit y

Rober t G enheimer Cin cinn ati Muse um Ce nte r

Stephen G eorge O hio Histor y Conne c tion

Alex Hastie O hio v. the World

G eorge Ironstrack Miami Unive r sit y

Chester Pach O hio Unive r sit y

Roger Pickenpaugh Historian an d Auth or

I N E AC H I S S U E

2 4 4 8 15 16 21 46 48 50

Contents From Our Editors What’s Your Story?

In the News Historic Sites & Museums At the Ohio History Center & Ohio Village Featured Events & Exhibits I Wish I’d Been There Young Eyes on the Past Reviews

Daniel Rivers T he O hio St ate Unive r sit y

Erin Wingfield O hio Histor y Conne c tion

THANKS TO OUR OHIO HISTORY CONNECTION STRATEGIC PARTNERS:

Echoes Magazine (ISSN 0012-933X) is published bimonthly and distributed by the Ohio History Connection as a benefit of Ohio History Connection membership.

Editorial Offices: Ohio History Connection, Ohio History Center, 800 E. 17th Ave., Columbus, OH 43211-2474 Phone 844.836.0012 • Email echoes@ohiohistory.org Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Echoes Magazine, Ohio History Connection, Ohio History Center, 800 E. 17th Ave., Columbus, OH 43211-2474 Entire contents © 2020 by the Ohio History Connection.

All rights reserved. Nothing may be reprinted or electronically reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. The Ohio History Connection accepts no responsibility for facts and opinions expressed by the authors.

2 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

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The Kent State Shootings LIVING WITH THE PAST May 4 marks the 50th anniversary of the shootings at Kent State University, a day that’s been seared forever into our country’s collective consciousness. Echoes Magazine editor Bill Eichenberger talks with some of the many Ohioans who live with memories of that day.

28

A Place in National History PRESERVING THE KENT STATE SITE

34

Turned down for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, with the perspective of time the Kent State shootings site was added to the National Register in 2010.

In 2016, it was named a National Historic Landmark. Though gaining official recognition of the site’s importance in our nation’s history wasn’t easy, it has helped bring comfort to some and closure to others.

The Martyrs of May 14 THE 1970 SHOOTINGS AT JACKSON STATE COLLEGE

38

Shootings at Jackson State College in Mississippi on May 14–15, 1970, killed James Earl Green and Phillip Gibbs and wounded 12 other African American young people. Nancy K. Bristow, author of a new book on the shootings, reflects on the opportunity this year’s 50th anniversary presents to revisit this moment in history with care, acknowledge the racism that motivated it and pay respect to the victims.

Inventing Ohio State HOW RUTHERFORD B. HAYES SHAPED THE UNIVERSITY WE KNOW TODAY

42

As Ohio State celebrates 150 years since it was founded in 1870, we explore the role Rutherford B. Hayes played in making it the multifaceted institution we know today, before and after his time as our nation’s 19th president.

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FROM OUR EDITORS In the early 1990s, historian Eric Foner was accused on the TV program Firing Line of being a “revisionist.” Reached the next day by a reporter from Newsweek, Foner was asked, according to his account of the exchange, “When did all this revisionism begin?” To which he responded, “Probably with Herodotus,” the ancient Greek generally considered to be the father of the discipline of history.

The reporter from Newsweek then asked, according to Foner, “Do you have his phone number?”

This story is funny on its surface, though it asks some very important questions that historians grapple with every day: What is history? Can historians unearth the ‘truth’? Why do we ‘do’ history generation after generation?

Winston Churchill once famously said, “History is written by the victors.” Oscar Wilde once less famously said, “History is merely gossip.”

Somewhere in between these two positions is Hilary Mantel, who argued, “The past changes a little every time we retell it.”

Mantel’s assertion reverberates for us as we consider every one of the feature stories that appear in Echoes Magazine. In our piece on the 50th anniversary of the Kent State shootings (see page 28), we interview half a dozen people who were there that fateful day of May 4, 1970. Each of our interview subjects owns a piece of the story. But not one of them owns the entire story.

Gathering accounts of the tragedy, some heard an order to fire. Many others did not. Each of the subjects was standing in a different place from all the others and so experienced the event distinctly, apart from the others. The varying points of view are a feature, not a bug. We may yearn for a definitive version of events, but we have to accept history in all its messiness, all its complexity.

And of course we can know certain facts about any given event, things we know to be true. In our Kent State piece, Laura Davis said, “We know that four people died and that nine people were injured. We know that a total of 67 shots were fired by the guard in 13 seconds. So there are some things that we can know for certain.”

By gathering a multiplicity of voices, we have the best opportunity to get closest to truth.

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What’s In every issue of Echoes Magazine, we feature the stories of Ohio History Connection members and other Ohioans to stoke memories and shed light on our shared past.

For this issue, we asked,

“What are your memories of the shootings at Kent State University on May 4, 1970?”

Here are some of your responses: STUDENT REPORTER I was a senior at Otterbein College (now University) in May 1970. As station manager of the college radio station, WOBN-FM, I directed a considerable amount of attention and coverage on-air to the various protests that were conducted around the nation against the war in Vietnam. From our campus in Westerville north of Columbus, we had the ability to cover the protests on the Ohio State campus, as well as report on actions taking place at Jackson State and Kent State. I visited the OSU campus as a reporter with Ohio Highway Patrol credentials during the height of the protests. I focused on interviewing protesters, ordinary students, local residents and business owners, and shot a few photos which I intended to share with the editor of the student newspaper. I had finished interviewing a local corner grocery store owner on North High Street and was standing across the street with my camera and cassette tape recorder when five local police officers appeared

Your Story? in front of the store and began to hassle a young black man with a bag of groceries. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but watched (and took photos) of the encounter for about five minutes. I was surprised when the police suddenly knocked the groceries from the man’s arms and started to beat him with their nightsticks. One of the officers crossed the street in a hurried and somewhat menacing manner toward me. I held up my press credentials, which he examined, then demanded that I give him the roll of film in my camera immediately or I would “get what that guy got.” I opened the camera back, pulled out the film, which the officer exposed to the light then ordered me to leave. I felt lucky not to get my head busted. A test of my First Amendment rights as a reporter. I returned to Westerville, where I wrote a story, combined it with some of the interview spots and proceeded to add it to our 6 p.m. newscast. As WOBN-FM is a low-wattage radio station with limited listeners, I got no response from the listening audience, which was probably following the OSU protests via local commercial radio and TV reporters who had much more prestige and experience. This occasion of witnessing police brutality has stuck with me to this day, nearly 50 years later. It was reinforced four years later when I attended graduate school at Kent State in its School of Journalism.

—Brian Hartzell, Perrysville, Ohio

FATHER’S REGRET I remember waking up to my parents being terribly upset. The Ohio National Guard had shot four people at Kent State! My father was a full colonel in the Ohio National Guard. While this was a Vietnam War protest, all summer he had been in Cleveland and other places as we had what were then called “race riots,” basically poor

KENT STATE

people in the inner city fed up with a hot summer and tired of inequality.

He had been mowing the grass when someone called and said he needed to come to Kent State. He argued that he had been out all summer and he had agreed to give a speech the following week, saying “Send Del Corso instead” (Maj. Gen. Sylvester T. Del Corso, who headed the National Guard at Kent State). He always blamed himself for not going—he felt it would not have happened, as he had more experience in riot control.

He was sent to Ohio State for those student protests afterward.

—Sally McDonald, Columbus, Ohio

WAR “CAME HOME WITH A BANG” In May 1970, I was a seventh-grade student at North Olmsted Junior High School, about one hour northwest of Kent State. Our civics teacher asked the class for current events for the previous day. I raised my hand and spoke of the shootings.

Although my brother had been drafted and sister enlisted in 1968, the Vietnam War seemed a million miles away to me. However, it came home with a bang when hearing my brother had been badly wounded.

For the next few weeks, his condition was so critical we didn’t know if he’d make it home alive. Fortunately, he did and made the best of his life.

Fifty years later, I sometimes wonder why we were there and bristle at how poorly many of these veterans were treated when they returned to the United States. Thankfully, these days, even if people don’t agree with a war, they still treat returning soldiers with respect. Every chance I get I give a veteran a sincere handshake, and greet as many Honor Flights as possible.

—Al Price, U.S. Army Veteran, 1976– 1979, Kettering, Ohio

AT OHIO UNIVERSITY I was finishing my first year of teaching at Athens High School and, in the summer, serving my internship for my master’s degree in student personnel in Dean of Students Thomas P. O’Keefe’s office. The state university presidents decided to have a summer meeting to discuss the events across Ohio that spring, and Dean O’Keefe’s office was given the responsibility to organize it. It was given to me to construct a survey of all the state universities regarding what occurred on their campuses and write a summary report for use at their summer meeting. A copy of this report is in the Ohio University Alden Library Archives. For its own part, Ohio University had some shots fired near the East Green dorms, the ROTC building burned and the National Guard called out from its building at the end of Court Street uptown.

—David Keck, Howard, Ohio

PROFOUND SADNESS My vivid memory of May 4, 1970, was the eerie silence that enveloped the Kent State campus just hours after the shootings occurred. I was a graduate student, standing in front of a residence hall at the base of Blanket Hill when the news of gunfire filtered down to those of us mingling on the lawn after lunch. I was both stunned and frightened, for it was quite a different scene just hours earlier.

May 4 was a Monday and classes were scheduled, but many students joined a boycott of those classes to protest the presence of National Guard troops on campus. Like most people that day, I had no inkling of what was to unfold when the noise of the protest swelled and the reply from guardsmen reached its crescendo at 12:24 p.m. on the hill between Taylor and Johnson halls.

Later that afternoon, as students began to board buses for points beyond Kent,

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I felt a profound sadness that lingers today. I will be in Kent this May to mourn the loss of four fellow students and pay respect to those wounded 50 years ago. I will also grieve for the 24 soldiers who lost their lives in service to our country in Vietnam on May 4, 1970.

—Nicholas Andreadis, Cincinnati, Ohio

PROUD TO HAVE SERVED Having been drafted into the Army in 1966, then going through basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, then a 14-week advanced training course, I spent the next 18 months as an instructor at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

Then I got my orders for Vietnam. We all worked steady and hard doing what we had to do. After spending 11 months and 28 days in Vietnam and arriving home June 11, 1969, I found that the attitude of the general public and especially the younger crowd (had become) very negative. I did not volunteer for these duties, and I had to leave my wife and one-month-old daughter to serve our country. To see the way our veterans were treated was upsetting. There was nothing we could do, just not talk about our service.

I was saddened to hear about the shootings at Kent State. After dealing with the memories of Vietnam for 35 years, I was driving a neighbor’s pickup with military license plates. I stopped to fuel it up and a young man came over and thanked me for my service!

That changed my outlook and made me proud to have served. I now display Vietnam Veteran plates on my truck!

—Paul Hendricks, E-5, 101st Airborne

HELICOPTERS CIRCLING OVERHEAD I was 25 and a graduate student in the spring of 1970. In the days leading up to the May 4 shootings, it was surreal to awkwardly acknowledge friends from my nearby hometown, now National Guardsmen, as they stood with guns outside classroom buildings.

On the day of the shootings, I emerged from the Journalism Building, where I had been developing film and saw, from the rim of the grassy bowl, the National Guard lined up on the left

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side and a cluster of students in the middle. I headed down the sidewalk, and as I passed between the two groups, I heard a guardsman ordering the students to leave the area and thought to myself, “You’d better obey the man with the gun.” I continued on my errand to the post office, and when I was returning, I heard an eerie “pop, pop, pop.” Once back on campus near the student union, I joined a group of confused students and heard hushed exchanges of “They’ve just shot some students!” and “No, that can’t be true.” Still not realizing the gravity of the incident, I followed the sidewalk around the other rim of the green to return to the Journalism Building. Inside the building, I confronted a scene of fevered activity. Immediately, I heard an announcement: “Stay in the building. Do not leave the building.”

I am usually a compliant person, but I did not want to get trapped in the very center of the conflict. So I quickly walked out a back door, avoided a pool of blood in a parking lot, made it to my car and drove across town to my apartment. Once there, I telephoned my parents to let them know I was safe. In minutes, there were helicopters circling overhead and uniformed persons with bullhorns blaring the warning, “Stay inside or we’ll shoot.” We were under martial law—the world had changed in a flash.

—Martha Webb McGovern, Williamstown, West Virginia

DEGREE CAME IN THE MAIL The tragic events at Kent State in the spring of 1970 compelled Ohio University to close its campus early, sending everyone home. Students would be given a pass/fail grade or incomplete for their classes.

The graduation ceremony was canceled as well. I was a senior at OU that spring trying to wrap up an independent studies paper. I also was looking forward to the graduation ceremony. Confession: I was focused so tightly on those two goals that

I was missing a lot that was going on in the world around me but still felt the jitters of those residing in my dorm. Now I had to focus on packing what I could in my old Rambler, and pick up a few students who did not have transportation and were anxious to leave. We all left Athens as quickly as we could. I did complete the paper by returning to campus a month later—though campus was still officially closed—to meet with the professor. My degree came in the mail. The second goal, the graduation ceremony I never expected to achieve, came much later. Forty years later, Ohio University invited the class of 1970 to return to campus for commencement. Starting at 2 p.m. on June 12, 2010, 150 of my classmates and I walked across the stage to shake hands with the president of Ohio University and receive our degrees. The graduating class of 2010 followed. A judicious amount of national healing occurred in the 40 years’ separation between 1970 and 2010 and made the ceremony more special and more meaningful than I could have ever imagined.

—Steve Hankison, Gahanna, Ohio

SOBERING EXPERIENCE May 4, 1970—I turned 10 years old that day. I don’t really remember what happened that day. I was a fourthgrader in elementary school and the nightly news was far from my mind.

Fast-forward 12 years to my postcollege days. I subscribed to The Columbus Dispatch and read it every day. Every year on May 4, the dreaded story about the “Kent State Shooting” would appear in the paper. All I could think about was my birthday and how horrible to be reminded of such a sad day in Ohio’s history on my birthday. I thought, it happened so many years ago, why are they still talking about it?

In October 2012, Kent State opened a May 4 Visitors Center. I decided that I would visit Kent State on my birthday, May 4, 2013, to learn about

Kent State University Archives

A victim being transported on May 4, 1970, when National Guard troops killed four Kent State University students—Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder—and wounded nine others.

what happened. I walked the campus and read the signs posted along the walking tour describing how the events of the day unfolded. We met some people who were students there at the time. They described some of the events and how they felt when they happened. It was a very sobering experience. I now fully understood why this was a big deal and should be remembered every year.

—Debbie Duncan, Gahanna, Ohio

CAN STILL SEE AND SMELL THE SMOKE The spring of 1970, I was a junior at Ohio State and also a military policeman in the Ohio Army National Guard. I had been on riot duty at least three times.

The most recent time was the Columbus riot the previous summer (1969), when we patrolled Columbus with a city policeman in each of our jeeps.

When we heard on campus about the

shootings at Kent State, the first thing I heard was a couple of guardsmen had been shot as well as students, but we know that was not true. With everything that was happening at campuses around the country, I was not as shocked as I should have been about the shootings. I remember sitting on the Oval and listening to protesters speak about the Vietnam War and our being in Cambodia and a lot of hatred toward President Nixon. I can still see and smell the smoke coming out of Hayes Hall.

Fortunately, the fire was put out without much damage. It was warm and I made the mistake of rubbing my eyes. Tear gas residue was still in the grass from all the craziness that had occurred on the Oval, and my eyes started burning. That is my recollection of being 22 years old and a student/soldier.

—John Kirkpatrick, Columbus, Ohio

WHAT’S YOUR STORY? We want to know your stories, so in every issue of Echoes Magazine we ask you a question, then run selected answers in the following issue. Here’s the question for July & August: What is your favorite memory of Cedar Point?

Email your story responses (50 to 150 words) by May 10 to echoes@ohiohistory.org or, if you follow us on Facebook, send us a Facebook message.

Read Echoes Magazine online 24/7 at ohiohistory.org/ memberechoes.

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In the News HISTORY FUND

Eight Communities Win Grants Totaling $85,900 History and heritage organizations in eight Ohio communities are benefiting from $85,900 in 2020 History Fund grants awarded during the annual Statehood Day luncheon in Columbus. Grant recipients include: CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER, CINCINNATI • $10,000 to re-

bag, retag and reorganize 194 boxes of archaeological artifacts from four Cincinnati-area Fort Ancient village sites. The artifacts are stored with related field notes in paper and plastic bags that date from the 1930s to 1950s. The bags are in danger of rupturing and spilling their contents, separating artifacts from field notes. Aided by the grant, Cincinnati Museum Center will transfer contents from the bags to archivally safe containers and field notes to an archivally sound format, preserving valuable information on Ohio’s ancient cultures.

CLEVELAND HUNGARIAN HERITAGE SOCIETY, CLEVELAND • $4,910 to enable this all-volunteer organization, with professional help, to transfer its collections catalog from a basic Excel spreadsheet to more accessible records using the museumindustry standard software

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PastPerfect. The project will help Hungarian Heritage Society gain better control over the more than 800 objects entrusted to it, so they can be better used in sharing the story of Cleveland’s large Hungarian community.

FORT RECOVERY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, FORT RECOVERY • $8,303 to create a

digital exhibit of ancient American Indian artifacts in the society’s collection, using a Story Map app. The app will include photos, 3D scans, videos, timelines and cultural contexts for more than 1,000 objects. A collaboration between Fort Recovery Historical Society and Applied Anthropology Laboratories at Ball State University, the completed app will be freely available on their websites. The project will enable the society to share more about ancient American Indian life in the area.

INDIAN LAKE AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, RUSSELLS POINT • $2,849

for a collections-storage project.

Undertaken by an all-volunteer organization with professional help, the project will provide archivalquality storage for the society’s paper collections, including newspapers, photographs, color slides, ephemera and brochures.

The grant will also enable the group to buy new display cases and special equipment to control light levels. The project is expected to improve collections care, better preserving items used in sharing Indian Lake’s history.

The Mercantile Library, Cincinnati KENT STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION, KENT • $13,646 for digitizing Sanborn fire insurance maps. Known to historians and preservationists simply as “Sanborn maps,” these 19th- and 20th-century maps are valuable to researchers seeking to understand changes in buildings and streetscapes over time. Maps for some Ohio cities are available online, though not all are online yet. This grant will further Kent State University Library’s goal of making its vintage Sanborn maps—the most comprehensive collection in Ohio—freely accessible online.

MARION COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, MARION • $17,500 for

the Marion Voices Bicentennial Folklife and Oral History Project, documenting and amplifying black history and heritage in Marion County. With History Fund support, Marion County Historical Society will launch an oral history and folklife project resulting in community co-curated exhibits and events highlighting black history and heritage for the county’s 2020 bicentennial. Earlier phases of Marion Voices have had support from Ohio Humanities and the Ohio Arts Council.

Marion County Historical Society, Marion THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY, CINCINNATI

ABOUT THE HISTORY FUND

YOU HELP MAKE GRANTS POSSIBLE

$8,692 for conserving minutes of The Mercantile Library. The project will rebind nine books of handwritten minutes covering the library’s history from 1835, when it was founded, to 1964, when typewritten minutes begin. The library’s history is intertwined with the region’s history and includes many individuals of lasting influence, among them the Taft family, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Herman Melville. The project will improve public access to the minutes, a source valued by history and genealogy researchers.

In 2006, creation of a tax check-off to fund a statewide grants program for history- and preservationrelated projects was identified as a priority by participants in the annual Statehood Day legislative advocacy event sponsored by the Ohio History Connection and nine partner organizations: Heritage Ohio, the Ohio Academy of History, Ohio Archaeological Council, Ohio Council for Social Studies, Ohio Genealogical Society, Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board, Ohio Local History Alliance, Preservation Ohio and the Society of Ohio Archivists.

When you make a voluntary gift to the History Fund through the check-off on your Ohio personal income tax form, you help make grants like these for history- and preservation-related projects across Ohio possible.

SHORE CULTURAL CENTRE, EUCLID

It became a reality in 2011 when Gov. John R. Kasich signed Ohio’s two-year state budget into law.

The tax check-off first appeared on state income tax forms in 2012 for tax year 2011, and the first grants were awarded to 11 recipients across the state in 2012.

$20,000 for window repairs. Shore Cultural Centre was built in 1913 as Shore High School and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Since vacated as a school, it has been converted into a successful community cultural center. The window project is informed by a 2018 pilot project that repaired five windows.

This project will repair 16 more, advancing the long-term goal of repairing all 384.

Since 2013, the History Fund has made 81 grants in 40 counties totaling $780,469. It has received 388 grant proposals totaling $4.7 million in requests, according to Ohio History Fund Grants Coordinator Andy Verhoff of the Ohio History Connection, who says the level of interest demonstrates the strong need for such a program.

The History Fund is also aided by sales of Ohio History “mastodon” license plates and direct contributions to the Ohio History Connection for the Ohio History Fund.

Know of a worthy history- or preservation-related project that could benefit from an Ohio History Fund grant? Applications for 2021 Ohio History Fund grants are due Sept. 1, 2020. Find application forms and more information about applying for History Fund grants at ohiohistory.org/historyfund starting in mid-June or call 800.686.6124 or 614.297.2341.

Use our Columbus Member Advantage benefit for admission discounts to leading Columbus attractions like COSI & the Zoo. Just show your Ohio History Connection membership card!

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ON EXHIBIT STARTING JULY 3

The Press and The Presidency Just days after Rutherford B. Hayes was declared winner of the Republican nomination for president in the 1876 election, he wrote a letter of thanks to William Henry Smith.

“I am grateful to you...[for] how much you did to [secure the nomination] I shall perhaps never know, but I know it was very potent,” Hayes wrote to the editor, who was his friend.

Smith had used his position to help Hayes receive coverage over the Western Associated Press wire service, which sent stories favorable to Hayes to newspapers throughout the Midwest and West.

Smith would continue to use his influence to help Hayes throughout the presidential campaign.

PRESS HAS ALWAYS PLAYED A ROLE

Hayes’s dealings with Smith are just one example of how the press has played a role in American politics and the presidency throughout U.S. history. Since George Washington, presidents have responded to negative press and used some media to their advantage.

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Hayes Presidential Library & Museums

Hayes Presidential Library & Museums

Lucy Webb Hayes, Dot the dog, Rutherford B. Hayes and Western Associated Press editor William Henry Smith

1877 political cartoon

The Press and The Presidency, a new special exhibit at the Ohio History Connection’s Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums in Fremont, examines this relationship between the president and the press and how presidents through the years from George Washington to Donald Trump have interacted with the media. It opens Fri., July 3, and remains on display through February 2021.

A TIMELESS TOPIC

“It’s impossible to escape the role that media and social networks play in shaping opinions about the presidency today,” says historian Dustin McLochlin of Hayes Presidential Library & Museums.

“While the depth and frequency of communication has increased in recent years, the relationship that the presidency has had with the press is a timeless topic.”

The exhibit uses Hayes as an example of how a 19th-century president operating in a time before radio, television or the internet dealt with many of the pressures that presidents have endured since creation of the office. Likewise, it will explore how the press has covered the presidency, whether through positive or negative coverage.

Hayes Museum, Fremont

“Our hope is that this exhibit will offer modern observers a context for understanding how today’s struggles are unique yet common,” McLochlin says.

INCLUDES INTERACTIVES

The exhibit includes several interactive features that demonstrate the journalistic process and how presidents use the media to communicate with the public.

Partial funding for The Press and The Presidency has been provided by the City of Fremont.

PLANNING YOUR VISIT

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums is at Hayes and Buckland avenues in Fremont on the historic Hayes estate, Spiegel Grove. Hours are Mon.–Sat. 9 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sun. Noon–5 p.m.

(The site is closed on Mondays from January through March.) The Press and The Presidency is included with Hayes Museum admission.

Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission. Learn more at rbhayes.org or 800.998.7737.

Hayes Presidential Library & Museums

CINCINNATI

Harriet Beecher Stowe House Grows Youth Docent Program The Ohio History Connection’s Harriet Beecher Stowe House is the Cincinnati home where Stowe lived from 1833 to 1836, formative years that later led her to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin. At the Stowe House, you can learn about the Beecher and Stowe families, the Underground Railroad and the women’s rights movements of the 19th century that set the stage for the 19th Amendment.

Located in Cincinnati’s historic Walnut Hills neighborhood, today the Stowe House hosts educational tours, lectures and readings that celebrate Stowe’s life, family and legacy.

FOR EIGHTH—12TH GRADERS

For the past two years, through the Stowe House’s Youth Docent Corps, local eighth through 12th graders have been developing leadership skills while learning about social justice and the importance of community involvement.

Students chosen to join the program for the school year take part in monthly group activities, learning to perform the functions of tour guide for Stowe House visitors, including school groups. “We look for students who enjoy storytelling, are supporters of social-justice ideas and who need community service hours for school or a resume,” says Abigail Zhang, marketing manager for the Stowe House.

TRAINING AND SKILLS

Students learn about Stowe’s time in Cincinnati by exploring primarysource documents. They receive training on public speaking and listening skills they need to offer excellent tours.

Through board games, films, discussions, poetry, writing, implicitbias training and field trips to related sites like the John Rankin House and

John P. Parker House in Ripley, Ohio, they learn to understand the social issues that concerned Stowe and many others of her time.

After training, students volunteer as guides at least once a month.

The Youth Docent Corps was piloted in 2018 by Magnus Knudsen, then an eighth grader at Cincinnati Public Schools’ Spencer Center for Gifted and Exceptional Students.

His vision brought together elements of historical exploration and community service with the development of communication and professional skills. Magnus continues to serve as a tour guide and mentor in the expanded program.

“Joining the Youth Docent Corps allows students to share their knowledge and experience with the community,” Zhang says. “They grow as writers, speakers and teammates—skills they need to serve in a variety of roles with other museums, historic sites or organizations. This could be just the first step to a lifetime of community service as a hobby or a career.”

The program has received grant support from U.S. Bank Foundation.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

Recent Ohio Additions to the National Register of Historic Places CLEVELAND • CUYAHOGA COUNT Y HENRY W. LONGFELLOW SCHOOL 650 E. 140th St.

From 1910 to 1920, Cleveland grew by more than 236,000 people. In 1920, voters approved a bond issue for a school-building program.

Ohio’s Bing Act, passed in 1921, required children age 6–18 to go to school full time, creating need for even more school buildings.

Longfellow School reflects how the Cleveland Board of Education responded to this boom in the school-age population. Completed for the 1924–1925 school year, it’s the only remaining school Cleveland Public Schools architect Walter R. McCornack (1877–1961) designed in the Jacobethan Revival style. Popular from about 1900 to the 1930s, the style recalls English Renaissance buildings of the 1500s and 1600s.

CLEVELAND • CUYAHOGA COUNT Y LEVI SCOFIELD HOUSE 2438 Mapleside Rd.

LEARN MORE

In eighth to 12th grade in the Cincinnati area? Applications for the 2020–2021 school year Youth Docent Corps are due June 30 and the program starts in August. To learn more or apply, visit stowehousecincy.org/youthdocent-corps or email education@ stowehousecincy.org.

Intrigued and interested in visiting the Stowe House?

Learn more at ohiohistory.org/ stowe, stowehousecincy.org or 800.847.6507.

Cleveland architect Levi T. Scofield (1842–1917) lived in this house from 1898 to 1917. A prominent architect and sculptor, he’s known for the design of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Mansfield’s Ohio State Reformatory and many other landmarks. Before developing the 14-story Scofield Building on family property at East Ninth and Euclid in downtown Cleveland, he

OHIOHIS TORY.ORG

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moved to this new home of his own design farther east of downtown, like many Euclid Avenue residents were doing by the turn of the 20th century. Built of massive sandstone blocks, the Queen Anne-style house was completed in 1898. Plans are underway to rehab the Scofield House as affordable senior housing.

DAY TON • MONTGOMERY COUNT Y SUMMIT STREET YWCA 236 S. Paul Laurence Dunbar St.

Dayton’s former Summit Street YWCA has been added to the National Register for its association with the histories of Dayton, the city’s African American community and the YWCA, and for its local architectural significance. Built for Dayton’s Kuhns family, the Italian Villa-style house is notable as an example of the use of Dayton limestone. As the Summit Street YWCA from 1942 to 1973, it was associated with a commitment

by the Dayton and national Young Women’s Christian Associations to promote racial equality and integration. Summit Street YWCA had its roots in the nation’s oldest continuously operating black YWCA, started in Dayton about 1889. In 1918, it affiliated with the national and Dayton YWCAs as the West Side Branch. In 1942, the West Side Branch moved to this building, where it served black women war workers during World War II and, in the early 1950s, became a model of integration.

That success ultimately led to Summit Street YWCA being sold in 1973 under the auspices of founder and trustee Jessie Hathcock, “who opened the door (of the West Side Branch) in 1918 when the black women became a national branch (of the YWCA) and closed it in 1973 after their mission was complete.”

DELAWARE • DELAWARE COUNT Y DEL AWARE POST OFFICE 60 S. Sandusky St.

Opened in 1911 across the street from Ohio Wesleyan University, the former Delaware Post Office has been added to the National Register for its local architectural significance. It’s an example of early-20th-century neoclassicism, with a symmetrical

12 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

façade, round-arched windows, Doric pilasters, a carved stone eagle, low-pitched red tile roof and ornamental cast iron lampposts, all features derived from classical Roman architecture. It’s representative of the post offices the U.S. Treasury’s Office of the Supervising Architect was building in smaller cities in the early 1900s. In 1969, the building was adapted to classroom and studio space for Ohio Wesleyan’s Humphreys Art Hall, and in 2002, it became the Richard M. Ross Museum.

RICHFIELD • SUMMIT COUNT Y CAMP CROWELL HIL AKA HISTORIC DISTRICT 4374 Broadview Rd.

The Camp Crowell Hilaka Historic District is associated with the history of the Girl Scouts in northeast Ohio as the first permanent Girl Scout camp in the region. The Cleveland Girl Scout Council was an early leader in integration and religious inclusion.

National Register photos courtesy State Historic Preservation Office

Henry W. Longfellow School

Delaware Post Office

special tours and events, Ohio Open Doors was created in 2016 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act. Passed by Congress and signed into law in 1966, the act made preserving historic, architectural and archaeological resources whenever possible a policy of the federal government.

Henry W. Longfellow School

In 1937, the council dedicated 243-acre Camp Julia Crowell, opening an adjoining 93 acres for camping in 1959 as Camp Hilaka.

By 1969, a series of new buildings and improvements at Camp Julia Crowell and Camp Hilaka had been completed, the result of a major capital fundraising campaign by the Lake Erie Girl Scout Council.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

Host an Ohio Open Doors Event Ohio continues to rank among our nation’s leading states in preserving historic places. Help others discover your community’s landmarks by becoming a host site for Ohio Open Doors Sept. 11–20, 2020. A 10-day event in which historic buildings and landmarks across Ohio open their doors for

To participate, plan and hold at least one two-hour event any time Sept. 11–20. Events highlight local landmarks and must be free and open to the public. Consider opening rarely seen places, offering guided tours highlighting design and history, and providing a place and time for coffee and conversations.

Stipends are available to small non-profit participants on a firstcome, first-served basis. As the sponsoring organization, the Ohio History Connection will support participating places by promoting the overall 10-day period of Ohio Open Doors. As a local sponsor, you’ll have access to an online kit of promotional materials; the Ohio Open Doors logo; an online calendar of Ohio Open Doors events that’s also shared with travel and tourism partners; and a package of materials for use in promoting your event. Questions? Learn more and register your event at ohiohistory. org/ohio-open-doors or call 800.686.6124.

ATTENTION MEMBERS

Help Us Get Our House in Order You’ve known us as the Ohio History Connection since 2014. Now we’d like to make it legal—a bit of housekeeping, and we need your help. When you vote in this year’s election of Ohio History Connection trustees, you’ll also be asked to confirm “Ohio History Connection” as our legal name. We’ve been doing business as the Ohio History Connection since 2014. The vote will make it official so we can begin bringing contracts, legal documents and some other places where

NOW OPEN

Open 11 a.m.–2 p.m.

Seven days a week SERVING:

• Soups • Salads • Sandwiches • Sides

• Desserts • Coffee • Pepsi products

Ohio History Connection

MEMBERS SAVE 10% at the Plaza Cafe!

thurs., june 18 5–7:30 p.m.

OHIO HISTORY CENTER I-71 & 17th Avenue, Columbus Learn the value of a history education in life and business in a thought-provoking conversation with four professionals who took a nontraditional career path.

Free with registration by June 1 800.686.1541 ohiohistory.org/annualmeetingrsvp

Ohio Village opens for the summer on May 23 with our annual Member Celebration, and you’re invited! 800.686.1545 or ohiohistory.org/membercelebration.

OHIOHIS TORY.ORG

13

The State of Ohio is our major partner in protecting and presenting Ohio’s history in its many forms. Bob was consistently an invaluable and trusted liaison with state officials, both elected and appointed. His credentials and reputation as a journalist enabled him to pursue significant issues and to respond authoritatively to external inquiries.

we’re still required to go by our old name in line with our new name, Ohio History Connection.

(This isn’t the first time this has happened. In 1954, the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society became legally the Ohio Historical Society. Now we’d like the Ohio Historical Society to become legally the Ohio History Connection.) Watch for your ballot online or in the mail in May and help us get our house in order by confirming your approval when you vote this spring. Questions? Call 800.686.1545.

Bob embodied the trait of loyalty—to his employer, his alma mater, his church and to selected civic organizations. He studied institutions and their missions before making a substantial commitment of time and talent.

BLUE STAR MUSEUMS

Active-Duty Military?

Enjoy free admission to the Ohio History Center museum and many other Ohio History Connection attractions participating in Blue Star Museums this summer. Blue Star Museums is a collaboration of the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and more than 2,000 museums offering free admission to active-duty military personnel, including National Guard and Reserve and their families, from Memorial Day, May 25, through Labor Day, Sept. 7. Find details and participating museums at arts.gov/national/blue-starmuseums.

IN MEMORY OF

Robert Burns Smith, President, Board of Trustees (1929–2019) Ohio’s rich and fragile history lost a loyal and generous friend with the passing of Robert Burns Smith (1929–2019) on Oct. 11, 2019.

Beginning in 1986, Bob Smith served as a member of the Board of Trustees for 15 years, and he was elected president of the board for seven of those years. Professionally, Bob was an accomplished and respected journalist. During his tenure on the board, he was editorin-chief of The Columbus Dispatch, a post from which he retired in 1996.

Those of us who had the benefits of Bob’s leadership and service remember his style as an attractive blend of curiosity, analysis and decisiveness. He welcomed all relevant perspectives on the many issues our organization confronted, but he insisted on identification of the salient facts pertinent to the matter under consideration before entertaining and weighing opinions.

In this regard, he was an excellent mentor.

14 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

If he determined the entity to merit his participation, he would focus his considerable energy toward protecting and strengthening the enterprise.

He was available as a wise and trusted adviser to many within the organization, and he was a proud vocal advocate to other audiences.

Bob led in so many ways. His personal philanthropy was exemplary. Again, as with his valuable time, he sought to help us address the most pressing needs and to pursue the more compelling opportunities. A consistent and thoughtful donor, he also welcomed information about the extent to which the targets of his gifts were being successfully addressed.

Moreover, he recommended us as a beneficiary among his wide circles of personal and professional friends.

Bob served with many other fine and generous trustees, and his presence magnified their contributions to the enduring benefit of our organization.

Gary C. Ness Executive Director Emeritus

O HI O HIS TO RY CO NNEC T I O N

Historic Sites & Museums NORTHWEST OHIO 1. Armstrong Air & Space Museum 2. Cedar Bog Nature Preserve 3. Cooke-Dorn House 4. Fallen Timbers Battlefield Memorial Park 5. Fort Amanda Memorial Park 6. Fort Jefferson Memorial Park 7. Fort Meigs 8. Fort Recovery Museum & Monument 9. Glacial Grooves Geological Preserve 10. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums 11. Indian Mill 12. Inscription Rock Petroglyphs 13. Johnston Farm & Indian Agency 14. Lockington Locks

NORTHEAST OHIO 15. Custer Monument 16. Fort Laurens 17. McCook House 18. Museum of Ceramics 19. Quaker Yearly Meeting House 20. Schoenbrunn Village 21. Shaker Historical Museum 22. Tallmadge Church 23. Youngstown Historical Center of Industry & Labor 24. Zoar Village

SOUTHWEST OHIO 33. Adena Mansion & Gardens 34. Davis Memorial Nature Preserve 35. Fort Ancient Earthworks & Nature Preserve 36. Fort Hill Earthworks & Nature Preserve

CENTRAL OHIO

SOUTHEAST OHIO

37. Harriet Beecher Stowe House 38. John Rankin House 39. Miamisburg Mound

47. Big Bottom Memorial Park 48. Buckeye Furnace

26. Hanby House

40. National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center

27. Logan Elm

41. Paul Laurence Dunbar House

50. Campus Martius Museum

28. Newark Earthworks

42. Serpent Mound

51. John & Annie Glenn Museum

29. Ohio History Center & Ohio Village

43. Story Mound

52. Leo Petroglyphs & Nature Preserve

30. Shrum Mound

44. U.S. Grant Birthplace

53. National Road & Zane Grey Museum

31. Wahkeena Nature Preserve

45. U.S. Grant Boyhood Home & Schoolhouse

54. Ohio River Museum

32. Warren G. Harding Home & Memorial

46. William Henry Harrison Tomb

55. Our House Tavern

25. Flint Ridge Ancient Quarries & Nature Preserve

49. Buffington Island Battlefield Memorial Park

Ohio History Connection members enjoy free regular admission to these museums and attractions.

Find locations, hours and more at ohiohistory.org/places.

OHIOHIS TORY.ORG

15

P R O G R A M S & E X H I B I T S AT T H E

Ohio History Center & Ohio Village

The May & June issue of Echoes Magazine was coming together as the coronavirus was approaching. At the time, most May and June events had not been canceled, though by the time you read this, it is possible that they have been. Before you travel, we recommend that you call or check online to confirm that the event you plan to attend is taking place as scheduled.

Enjoy the following programs free with museum admission.*

ECHOES IN TIME THEATRE

Questions? Call 800.686.6124.

Dr. Kellogg—A Man Ahead of His Time

STAFF PICK

Kent State SAT., MAY 2 & SUN., MAY 3 NOON–12:30 P.M. See items on display that are related to the May 4, 1970, Kent State shootings and explore the stories behind them with a staff guide.

TALK

Understanding Kent State SAT., MAY 2 F 2–2:30 P.M. Join archivist Lisa Wood, who’ll share some of the challenges historians have faced in trying to record what happened at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. See written accounts and other documents from the archives that tell the story in participants’ own words and convey differing interpretations of the day’s events.

TALK

The Kent State Killings 50 Years Later— A Historian’s Perspective SAT., MAY 2 F 6–7 P.M. In recent decades, historians have pieced together a seemingly sound narrative of the encounter between Kent State

16 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

University students and the National Guard. Still, ambiguities remain, and even our best explanations of what transpired are less than satisfying. Join Dr. David Steigerwald of The Ohio State University, a nationally recognized expert on the 1960s, for this fascinating evening lecture. Free with required advance registration due to seating capacity. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with reception after the program.

800.686.1541

SAT., MAY 2 & 16 PERFORMANCES AT 1 & 3 P.M. In 1876, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, a physician, nutritionist and renowned health activist, took over management of the Battle Creek Sanitarium. It quickly grew, treating more than 700 people at a time by the turn of the 20th century. Learn about Kellogg’s methods and accomplishments as you listen to a patient, portrayed by Joby Easley, recount her experiences at the health resort. Echoes in Time Theatre lasts about 30–45 minutes and includes a post-performance Q&A. COSI SCIENCE FESTIVAL

Explore Shipwrecks WEDS., MAY 6 F 2–3 P.M. Shipwrecks? In Ohio? You bet there are!

Be an underwater archaeologist—come learn more about them, then try your hand at surveying a shipwreck and using your information to identify which one it could be. This program is presented as part of the COSI Science Festival.

COSI SCIENCE FESTIVAL

An Evening of Discovery THURS., MAY 7 F 5–9 P.M. 5–7 P.M.: Artifact, Fossil & Bone Identification Workshop. Meet curators and education specialists who’ll be on hand with hands-on specimens of ancient American Indian artifacts, fossils and animal bones typical of central Ohio. They’ll answer questions and help identify specimens you bring.

7–9 P.M.: Why We Still Don’t Know for Sure Who Built Serpent Mound. Ohio’s ancient Serpent Mound is a National Historic Landmark. So it’s kind of embarrassing that after more than 150 years of archaeological investigations, we still don’t know how old it is. In this lecture, Brad Lepper, the Ohio History Connection’s senior curator of archaeology, will review the history of efforts to figure out just how old Serpent Mound is and explain why we still don’t even know for certain which of Ohio’s ancient American Indian cultures built it. A short Q&A will follow.

Part of COSI’s Science Festival, this program is free with required advance registration. 800.686.1541 STAFF PICK

Mae Takasugi’s Parasol SUN., MAY 10 F NOON–12:30 P.M. SAT., JULY 11 F NOON–12:30 P.M. Mae and Kingo Takasugi of Alliance, Ohio, were among more than 100,000 Japanese American citizens forced to leave their homes and relocate to government-run internment camps during World War II. Learn about the internment and see a parasol Mae Takasugi owned before she left Ohio.

OHIO – CHAMPION OF SPORTS EXHIBIT TOUR

Strange Sports Stories SAT., MAY 16 F NOON–12:30 P.M. Sometimes sports history is stranger than fiction! Hear stories from Ohio’s sporting past, including how an early football team was used as a marketing tool to sell dogs and how a turtle became a trophy, in this guided tour of the special exhibit Ohio—Champion of Sports.

*Museum admission through May 22, 2020, is $13; $11/ages 60+; $7/ages 4–12. Museum admission May 23–Sept. 6 includes Ohio Village and is $15; $13/ages 60+; $9/ages 4–12. Ohio History Connection members and ages 3 & under enjoy free admission.

Sat., June 6 • 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

“““

Members enjoy early access at 9 a.m.!

Why We Still Don’t Know for Sure Who Built Serpent Mound

Artifact, Fossil & Bone Identification Workshop

MAY 7

MAY 7

EXHIBIT TOUR

TOUR

Civil War Battle Flags

Ancient Fossils

SUN., MAY 17 F NOON–12:30 P.M. SUN., JUNE 21 F 2–2:30 P.M. Visit the exhibit Follow the Flag with a guide to see real Civil War battle flags and learn about our efforts to conserve them. Get special access to a case where flags not on display are stored.

SAT., MAY 30 F NOON–12:30 P.M. From shallow sea to massive glacier, learn about animals and plants that lived in ancient Ohio and get hands-on with their fossils.

OHIO VILLAGE

Ohio Village Opening Day & Member Celebration SAT., MAY 23 F 10 A.M.–5 P.M. There’ll be music in the air when Ohio Village, our recreated 19th-century community, opens for the summer.

Learn about the roots of bluegrass, attend a jam session, see local group Slate Ridge perform and much more.

Explore homes and businesses, meet the 1890s Ohioans who live there and play old-fashioned games on the village green. Included with Ohio History Center museum admission. Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission + a few extra perks as Ohio Village welcomes the summer season, which runs through Sun., Sept. 6.

TOUR

Dangerous Collections SUN., MAY 24 F 2–2:30 P.M. From arsenic to asbestos, collecting the stuff of history can be dangerous.

Explore the museum with a staff guide who’ll show you all the hazardous substances on display. Leave your gas mask at home—everything is safely behind glass!

EXHIBIT TOUR

Weird History SAT., MAY 30 F 2–2:30 P.M. Explore the museum with a guide who’ll point out some of the weirder things on exhibit and talk about why we collect things whose value may not be apparent until you know the stories behind them.

TALK

Kenner Toys & Star Wars SUN., MAY 31 F NOON–12:30 P.M. SUN., JUNE 28 F 2–2:30 P.M. Get a look at how Cincinnati toy company Kenner Products got first rights to make Star Wars toys, and learn about some of the quirky toys Kenner produced.

STAFF PICK

Ohio Art Company Toys SUN., MAY 31 2–2:30 P.M. See colorful Ohio Art Company toys of the 1930s to 1970s from our collection.

While they’re usually in storage, you’ll get a special opportunity to examine them up close!

F

I-71 & 17th Avenue, Columbus 800.686.6124 ohiohistory.org/storybook

SPECIAL EVENT

Storybook Village SAT., JUNE 6 F 10 A.M.–5 P.M. Ohio History Connection members enjoy early access at 9 a.m. Bring the whole family to Storybook Village, where your favorite storybook characters magically come to life! Bring your little ones to meet classic characters and popular favorites from PBS as they roam Ohio Village and greet children of all ages. Made possible through a partnership of the Ohio History Connection, Columbus Metropolitan Library and WOSU Public Media, Storybook Village is included with general admission to the Ohio History Center on June 6: $15, $13/ages 60+, $9/ages 7–12, Free/Ohio History Connection Member or age 6 & under. Buy an Ohio History Connection membership and enjoy early access at 9 a.m. + free admission!

Special thanks to Storybook Village event sponsor CollegeAdvantage, Ohio’s 529 Savings Plan.

TOUR

Museum Highlights SUN., JUNE 7 F NOON–12:30 P.M. Get an introduction to our collections on this guided tour. Learn about the first man to integrate Major League Baseball’s American League, how Shakespeare’s words brought an invasive species to America and where George R.R. Martin

OHIOHIS TORY.ORG

17

““

“““

Ohio Village Opening Day

Ohio Village Opening Day

MAY 23

MAY 23

might’ve gotten his inspiration for dragon glass in Game of Thrones.

OHIO – CHAMPION OF SPORTS STAFF PICK

Soap Box Derby Cars SUN., JUNE 7 F 2–2:30 P.M. Learn more about Soap Box Derby, a sport with roots right here in Ohio. See cars on display and discover how the sport has changed from the 1930s to the present.

STAFF PICK

Inside the Sampler Case SAT., JUNE 13 F NOON–12:30 P.M. Meet us in Gallery Two, where we’ll unlock a special case where handcrafted samplers are stored and share stories of 19th-century young women learning the practical art of needlework.

EXHIBIT TOUR

World War I Display SAT., JUNE 13 F 2–2:30 P.M. Tour our open-storage World War I display. You’ll see real helmets, uniforms, gas masks and personal effects collected from Ohio servicemen and women.

OHIO – CHAMPION OF SPORTS EXHIBIT TOUR

Sports Highlights SUN., JUNE 14 F NOON–12:30 P.M. On this guided exhibit tour, discover how Ohioans have helped shape the national sports scene. Learn about some of the great and lesser-known athletes who left their mark on history.

18 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

STAFF PICK

The Toledo War SUN., JUNE 14 F 2–2:30 P.M. Today, Ohio and Michigan are mainly opponents on the college gridiron, though there’s a deeper story of competition between them. Hear about the Toledo War of 1835, the boundary dispute that began a long rivalry.

OHIO VILLAGE

Myth-Busting History SAT., JUNE 20 F 10 A.M.–5 P.M. We’re busting history myths and breaking down perceptions of “the good old days.”

From smells and beauty standards to journalism and medicine, enjoy familyfriendly activities designed to show you what life was really like in the past.

Myth-Busting History is included with Ohio History Center museum admission.* Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission!

Suffrage Centennial ECHOES IN TIME THEATRE

The 1920 Nomination of Warren G. Harding SAT., JUNE 20 PERFORMANCES AT 1 & 3 P.M. Presidents haven’t always been nominated in the way we do now, with voters choosing candidates in primary elections. In the early 1900s, deals were often brokered in back rooms as politicos pushed for their candidates to get the nomination. Listen as a friend of Warren G. Harding shares thoughts about the 1920 campaign. Echoes in

Time Theatre lasts about 30–45 minutes and includes a post-performance Q&A. STAFF PICK

German Mauser SUN., JUNE 21 F NOON–12:30 P.M. SAT., JULY 11 F 2–2:30 P.M. Did you know that Han Solo’s famous blaster is based on a real World War I handgun? Stop by for a look at a real German Mauser.

OHIO – CHAMPION OF SPORTS

Presidential First Pitches SAT., JUNE 27 • NOON–12:30 P.M. Did you know that the first president to throw out the first pitch at a professional baseball game was from Ohio? Learn about the history behind this tradition.

TALK

Lost Columbus Malls SAT., JUNE 27 F 2–2:30 P.M. From Northland to City Center, recent Columbus history is littered with dead malls. Learn about the heyday and downfall of some of these lost shopping centers in this staff-led talk, and bring your memories to share!

OHIO – CHAMPION OF SPORTS EXHIBIT TOUR

African American Sports Heroes SUN., JUNE 28 F NOON–12:30 P.M. From Larry Doby to Jesse Owens, learn about sports stars featured in the exhibit Ohio—Champion of Sports who broke barriers while overcoming prejudice and other challenges.

*Museum admission through May 22, 2020, is $13; $11/ages 60+; $7/ages 4–12. Museum admission May 23–Sept. 6 includes Ohio Village and is $15; $13/ages 60+; $9/ages 4–12. Ohio History Connection members and ages 3 & under enjoy free admission.

OHIO VILLAGE

Independence Day at Ohio Village SUN., JULY 5 F 10 A.M.–5 P.M. Enjoy old-fashioned family fun celebrating our nation’s independence throughout our recreated 19th-century community. Villagers are busy planning a patriotic procession, music, dancing, an Ohio Village Muffins base ball game and more! Included with general admission.

Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission!

MORE FEATURED EVENTS • • • GENEALOGY WORKSHOP

Latinx Genealogy SAT., MAY 9 F 10:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Explore how to trace Latinx roots in the United States with Nicole MartinezLeGrand, multicultural collections coordinator for the Indiana Historical Society. Learn the history of Latinx immigration in the early 20th century and how to use online sources—both free and subscription—to discover your ancestors. Advance registration recommended.

OHIO VILLAGE • PLEASURES OF THE CUP

Drinks of the Speakeasy SAT., MAY 9 F 7–9:30 P.M. Travel back in time to 1930, to a world of bathtub gin, cool jazz and flappers.

Explore the underground world of Ohio Village with an escort as you learn how Prohibition sent alcohol from bars and taverns to secret watering holes.

Must be 21+. Advance tickets required. $40, $35/Ohio History Connection member. 800.686.1541 or reservations@ ohiohistory.org GENEALOGY WORKSHOP

World War II Records SAT., JUNE 13 F 10:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Learn how to research World War II military records with curator John Haas, who’ll also describe the February 1945 Battle of Manila. Commanded by Maj. Gen. Robert S. Beightler of Marysville, the 37th Infantry Division included many Ohioans who helped recapture Manila, capital of the Philippines. $20, $15 Ohio History Connection member.

Advance registration recommended.

800.686.1541 or ohiohistory.org/ genealogy

ANNUAL MEETING

History Majors Preferred THURS., JUNE 18 F 5–7:30 P.M. Data shows that history majors go into a variety of careers, and potential employers value what they bring to the table. From critical thinking to problemsolving and communication, a history degree fosters the “soft skills” now considered paramount in the modern job market. Hear from a panel of community leaders about the value of a history education in work and life: Mike Anderson, Chairman, The Andersons Inc.; Andra Geno, Title Operations Project Manager, Creative Production, Netflix; Kelley Griesmer, President & CEO, The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio; and Jack Marchbanks, Director, Ohio Department of Transportation.

Free with required advance registration

by June 1. 800.686.1541, 800.647.2498, eschofield@ohiohistory.org, or ohiohistory.org/annualmeetingrsvp Special thanks to event sponsor The Ohio State University Department of History OHIO VILLAGE

Evenings on the Green— Roots of Bluegrass THURS., JUNE 18, JULY 16 & AUG. 20 GATES OPEN AT 6 P.M. F MUSIC 7–9 P.M. On three summer evenings, Ohio Village brings you some of central Ohio’s finest bluegrass music, thanks to a partnership between WOSU Public Media and the Ohio History Connection. Bring the family to enjoy live music, explore our recreated 19th-century community and play games on the village green. Buy dinner from local food trucks on-site or bring a picnic. Beer, wine and soft drinks for sale. (No outside alcohol permitted.) Pay what you choose— donations benefit the Ohio History Connection’s Annual Fund. In case of rain, music moves inside the village church. JUNE 18: R U Bound. JULY 16: The Wood Pickers. AUG. 20: The Relentless Mules. 800.686.6124 or ohiohistory.org/evenings

FEATURED EXHIBITS • • •

I-71 & 17th Avenue, Columbus 800.686.6124 ohiohistory.org/1950s

ON EXHIBIT

WEDS.–SUN. • 10 A.M.–5 P.M.

OHIO HISTORY CENTER, COLUMBUS Explore the compelling human story of sports.

ohiohistory.org/sports

Ohio–Champion of Sports THROUGH SUN., SEPT. 6 Ohio—Champion of Sports features more than 70 stories and 35 oral

Book group tours now: 800.686.1541 or reservations@ohiohistory.org OHIOHIS TORY.ORG

19

Suffrage Centennial

Votes for Women— 100 Years of Change

Ohio History Center COLUMBUS

histories covering more than 25 sports ranging from baseball, football and basketball to roller derby, skateboarding and e-gaming. The exhibit showcases the Ohio athletes, coaches, owners and fans at the center of the action and explores sports through the themes of Character, Adversity, Innovation, Identity, Tradition and Victory—values that relate to the human condition—to connect a broad audience to Ohio’s national sports history. You can test your basketball skills at the Wall of Hoops, record a “victory dance” to share with family and friends, run an obstacle course and record your own “One Minute Legends” sports story.

Follow Ohio’s great sports stories on our blog at ohiohistory.org/champion.

RELATED PROGRAMS: See bold headings on pages 16–20. 800.686.6124 or ohiohistory.org/sports

THROUGH SUN., JAN. 3 Votes for Women commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Through the voices of Ohio women, explore women’s activism in the suffrage movement and other related social movements—such as voting and citizenship—from the 19th century to the present. Featured are a suffrage parade blouse, jacket and sashes worn in the 1910s by Mary Stuart Andrews of Warren, who worked for the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association, and a suffrage parade banner made in 1910 by Columbus Sign Co. RELATED PROGRAMS: The 1920 Nomination of Warren G. Harding. See Sat., June 20.

Kent State Display THROUGH SUN., JAN. 3, 2021 In the museum’s Welcome Lobby display case, see an assortment of artifacts and documents from our collection that are related to the May 4, 1970, shootings at Kent State University. RELATED PROGRAMS: Staff Pick: Kent State—See Sat., May 2 & Sun., May 3. Understanding Kent State—See Sat., May 2. The Kent State Killings 50 Years Later—A Historian’s Perspective—See Sat., May 2.

Music, food trucks & fun!

Thurs., June 18 • R U Bound Thurs., July 16 • The Wood Pickers Thurs., Aug. 20 • The Relentless Mules

OHIO VILLAGE I-71 & 17th Avenue, Columbus 800.686.6124 ohiohistory.org/evenings

1950s—Building the American Dream ONGOING Get a look at life in the 1950s. Peek in the closets and snoop in the drawers of a real, fully furnished Lustron steel house made right here in Ohio. From the contents of the cupboards to the news on TV and the toys in the yard, this hands-on exhibit is a fascinating journey back in time.

World War I Display

Ohio History Center Hours Museum & Ohio Village

Plaza Cafe

WEDS.–SUN. 10 A.M.–5 P.M.

MON.–SUN. 11 A.M.–2 P.M.

CLOSED MON.–TUES.

CLOSED MEMORIAL DAY AND JULY 4

CLOSED MEMORIAL DAY AND JULY 4

The Plaza Cafe is open 11 a.m.–2 p.m. seven days a week and serves soups, salads, sandwiches, a variety of sides and desserts, coffee and Pepsi products. Ohio History Connection members save 10% at the Plaza Cafe.

OHIO VILLAGE OPENS FOR THE SEASON ON SAT., MAY 23, THROUGH SUN., SEPT. 6 Enjoy an old-fashioned Independence Day in Ohio Village on Sun., July 5, from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. See page 19.

Third Floor Research Room WEDS.–SAT. 10 A.M.–5 P.M. CLOSED SUN.–TUES. CLOSED MEMORIAL DAY AND JULY 4

20 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

ONGOING See equipment, weapons, uniforms and memorabilia commemorating the centennial of World War I. RELATED PROGRAMS: World War I Display Tour—See Sat., June 13. German Mauser—See Sun., June 21 & Sat., July 11.

Creative Ohio—Artists, Artwork & Their Inspiration ONGOING Through pieces from Ohio History Connection collections, explore the artwork, inspiration and creative processes of four Ohio artists—PaulHenri Bourguignon (1906–1988), Emerson Burkhart (1905–1969), William Hawkins (1895–1990) and Josephine Klippart (1848–1936)—and create your own artistic masterpiece!

F E AT U R E D O H I O H I S T O R Y C O N N E C T I O N

Events & Exhibits The May & June issue of Echoes Magazine was coming together as the coronavirus was approaching. At the time, most May and June events had not been canceled, though by the time you read this, it is possible that they have been. Before you travel, we recommend that you call or check online to confirm that the event you plan to attend is taking place as scheduled.

STATEWIDE FEATURED EXHIBIT • • •

Suffrage Centennial

Ohio Women Vote— 100 Years of Change TRAVELING TO COMMUNITIES STATEWIDE This traveling exhibit produced by the Ohio History Connection commemorates the centennial of the 19th Amendment.

Twelve banners share the story of women’s activism in the suffrage movement and how that intersected with other social movements such as abolition and temperance. See Featured Exhibits listings below for upcoming dates in your region.

Ohio Women Vote—100 Years of Change is sponsored in part by Ohio Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio.

and crimes involving wildlife. You’ll have an opportunity to try out some of the methods forensic anthropologists use. Seating is first come, first served so please arrive early. Free as part of the 2020 COSI Science Festival.

Spring Knap-In FRI., MAY 22 & SAT., MAY 23 F 9 A.M.–5 P.M. SUN., MAY 24 F 9 A.M.–2 P.M. Flint Ridge, near Newark & Brownsville See artisans making arrowheads and other stone-chipped tools using techniques similar to those American Indians used 14,000 years ago. Free. $5/vehicle parking. 740.344.0498 or ohiohistory.org/flintridge

COSI SCIENCE FESTIVAL

Forensics—Uncovering the Story Hidden in Bones WEDS., MAY 6 F 6–8 P.M. Seventh Son Brewing, 1101 N. Fourth St., Columbus 4 Forensic anthropologists and wildlife forensic specialists use knowledge gleaned from bones to assist law enforcement, forensic pathologists and sometimes juries. Hear from Ohio State forensic anthropologist Alexis Dzubak, who’ll take you through a human forensic case from recovery to lab analysis and courtroom testimony.

Ohio History Connection curators Dave Dyer and Juli Six will talk about forensics as applied to diseases, injuries

ZOAR SPEAKER SERIES

The Victorian Equestrienne— An Exploration of Riding Habits & Equipment

NORTHEAST OHIO

SAT., MAY 9 F 11 A.M.–NOON Zoar Village, Zoar 4 Learn about women’s riding outfits and equipment over time, with a focus on those of the 1850s and 1860s. Veterinarian, equestrian and Civil War reenactor Holly Ray will share examples from her collection and display hats, accessories and saddles.

Free. 800.262.6195 or historiczoarvillage. com

History Trail

Revolutionary War School Day

SAT., MAY 2 F 1–4 P.M. Zoar Village, Zoar 4 Walk or bike along the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail and meet figures from local history, including Separatists, “Canawlers,” 18thcentury mercenary Henry Bouquet, Revolutionary War soldiers, railroad engineers and levee engineers. This can be a three-mile hike if you opt to go the whole distance. Advance registration required. $10. 800.262.6195 or historiczoarvillage.com

FRI., MAY 15 F 9 A.M.–2 P.M. Fort Laurens, Bolivar 4 Open to all public, private and homeschool students, this event in partnership with the Brigade of the American Revolution focuses on Revolutionary War history with hands-on curriculum-based activities.

Stations include Artillery, Field Music, Spy Decoding, The Printing Process and Food for the Common Soldier.

Admission $5 per student. One adult per group admitted free. Additional adults $7 each. Advance registration required.

800.262.6195 or fortlaurens.org

Northeast Ohio

TALK Central OhioOHIO CENTRAL

starting at 10 a.m.), plein air artists, free museum tours and a Maypole. $5, Free/age 12 & under. 800.262.6195 or historiczoarvillage.com

Stories I Couldn’t Put in Print FRI., MAY 8 F NOON Museum of Ceramics, East Liverpool Hear local columnist Fred Miller share the stories that weren’t “fit to print” in his recently published collection of stories, Worshrag, Shark & Seed. Free. 800.600.7180 or themuseumofceramics.com

Maifest SAT., MAY 9 F 10 A.M.–5 P.M. Zoar Village, Zoar 4 Celebrate spring with a traditional German festival featuring beers, brats and bands, games and make-and-take art projects for kids, a carriage parade, German car show (10:30 a.m.–2:20 p.m.; register

Tallmadge Church Open House MON., MAY 25 F 9 A.M.–1 P.M. SUN., JUNE 28 F 2–4 P.M. Tallmadge Church, Tallmadge 4 Step inside the 1825 Tallmadge Church, a Federal-style architectural landmark and reminder of northeast Ohio’s New England heritage, and the nearby Old Town Hall and Museum (1859)—both on Tallmadge Circle and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Free. 330.633.0857 or ohiohistory.org/ tallmadge

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Wikimedia Commons | IanManka

Flint Ridge Ancient Quarries & Nature Preserve

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Spring Knap-In FLINT RIDGE ANCIENT QUARRIES & NATURE PRESERVE, NEAR NEWARK & BROWNSVILLE, MAY 22–24

ZOAR SPEAKER SERIES

ART & GARDEN TOUR

Prohibition—A First-Person Historical Debate

Artful Blooms

SAT., JUNE 6 11 A.M.–NOON Zoar Village, Zoar 4 Be on hand when Eliot Ness, Al Capone, Billy Sunday and more figures from history come to life in this Zoar Volunteer Theater firstperson debate on Prohibition. Free.

800.262.6195 or historiczoarvillage.com F

Custer Observance SAT., JUNE 6 F 11 A.M.–5 P.M. Custer Monument, New Rumley 4 Attend this annual observance starting at 11 a.m. at the George Armstrong Custer Monument, State Route 646 and Chrisman Rd. The program features a cannon firing and Steve and Lisa Ball, specialists in Civil War-era music. New Rumley’s nearby Custer Museum and Center will welcome visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free. 866.473.0417 or Custer Memorial Association on Facebook TALK

The Art of Forging FRI., JUNE 19 F NOON Museum of Ceramics, East Liverpool Meet bladesmith Tommy Matthews, a champion of the History Channel’s Forged in Fire, and hear about the history of forging, his experience on the reality show and the art of making blades. Free.

330.386.6001 or themuseumofceramics. com/moctalks

22 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

SAT., JUNE 20 F 10 A.M.–4 P.M. Zoar Village, Zoar 4 Explore private gardens open for this special tour and see demonstrations by artists and gardeners throughout Zoar. A National Historic Landmark, Zoar was settled by German religious separatists in 1817 who laid it out around a central public garden. $10/age 12 & over, Free/age 11 & under.

800.262.6195 or historiczoarvillage. com FORT LAURENS SPEAKER SERIES

Pittsburgh’s Lost Outpost— Captain Trent’s Fort SAT., JUNE 20 F 11 A.M.–NOON Fort Laurens, near Bolivar 4 Hear author Jason Cherry share the story of Capt.

William Trent (1715–1784) and his 1754 fort at the forks of the Ohio River near what became the city of Pittsburgh. Free.

800.262.6195

Tallmadge Church Open House TALLMADGE, MAY 25 & JUNE 28

Family Band of Clinton— taught Dixie to ascribed composer Daniel Decatur Emmett of Mount Vernon, Ohio. Hear how the story of Dixie suggests ways we might contend with other divisive symbols. Free. 800.262.6195 or historiczoarvillage.com FEATURED EXHIBITS • • •

A Celebration & History of the African American Vote— Exclusion & Inclusion THROUGH SUN., MAY 31 F WEDS.–FRI. 11 A.M.–5 P.M., SUN. 2–5 P.M. Shaker Historical Museum, Shaker Heights 4 Explore the impact of influential African Americans in local politics and Martin Luther King Jr.’s visit to Shaker Heights to promote the election of Carl B. Stokes. $5, Free/ Ohio History Connection member. 800.860.6078 or shakerhistoricalsociety.org

ZOAR SPEAKER SERIES

Suffrage Centennial

What About Dixie?

Ohio Women Vote— 100 Years of Change

SAT., JULY 11 F 11 A.M.–NOON School House, Zoar Village, Zoar Since its debut on a New York City stage in 1859, the song Dixie has become the unofficial anthem of the Old South. Yet for over 100 years, a central Ohio black community has asserted that African American musicians—the Snowden

FRI., MAY 1–MON., AUG. 31 Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum, Roscoe Village, Coshocton 4 740.622.8710 FRI., MAY 1–SAT., OCT. 31 National First Ladies Library, Canton 330.452.0876

WEDS., JULY 1–THURS., JULY 31 Summit County Historical Society, Akron 330.535.1120 See page 21.

Bhutanese-Nepali Neighbors— Photographs by Tariq Tarey SAT., MAY 9–SUN., OCT. 25 Bimeler Art Gallery, Zoar Village, Zoar See this powerful exhibit that shares the story of contemporary refugees and their brave journeys from Bhutan and Nepal to Ohio through photographic portraits.

Included with Zoar Village admission: $10, $5/age 5–17, Free/Ohio History Connection member. 800.262.6195 or historiczoarvillage.com Northwest Ohio

NORTHWEST OHIO

RootsMagic Workshop SUN., MAY 3 F 1–4 P.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Learn how to get the most out of RootsMagic Genealogy & Family History Software from the man who wrote it. RootsMagic Founder and President Bruce Buzbee will offer an overview and demonstration of RootsMagic software and help you with your genealogy questions. Free with advance registration. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

Fort Meigs After Dark FRI., MAY 8 F 8–10:30 P.M. Fort Meigs, Perrysburg 4 Tour the fort by lantern light with a guide. Witness a nighttime musket demonstration and experience the battlefield as soldiers did during the War of 1812. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tour starts at sunset, around 8:30 p.m. Advance registration required. $12, $10/senior, $7/child. 800.283.8916

A Walk on the Wildflower Side SAT., MAY 9 F 10 A.M.–NOON Cedar Bog Nature Preserve, Urbana Wildflowers will become even more special to you when you learn what they’re named. Join Cedar Bog volunteer naturalist Jean Gayley and learn how to identify them. Please dress for the weather. $10, Free/Ohio History Connection member. 800.860.0147 or cedarbognp.org

Kids Days at Hayes SAT., MAY 9 F 11 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Kids age 12 & under can enjoy a Victorian tea party. Advance registration required. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

First Siege 1813

Verandah Concerts

SAT., MAY 23 & SUN., MAY 24 9:30 A.M.–5 P.M. Fort Meigs, Perrysburg 4 See reenactors commemorate the May 1813 first siege of Fort Meigs by recreating authentic military camps and tactical demonstrations.

Experience musket and cannon demonstrations, battle reenactments and more! $11, $9/senior, $6/student, $2/Ohio History Connection member, Free/age 5 & under. 800.283.8916

WEDS., JUNE 10 & 24, JULY 8 & 22 & AUG. 5 & 19 F 6:30–8 P.M. FREE OLD-FASHIONED ICE CREAM SOCIAL AT 6:30 P.M. F MUSIC STARTS AT 7 P.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Enjoy free outdoor concerts.

Bring your lawn chair or blanket. JUNE 10: Fostoria Community Band. JUNE 24: Bridge County Bluegrass Band. JULY 8: Cottonwood Jam String Band. JULY 22: Vocal music of the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s with Nostalgia. AUG. 5: Boogie, blues and swing piano with Matthew Ball. AUG. 19: World War II-era tunes with North Coast Big Band. Concerts are canceled if there are thunderstorms on concert night. Get updates at 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

Memorial Day Commemoration MON., MAY 25 F NOON Fort Meigs, Perrysburg 4 See War of 1812 soldiers and civilians reenact camp life throughout the day. Wreath-laying at 2 p.m. at the Fort Meigs Monument. $10, $8/senior, $5/student, Free/Ohio History Connection member or age 5 & under.

800.283.8916

Presidential History Book Club WEDS., MAY 27 & JUNE 24 NOON–1 P.M Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Read biographies of U.S. presidents and enjoy lunch-hour discussions at this free book club. BYO lunch. MAY 27: Assassination Vacation

by Sarah Vowell. JUNE 24: Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith.

Free. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

Rocket Weekend SAT., MAY 30 & SUN., MAY 31 10 A.M.–4 P.M. Armstrong Air & Space Museum, Wapakoneta 4 Spend a weekend at the museum enjoying all aspects of rocketry.

See rocket launches, demonstrate your skills to launch a heavy-lift rocket and your creativity with your own paper rocket design. Free. Tour the museum: $8, $7/senior, $4/ages 6–12, Free/ Ohio History Connection member or ages 5 & under. 800.860.0142 or armstrongmuseum.org

Orchid Walk SUN., MAY 31 F 2 P.M. SAT., JUNE 6 F 10 A.M. Cedar Bog Nature Preserve, near Urbana Discover Cedar Bog’s wild orchids on this walk guided by a naturalist. $5, Free/ Ohio History Connection members.

800.860.0147 or cedarbognp.org

FROHMAN SUMMER SERIES

Hands-On History THURS., JUNE 11 F 10 A.M.–NOON OR 2 P.M.—4 P.M. | THURS., JULY 9 F 10 A.M.–NOON OR 2–4 P.M. | THURS., AUG. 13 F 10 A.M.–NOON OR 2–4 P.M. Ages 6–11 4 Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Use historic photos, drawings and documents to gain firsthand knowledge in history through STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiatives. JUNE 11: Roller Coasters. JULY 9: Ships and Boats of the Great Lakes. Aug. 13: Engineering and Creative Construction. Free with required advance registration. Register for one session or all three. Ten students per session. Parents are welcome to attend. 800.998.7737, ext. 239, jmayle@ rbhayes.org or rbhayes.org.

Family Days at the Johnston Farm SAT., JUNE 13, & SUN., JUNE 14 NOON–5 P.M. Johnston Farm & Indian Agency, Piqua See the farm where U.S. Indian Agent John Johnston (1775–1861) lived come alive with games and activities of days past. Tour the Johnston farmhouse.

Explore the nearby Historic Indian & Canal Museum. Ride on the 19thcentury-style canal boat General Harrison of Piqua and experience an age when the world moved at four miles an hour. $9, $4/student, Free/Ohio History Connection member or age 5 & under.

Dads and granddads admitted free June 13 & 14 when accompanied by family.

800.752.2619 or johnstonfarmohio.com

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Wikimedia Commons | Brian M. Powell

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Custer Observance

Art & Garden Tour

CUSTER MONUMENT, NEW RUMLEY, JUNE 6

ZOAR VILLAGE, ZOAR, JUNE 20

Muster on the Maumee

Independence Day 1813

Summer Moon Festival

SAT., JUNE 20 & SUN., JUNE 21 9:30 A.M.–5 P.M. Fort Meigs, Perrysburg 4 Learn how soldiers have changed over 10 centuries. See Vikings, medieval knights, Revolutionary War soldiers, World War I doughboys and World War II GIs demonstrate weapons and other aspects of military life. $11, $9/ senior, $6/student or child, $2/Ohio History Connection member, Free/ages 5 & under.

800.283.8916 or fortmeigs.org/muster

SAT., JULY 4 & SUN., JULY 5 F NOON–5 P.M. Fort Meigs, Perrysburg 4 Be on hand as War of 1812 soldiers and civilians recreate July 4, 1813, at Fort Meigs with cannon firings, demonstrations and hands-on activities for kids. The highlight, an 18-gun National Salute accompanied by toasts and fife-and-drum music, starts at 2 p.m. on July 4. $10, $8/ ages 60+, $5/student, Free/ Ohio History Connection member or ages 5 & under. 800.283.8916 or fortmeigs.org/ independence

SUN., JULY 12–MON., JULY 20 9:30 A.M.–5 P.M. Downtown + Armstrong Air & Space Museum, Wapakoneta 4 Celebrate the anniversary of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing throughout the hometown of Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on the moon. JULY 16–18: Downtown street festival with live music, beer garden, Moon Market, family games, bed races, fishing derby, canoe races, wiener-dog races and more. JULY 17–19: Free outdoor family activities at Armstrong Air & Space Museum, plus special presentations and exhibits and the Run to The Moon 5K, 10K and 1-Mile Fun Run. Downtown festival and outdoor events at Armstrong Air & Space Museum free. Admission to tour the museum: $10, $9/age 60+, $4/ages 6–12, Free/Ohio History Connection member or age 5 & under. 800.860.0142, 419.738.8811, summermoonfestival.com or armstrongmuseum.org

GroveFest SAT., JUNE 27 F 10 A.M.–2 P.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Spiegel Grove, the Rutherford B. Hayes estate, goes all-natural! Enjoy nature-related booths with crafts and games for kids. Back to the Wild Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and other organizations will offer live-animal demonstrations. Free. Food available for purchase on-site. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org TOLEDO SYMPHONY CONCERT BAND

Independence Day Concert SAT., JULY 4 F 2–3:30 P.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Enjoy a free holiday performance by the Toledo Symphony Concert Band, including Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture accompanied by real cannons. Bring a lawn chair or blanket.

800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

Cedar Bog Rocks!

The Geology of Cedar Bog SAT., JULY 11 • 10 A.M.–NOON Cedar Bog Nature Preserve, near Urbana Join geologist Gary Getz and discover the rock and mineral history of Cedar Bog. $10, Free/Ohio History Connection member.

800.860.0147 or cedarbognp.org KIDS DAYS @ HAYES

Farm Day SAT., JULY 11 F 11 A.M.–1 P.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Spiegel Grove, the estate of 18th president Rutherford B. Hayes, was a working farm. During this special event, kids age 12 & under can enjoy farminspired activities and learn about plants and animals the Hayes family raised. $5/kid, $3/member kid, Free/adults who bring kids.

800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

FEATURED EXHIBITS • • •

Suffrage Centennial

Ohio Women Vote— 100 Years of Change THROUGH SUN., MAY 31 Riverside Art Center, Wapakoneta 419.738.2352 WEDS., JULY 1–FRI., AUG. 14 University Libraries, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green 419.372.2531 See page 21.

24 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

Ohio—An Unnatural History THROUGH SAT., OCT. 31 Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Explore legendary creatures

and spooky tales from across Ohio and get a look at the role of folklore in our culture. Included with regular admission: $20/site pass (Hayes Home + Museum), $13/Museum only, $5/ages 6–12, Free/Ohio History Connection member or age 5 & under.

800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

The Press & The Presidency FRI., JULY 3–SUN., FEB. 28, 2021 Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Since George Washington, presidents have had to respond to negative press and use media to their advantage. Explore how the press and presidency have coexisted throughout American history in this special exhibit, included with regular admission: $20/ site pass (Hayes Home + Museum), $13/ Museum only, $5/ages 6–12, Free/Ohio History Connection member or age 5 & under. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org Southeast Ohio

SOUTHEAST OHIO

Opening Day 2020 FRI., MAY 1 F 10 A.M.–5 P.M. John & Annie Glenn Museum, New Concord 4 Explore the childhood home of NASA astronaut and Ohio’s longestserving U.S. senator, John Glenn. $7, $6/ senior, $3/student, Free/Ohio History Connection member or age 6 & under.

800.752.2602 or johnglennhome.org

Opening Day 2020 FRI., MAY 1 F 10 A.M.–5 P.M. National Road & Zane Grey Museum, Norwich, between Zanesville & Cambridge 4 It’s three museums in one! Learn about the old National Road; explore the adventure novels and westerns of Zanesville-born author Zane Grey; and see examples of the art pottery for which this region was famous in the 20th century. $7, $6/senior, $3/student, Free/Ohio History Connection member or age 6 & under. 800.752.2602 or johnglennhome.org

Zane Grey Family Day SAT., MAY 2 F NOON–4 P.M. National Road & Zane Grey Museum, Norwich, between Zanesville & Cambridge 4 See the Ohio Village Muffins take on a local team in a game

of base ball (yes, two words) played by 19th-century rules. Sample Dutch-oven cooking and enjoy fishing demonstrations, children’s games, musical entertainment and more. Free. 800.752.2602 or johnglennhome.org

Buckeye Furnace Spring Festival SAT., MAY 9 • 10 A.M.–4 P.M. Buckeye Furnace, near Jackson Visit the picturesque rural site where this early Ohio ironmaking furnace stands and enjoy a celebration of spring with vendors, food, music, demonstrations and more. Kids can make a free craft for Mother’s Day. Free. 740.384.3537 or buckeyefurnacefriends.com

The Pioneers—An Insider’s Tour SAT., MAY 9 & 23 & JUNE 13 & 27 1:30–3:30 P.M. Campus Martius Museum, Marietta Get a closer look at the lives of the settlers who people David McCullough’s recent book set in the Marietta area, The Pioneers. Join museum historian William Reynolds, a contributor to McCullough’s research, for a look at some of their possessions in the museum. See the 1788 home of Gen. Rufus Putnam, and learn more about the Coonskin Library and librarian Ephraim Cutler. $10 + admission to Campus Martius Museum: $7, $4/ student, Free/Ohio History Connection member or age 5 & under. Advance registration required. 800.860.0145 or mariettamuseums.org

Visit the Shanty Boat Folks MON., MAY 25 F 10 A.M.–4 P.M. Ohio River Museum, Marietta The shanty boat has landed and you’re welcome to visit! Step back into the 1930s for a look at what it was like to live on the river during the Depression. For many people without jobs or homes, the river offered new opportunities. By building floating homes out of salvaged materials, they could travel from river town to river town looking for work. Now almost extinct, shanty boats were the original floating tiny houses. 800.860.0145 or mariettamuseums.org BROWN BAGGIN’ THROUGH HISTORY

The History of the Centennial Chapter, National Society Daughters of American Pioneers FRI., JUNE 5 F NOON–1 P.M. Campus Martius Museum, Marietta Learn about the National Society

Daughters of American Pioneers from Charlotte Modesitt of Parkersburg, West Virginia, a member since 1998 and regent since 2004. Free. 800.860.0145 or mariettamuseums.org

Jazzin’ Up the Museums FRI., JUNE 12 F 6–9 P.M. F 6 P.M. BOARDING F 6:30 P.M. DEPARTURE 9 P.M. RETURN Aboard the Valley Gem Sternwheeler, Marietta 4 Enjoy a delicious buffet, including prime rib and chicken madeira, on the sternwheel riverboat Valley Gem. Dance the night away to a live band playing favorites from the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s. Ticket includes your meal, musical entertainment and two-hour cruise on the Ohio River. Cash bar. $40/person, $75/couple. Advance registration required

by June 11. All tickets non-refundable.

Proceeds benefit Marietta’s Campus Martius Museum and Ohio River Museum.

800.860.0145 or mariettamuseums.org

Passport to Fun Summer Camp TUES., JUNE 23 –FRI., JUNE 26 9:30 A.M.–3 P.M. F AGES 7–12 F ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED BY JUNE 8 Campus Martius Museum, Marietta 4 Start your summer off right, with a week of activities at Campus Martius Museum.

Each day has a different theme—there’ll be so much to do, your head will swim and everyone gets a Passport to Fun Camp t-shirt! $100/camper. Scholarships available. Contact Glenna Hoff at 800.860.0145 or mariettamuseums.org FEATURED EXHIBITS • • •

Celebrating The Pioneers THROUGH SUN., NOV. 1 MON.–SAT. 9:30 A.M.–5 P.M., SUN. NOON–5 P.M. Campus Martius Museum, Marietta See the museum’s newest exhibit, based on the new book The Pioneers by David McCullough. The Ordinance of 1787 opened a vast wilderness west of the Ohio River for settlement, spurring “Ohio fever.” Members of the Ohio Company of Associates, a real estate company formed in Massachusetts in 1786, led the way. Get a look at the lives and personalities of some of the people mentioned in the book, and see personal objects associated with them. Included with museum admission: $7, $4/ages 6–college with ID, Free/Ohio History Connection member or ages 5 & under.

800.860.0145 or mariettamuseums.org.

OHIOHIS TORY.ORG

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See page 21.

rights. We’ll explore their literary and political similarities and differences. Find suggested readings at stowehousecincy. org, under Join the Discussion—Year of the Woman Discussion Series. Led

by Xavier University Professor Emeritus John Getz, PhD. Suggested donation $5.

800.847.6507 or stowehousecincy.org

Southwest Ohio

Walk the Grounds with an Archaeologist

Suffrage Centennial

Ohio Women Vote— 100 Years of Change MON., JUNE 1–SUN., JUNE 14 Noble County Historical Society, Caldwell 740.732.5288

SOUTHWEST OHIO

Heirloom Plant Sale SAT., MAY 2– SUN., MAY 17 WEDS.–SAT. 9 A.M.–5 P.M. F SUN. NOON–5 P.M. CLOSED MON. & TUES. Shop early in the month for best selection 4 Adena Mansion & Gardens, Chillicothe 4 Shop our annual sale of plant varieties raised and passed on before the advent of industrial farming. Many go back at least as far as the time of Thomas Worthington, who completed Adena mansion in 1807. 800.319.7248. Find a plant list and details under “Events” at adenamansion.com.

F

Art with Skip Hathaway SAT., MAY 2 & JUNE 6 F NOON–3 P.M. Adena Mansion & Gardens, Chillicothe Chillicothe artist Skip Hathaway will offer a free art class for kids accompanied by an adult chaperone. Art supplies provided. Free. 800.319.7248 or adenamansion.com

Music at the Mound with Steve Free MAY 3, JUNE 14, JULY 5, JULY 20, AUG. 16, AUG. 22, SEPT. 13 & OCT. 18, 1–3 P.M. Serpent Mound, near Peebles 4 Enjoy an open-air concert by Steve Free, an award-winning singer/songwriter and recording artist whose music covers the gamut of folk, rock and country. Free with $8/car parking. 800.752.2757 or arcofappalachia.org/steve-free

Suffrage Centennial YEAR OF THE WOMAN

Cincinnati Literary Sisters WEDS., MAY 6 HOUSE OPENS FOR TOURS AT 6 P.M. DISCUSSION 7–8:30 P.M. Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Cincinnati Sisters Alice and Phoebe Cary grew up in Cincinnati while Harriet Beecher Stowe lived there. All devoted their lives to literature and social reform, including abolition and women’s

26 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

SAT., MAY 9 F 1–3:30 P.M. Fort Ancient Earthworks & Nature Preserve, near Oregonia & Lebanon Get an in-depth look at the history of Fort Ancient on this two-mile walk with archaeologist Jack Blosser. Fort Ancient, a 2,000-year-old American Indian earthwork on a site high above the nearby Little Miami River, is one of several ancient Hopewell ceremonial earthworks in Ohio soon to be considered for designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. $20, $10/student. Advance registration recommended. 800.283.8904 or fortancient.org

Geology of Ohio Hopewell Artifacts SAT., JUNE 13 F 10:30 A.M.–NOON Fort Ancient Earthworks & Nature Preserve, near Oregonia & Lebanon Learn about the geological origins of some ancient Hopewell artifacts with Todd Stephenson, retired petroleum geologist, and archaeologist Jack Blosser of Fort Ancient. Included with museum admission: $7, $6/age 60+, $6 age 6–16, Free/Ohio History Connection member or age 5 & under. 800.283.8904 or fortancient.org

Harriet’s Birthday Party SUN., JUNE 14 F 1–4 P.M. Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Cincinnati Join us for music, cake and fun! We’ll have tours and activities for kids. Harriet will visit too! Free. 800.847.6507, 513.751.0651 or stowehousecincy.org

Summer Solstice Sunrise Program SAT., JUNE 20 F 5:30–6:30 A.M. Fort Ancient Earthworks & Nature Preserve, near Oregonia & Lebanon Welcome the first day of summer! See the sun rise through a gap in the earthen walls of a mound just as American Indians did 2,000 years ago. Archaeologist Jack Blosser will be on hand to explain the astronomical alignments and archaeological history of Fort Ancient, a

National Historic Landmark that’s the largest and best-preserved ancient hilltop enclosure in the United States.

800.283.8904 or fortancient.org SEMI-COLON BOOK CLUB

We Are Your Sisters— Black Women in the Nineteenth Century SAT., JUNE 27 F NOON Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Cincinnati Join in a discussion of We Are Your Sisters: Black Women in the Nineteenth Century, by Dorothy Sterling. Free.

800.847.6507, 513.751.0651 or stowehousecincy.org FEATURED EXHIBITS • • •

Suffrage Centennial

Ohio Women Vote— 100 Years of Change THROUGH SUN., MAY 31 Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Cincinnati 800.847.6507 See page 21.

Suffrage Centennial

“The Cause Dearer to Me Than Any Other in the World”— Isabella Beecher Hooker & Suffrage JUNE 4–NOV. 29 F 10 A.M.–4 P.M. EXHIBIT OPENING SUN., JUNE 7 4–5:30 P.M. Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Cincinnati Learn about Harriet Beecher Stowe’s youngest sister, Isabella Beecher Hooker (1822–1907). Hooker believed women should have equal rights with men and worked to make those rights a reality. She wrote articles and essays, founded the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association and helped organize the 1870 National Woman Suffrage Association Convention.

Though she died before women got the vote, her legacy played a large role in adoption of the 19th Amendment.

Included with museum admission: $7, Free/Ohio History Connection member.

800.847.6507 or stowehousecincy.org

Suffrage Centennial

Queens of the Heartland THROUGH FEB. 27, 2021 WEDS.–SAT. 9 A.M.–4 P.M. National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center, Wilberforce 4 See an exhibit exploring the lives of 30

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National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center

Courtesy Rod Berry Photography

Photo by Tariq Tarey

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Queens of the Heartland Bhutanese-Nepali Neighbors

Muster on the Maumee

ZOAR VILLAGE, ZOAR, MAY 9–OCT. 25

FORT MEIGS, PERRYSBURG, JUNE 20–21

accomplished African American women of the past two centuries who all have ties to Ohio. Included with museum admission: $6, $5/senior, $3/ages 6–17, Free/Ohio History Connection member or ages 5 & under.

800.752.2603 or ohiohistory.org/naamcc

Free/Ohio History Connection member or ages 5 & under. 800.752.2603 or ohiohistory.org/naamcc

Queens of the Heartland is made possible in part by grant support from the Ohio Arts Council.

ONGOING F WEDS.–SAT. 9 A.M.–4 P.M. National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center, Wilberforce 4 Interest in black comic book characters is exploding, thanks to the hugely successful Marvel film Black Panther.

In this exhibit, explore the painful and

African Americans Fighting for a Double Victory ONGOING F WEDS.–SAT. 9 A.M.–4 P.M. National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center, Wilberforce 4 Explore the many ways African Americans served our country during World War II, and get a look at the impact black veterans had on postwar advances in civil rights. Included with museum admission: $6, $5/senior, $3/ ages 6–17, Free/Ohio History Connection member or ages 5 & under. 800.752.2603 or ohiohistory.org/naamcc

Behind the Mask— Black Power in Comics

NATIONAL AFRO-AMERICAN MUSEUM & CULTURAL CENTER, WILBERFORCE, THROUGH FEB. 27

triumphant history of African Americans in comic books. Included with museum admission: $6, $5/ senior, $3/ages 6–17, Free/Ohio History Connection member or ages 5 & under. 800.752.2603 or ohiohistory.org/naamcc

WHAT’S IN YOUR ATTIC?

Selections from the Permanent Collection ONGOING F WEDS.–SAT. 9 A.M.–4 P.M. National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center, Wilberforce 4 Opened in 1988, the Ohio History Connection’s National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center pioneered in preserving and presenting African American history and culture. See milestones of museum history and get a look at some of the fascinating history, art and pop culture items in our collection. Included with museum admission: $6, $5/ senior, $3/ages 6–17,

Red, white & blue family fun.

Muffins base ball 2 p.m.

OHIO VILLAGE I-71 & 17th Avenue, Columbus 800.686.6124 ohiohistory.org/independenceday

See Base Ball (Yes, Two Words) Played by 19th-Century Rules!

2020 HOME & AWAY SCHEDULE ohiohistory.org/muffins or 800.686.6124

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Dean Kahler was paralyzed from the waist down after the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of protesters. Kahler spoke at a May 4 commemoration on Sept. 28, 1970.

Kent State University News Service

28 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

The Kent State Shootings LIVING WITH THE PAST BY BILL EICHENBERGER

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lanket Hill is a grassy knoll in the center of the campus of Kent State University, named by students who use it as a place to sun themselves in the day and to romance at night.

From here, shortly after noon on a sunny spring day, a detachment of Ohio National Guardsmen, armed with World War II-vintage army rifles, fired a volley of at least 61 shots killing four college students and wounding nine. All of the young people who were shot that day were students in good standing at Kent State University. —The Report of the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest, September 1970 It usually starts in April for Laura Davis, on the first really warm day of spring— the flood of memories, the sadness, the anger, the determination never to forget.

This May 4 marks the 50th anniversary of the shootings at Kent State University, a day that has been seared forever into the country’s collective consciousness.

It’s an anniversary that Davis—a freshman at Kent at the time, and a professor there for decades after—has marked every year for half a century now.

Below: A crowd gathered around the burned-down ROTC building on the Kent State University campus. Ohio National Guard personnel are on the far side of the building Frank Smith, Kent State University Libraries Special Collections & Archives

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“It doesn’t seem like 50 years ago to me, especially when it turns spring and the daffodils and lilacs begin to bloom. May 4, 1970, feels much closer then,” she says.

“Then you close your eyes and it’s as if it was yesterday. It’s happening now because looking out my windows it’s sunny. I can feel a change in the air, can hear the birds singing. Every spring I feel again the sense of what we were feeling in May of 1970, our sense of hope and optimism.”

Just 17 when she arrived on campus in the fall of 1969, Davis immediately set out to “connect with people who cared about what was going on in the world.”

Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy had been assassinated the previous year, and war protests were prevalent. Half a million protesters gathered in Washington, DC, in November for the Moratorium March. Davis’s generation was going to change things.

“All the songs we heard on the radio or on the albums we bought, we felt those songs could come true,” she says. “When I got to school I wasn’t an activist, but I was an inquiring person. After the tragedies we’d witnessed, we felt like we could change the world, that we were coming together to do that.”

Glenn Harper was in the National Guard on the Kent State campus on May 4, 1970.

“I was in the guard for one reason and one reason only, to stay out of Vietnam,” he says. “I had managed to flunk out of the University of Akron. I didn’t really have any goals or political beliefs to speak of. I hadn’t grown up yet, basically.”

Though he was ordered to protect a university building far from the commons and the site of the shooting, Harper says May 4 still weighs on his conscience.

“I do feel a responsibility,” he says. “There were a lot of different attitudes and beliefs about what happened that day and whether what the National Guard did was right or wrong, but I’ve always felt it was wrong. I feel some responsibility for that even though I wasn’t anywhere near the shooting. It’s hard to talk about even today. It’s very emotional.”

Harper joined the National Guard in 1965 and served until 1971, one weekend a month and two weeks during the summer. He said members of his unit were divided after the shooting, some believing

30 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

they had done what was necessary and others, like him, believing May 4 “never should have happened.”

The National Guard personnel on the campus that day mostly melted away in the ensuing years, leaving others to tell the story. In 1995, a spokesperson for the Ohio National Guard told the Washington Post that each year attempts are made to locate some of the guardsmen who were involved but “we haven’t had as much as a sniff.”

But their commander, Charles R. Fassinger, did speak on several occasions about the chaos and violence of May 4, in the Post story, in a 1990 piece in The Daily Kent Stater and at a May 4 panel discussion at the Ohio History Center in 2008.

Fassinger, who died in late 2008, told the audience at the center that the gathering on the Kent State campus “was anything but peaceful,” noting that he and his soldiers were hit repeatedly by rocks thrown by the protesters. “They thought that they were overrun, that their lives were in danger.”

The commander told the Kent Stater that coverage of the shootings over the decades had been biased against the guard and that the guard “got a bad rap.”

He said he never heard a command to open fire, a command that was his to give. He told the student newspaper in 1990 that he gathered his men in the auditorium of the Administration Building immediately after the shootings and told them, “I’m not sure that anyone will really know what happened out there.”

For students deeply opposed to the war, the guard was a living symbol of the military system they opposed. For other students, the guard was an outsider on their campus, prohibiting all their rallies, even peaceful ones, ordering them about, and tear-gassing them when they refused to obey.—The Report of the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest, September 1970 The unrest that led to the shooting began on Friday, May 1, in downtown Kent. The

This May 4 marks the 50th anniversary of the shootings at Kent State University, a day that has been seared forever into the country’s collective consciousness.

National Guard personnel walk toward the crowd near Taylor Hall after firing tear gas.

Kent State University Archives

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Kent State University News Service

and thinking, they’re telling us to leave, but this is our campus, we belong here and they don’t.”

bars were pre-emptively closed, students streaming out into the streets where they obstructed passing cars and asked drivers what they thought about President Nixon’s plan to invade Cambodia. Store windows were broken. A fire was set.

Jerry Lewis was a faculty marshal trying to keep the peace on May 4. “I relive the shootings every time I talk about it, and that’s painful,” he says.

But it wasn’t Cambodia or even opposition to the Vietnam War, necessarily, that drew a crowd of some 2,000 students to the rally on the campus commons the following Monday.

With his colleague, Tom Hensley, Lewis wrote May 4: A Social Science Perspective and was one of the Kent State faculty members who helped create the May 4 walking tour and the May 4 Visitors Center.

David Steigerwald is a professor of history at The Ohio State University who teaches several courses in 20th-century America from World War I through the 1960s. He says the Vietnam War was only one reason students rallied at the commons on May 4.

“The guard was walking up the hill away from the crowd and I thought to myself, ‘At least no one got bayonetted.’ And then they turned and began to fire into the crowd. Having been in the army, I knew they weren’t firing blanks. I told the students around me, ‘You must leave here now, those are real bullets.’”

“Likely the majority of those students were just ticked off because the guard was there on their campus, more so than the danger of being shipped off to Vietnam,” he says. “The presence of armed authority was an incitement.”

One student at the time told the President’s Commission that she remained at the rally because “I just couldn’t believe the guard were on campus. It was mostly just outrage and disgust and fear and all sorts of crazy things. …I was watching the guard

32 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

In a way, Davis dedicated her career to the memory of May 4.

“I was an English major at Kent and focused on language analysis, on persuasion analysis,” she says.

“I looked at words that cover up, words that hide the truth, and I focused my teaching on that, trying to help students decode their world, to give them tools to be a better citizen.”

Left: Ohio National Guard personnel stand in formation, bayonets fixed.

Similarly, Lewis studied sociology in graduate school, especially crowd behavior.

“That’s part of the reason why I’ve been involved with the May 4 commemorations, because I have the language to talk about what happened,” he says.

The actions of some students were violent and criminal and those of some others were dangerous, reckless, and irresponsible. The indiscriminate firing of rifles into a crowd of students and the deaths that followed were unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable.—The Report of the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest, September 1970 Bill Cohen was a senior at Northwestern University in 1970. He’d protested the war in Vietnam and the presence of Dow Chemical Company (which manufactured napalm) recruiters on campus. He became a reporter for WOSU in Columbus, where he worked for nearly 40 years.

“Looking down the lens of history, my anger has dissipated,” Cohen says. “In the moment, viewing the tragedy at Kent State, you’re outraged. But for me it’s hard to keep that outrage burning 50 years later.”

As a statehouse reporter, Cohen covered Gov. James A. Rhodes during the governor’s last term in office.

“I didn’t harbor any seething anger toward him at that point even though I had been very angry in 1970. With the passage of time, I think your emotions soften, or maybe that’s just my training as a journalist, my willingness to hear both sides of a story.”

For nearly 30 years, Cohen has performed a 1960s coffeehouse program which he describes as “a historical journey through the 1960s using folk music as the transportation.” He sees the Kent State shooting as inextricably linked to the 1960s.

MORE NLEARN MORE

In the introduction to his book Moments of Truth: A Photographer’s Experience of Kent State 1970, Howard Ruffner explains how he came to be on the Kent State commons at noon on May 4: “When I was a sophomore at Kent State, I was a photographer for the campus newspaper and had just been named editor of the 1971 yearbook. Early on the morning of May 4, I also agreed to be a stringer for Life magazine. My military journalism training and photography skills allowed me to be an independent observer—not just on May 4 but on the days leading up this deadly confrontation.” Moments of Truth collects nearly 150 of Ruffner’s photographs, some of them iconic, accompanied by explanatory text by the author.

Robert Giles, managing editor at the Akron Beacon Journal on May 4, 1970, takes readers inside the newsroom as his team of reporters worked to cover the tragedy in When Truth Mattered: The Kent State Shootings 50 Years Later. That reporting “created a truthful narrative that has stood unchallenged and unchanged for five decades, and won a Pulitzer.”

Kent State University’s May 4 Visitors Center in Taylor Hall at 300 Midway Dr. in Kent shares the story of what happened at Kent State on May 4, 1970. Learn more about the Visitors Center and find hours and directions at kent.edu/may4visitorscenter or call 330.672.4660.

Looking down the lens of history, my anger has dissipated. In the moment, viewing the tragedy at Kent State, you’re outraged.

But for me it’s hard to keep that outrage burning 50 years later.

“Ironically, my show ends on December 31, 1969,” Cohen explains, “not because the 1960s ended then in any real sense. Historians call it the ‘long ‘60s’ and argue whether the decade ended in, say, 1973 or 1974.

“But ending it on the last day of 1969, well, anyone who comes to my show understands that in a little more than four months, the tragedy at Kent State will change everything.”

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There is much to be written about the events of May 4, 1970. A lot of questions that could, perhaps, have some answers.

34 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

Kent State University

A Place in National History

PRESERVING THE KENT STATE SITE BY RANDY EDWARDS

Laura Davis was a freshman English education major at Kent State University in the spring of 1970 and she remembers vividly the events of May 4, when troops from the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd of unarmed students, killing four and wounding nine.

Top: Kent State University | Bottom: State Historic Preservation Office

Fifty years later, the scene is etched in her memory as indelibly as the text on the plaque that marks the site of the shootings.

“I saw them come up Blanket Hill. I saw them turn in unison, position their rifles in unison and start to fire,” recalls Davis, professor emeritus (retired) at Kent and the founding director of the university’s May 4 Visitors Center. “It was a surprise to every single person I’ve ever talked to. There was no warning. It was inconceivable. It is still inconceivable to me.”

Fifty years later there are others who still remember the shootings, including some who were wounded that day. But Davis, now 68, knows there won’t always be living eyewitnesses to the tragic confrontation on Kent State’s campus. Yet she is confident that the event, and its role in shaping American history, will not be forgotten. Today there is a permanent memorial to the site, a visitors center Davis helped create, a walking tour, consistent support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and recognition by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010

Top: In 2016, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Park Service named the May 4, 1979, Kent State Shootings Site a National Historic Landmark, a designation reserved for historic places of the highest national importance.

Bottom: In 2018, the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office presented a Public Education and Awareness Award to Kent State University and Laura Davis, Professor Emeritus of English; Mark Seeman, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology; Bradley S. Keefer, Associate Professor of History; Mindy J. Farmer, Director, and Lori Boes, Assistant Director, May 4 Visitors Center; Jerry M. Lewis, Professor Emeritus of Sociology; and the late Carole A. Barbato, Professor of Communication Studies, for their work to preserve the May 4, 1970, Kent State University Shootings Site and obtain listing in the National Register of Historic Places and designation as a National Historic Landmark. Left to right: Keefer; Farmer; Davis; Burt Logan, Executive Director and CEO of the Ohio History Connection and State Historic Preservation Officer; Boes; and Seeman.

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Kent State’s May 4 Visitors Center

and named a National Historic Landmark— a designation reserved for places of the highest national significance—in 2016.

DESIGNATIONS HAVE MEANT A LOT “Kent State’s position in American history…has been galvanized,” Davis said in an interview about a month before the 50th commemoration. Designation of the site as a historic landmark “meant a lot to innumerable people at the time and meant a lot to me, and always will.”

Gaining official recognition of the historic importance of the site wasn’t easy. The shootings at Kent State University were, and remain, a divisive episode from one of the most contentious periods in American history. But hard feelings over the war and the student antiwar movement were even stronger in 1977, when supporters of historic designation first brought an application for listing to the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board.

Generally, sites are not considered for listing in the National Register of Historic Places until they are at least 50 years old, but there can be exceptions in the case of “exceptional national significance,” explains David Simmons, who was, at the time, a relatively new employee in the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office.

He was given the job of reviewing the application, which was actually part of a larger controversy.

The applicants for historic designation were on an urgent mission to block the construction of a new gymnasium addition on Kent State’s campus. The gym footprint covered one portion of the ground where the students and Guard had faced off, and applicants argued that construction of the gym

36 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

would permanently alter the site and make future designation impossible.

Public comments highlighted both the national significance of the project, as well as the lack of historical perspective.

“We were bombarded with letters from all over the country,” Simmons says. “Some argued that we must designate this site, so that nothing like this ever happens again. Others said, ‘we’re not going to let these commies run our state.’”

In the end, the review board voted 5-4 to reject the application, ruling “The May 4, 1970, event is too recent to allow us to acquire the historical perspective necessary to evaluate and interpret its significance to the history of the United States.”

A WATERSHED EVENT The gym was built, and in the three decades between the gym controversy and the successful 2010 nomination for listing in the National Register, a great deal more research was published to demonstrate the historical significance of the Kent State shootings as a watershed event of the student protest movement, says Barbara Powers of the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office, who reviewed the 2010 nomination.

“The nomination was able to be placed in a historical perspective of the whole era of civil rights and the Vietnam War—the impact that the event had on the public and the public’s opinion toward the war,” she says.

The site, just over 17 acres, is near the center of the campus of Ohio’s third-largest university, and includes all the structures and spaces familiar to

Kent State University

Kent State University

those who have seen the iconic images from the May 4 shootings: the victory bell; Taylor Hall; the parking lot immortalized in the Pulitzer Prizewinning photo that captured a young woman crying out over the mortally wounded body of Jeffrey Miller; and Blanket Hill, from which the guard advanced upon the protesting students and, finally, turned and fired.

VISITORS CENTER SHARES THE STORY At the center of it all, in Taylor Hall, the May 4 Visitors Center continues to evaluate and interpret the events of May 4, 1970. Mindy Farmer, the current director, says Kent State is arguably the best site to understand the student protest movement of the 1960s, particularly the antiwar movement and the events triggered by the movement, including voting rights for Americans 18 and older.

The event also provides an opportunity to explore the “Five Freedoms” of the First Amendment (religion, speech, press, assembly and right to petition the government). The student protesters were exercising nearly all of those freedoms when they were shot, Farmer says, and understanding the events of May 4 furthers the appreciation of those freedoms by today’s students.

A viewing of the video created for the interpretive center combined with a walking tour of the designated site—especially on a spring morning with students crossing the campus—is a powerful and enlightening experience and a reminder why it’s important to protect the physical locations where history was made. Without the site, the chaos and violence of the event and why it shocked a nation would be less apparent.

In addition, a site that draws visitors leads to additional revelations, Farmer says. Visitors bring photos and personal memories to share, some of which are new.

“There is much to be written about the events of May 4, 1970. A lot of questions that could, perhaps, have some answers.”

Randy Edwards is a freelance writer who lives in Columbus, and a 1984 graduate of Kent State University.

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EDITORS’ NOTE: For the first time in the short history of Echoes Magazine, we’re running a story that doesn’t strictly have to do with Ohio history. But the shootings at Jackson State College in Mississippi 11 days after the more-publicized shootings at Kent State University are two distinct parts of the same story, one that was addressed in The Report of the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest, published in September 1970. The Jackson State story wasn’t Kent State Part II, but a different sort of story that deserves its own telling.

A shattered glass door frames students as they begin leaving the Jackson State campus when the college closed down after the shooting.

38 Echoes | NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 2019

The 1970 Shootings at Jackson State College THE MARTYRS OF MAY 14

BY NANCY K. BRISTOW

J

Top: AP Photo | Bottom: Jackson State University, Mississippi Digital Archives

ames Earl Green was a senior at Jim Hill High School in Jackson, Mississippi, in the spring of 1970. Weeks away from graduation, on the night of May 14 he headed home sometime after 10 p.m. from his job at the Wag-a-Bag grocery, where he worked as a carhop delivering groceries and cigarettes to motorists.

As he often did, he headed through the Jackson State College campus on his way home. The night before, there had been a disturbance on Lynch Street, named for John R. Lynch (1847–1939), the Reconstruction-era politician who had been among the first African Americans to serve in Congress.

Lynch Street had long been a site of conflict between students at the historically black college and white motorists who often abused them with racial epithets and dangerous driving. On the night of May 13, students and local youth laid claim to the street, throwing rocks at cars driven by white people. The law enforcement response had been swift, with local police closing the street.

Though the Mississippi Highway Patrol—then still an all-white body— soon joined them on the edge of campus, the forces did not enter the school, and the evening passed without further incident.

AP Photo

By the time Green headed for home on the night of May 14, though, trouble had resumed. When a dump truck was set on fire in the middle of Lynch Street in front of Stewart Hall, a Jackson State men’s dormitory, both the Jackson police and the Mississippi Highway and Safety Patrol marched onto the campus. Though the National Guard, trained to handle civil disturbances, stood ready to take over, when the fire was doused the police and highway patrolmen inexplicably continued their march through campus, halting in front of a women’s dormitory, Alexander Hall, where they turned to face the group of young people relaxing together there in the warm Mississippi night.

Provoked by the presence of law enforcement, some of the students yelled at the officers. When a bottle shattered on the pavement, law enforcement opened fire using “buckshot, rifle slugs, a submachine gun, carbines with military ammunition and two 30.06 rifles loaded with armor-piercing bullets” in a barrage that lasted 28 seconds. When the men finally stopped shooting, nearly

Top: A National Guard jeep patrols Lynch Street in Jackson, Mississippi, on May 16, 1970, the day after authorities opened fire on protesters.

The women’s dormitory at Jackson State College in the background was riddled with police bullets.

Bottom: A stone marker on the Jackson State University campus commemorates the lives of Phillip Gibbs and James Earl Green, shot by city and state police at 12:05 a.m. on May 15, 1970.

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AP Photo

The bullet-riddled windows of Alexander Hall, a women’s dormitory at Jackson State College in Jackson, Mississippi, after two African American students were killed and 12 injured when police opened fire on the building May 15, 1970, claiming they were fired upon by snipers.

400 bullets or buckshot had struck the dormitory, and James Earl Green lay dead. Phillip Gibbs, a junior at the college who had been visiting his sister at the window of her Alexander Hall dorm room, also died in the shootings, and 12 other young people suffered gunshot wounds.

In the aftermath, members of the Jackson State community, and of the broader African American community nationwide, recognized the shootings for what they were, another moment of state violence against black people. Rev. Hickman Johnson of Jackson decried the shootings as a “vicious attack” against “every black man” in Mississippi. Roy Wilkins, National Secretary of the NAACP, connected the events to a “sinister racial pattern” in which law enforcement felt “renewed license to shoot from the hip at any Negro challenge to the status quo.” Others connected it to the “white plantation mentality,” and saw in the police attack nothing less than a “mass lynching.”

Many in the black community saw a direct linkage to other recent assaults by government forces—the 1967 shooting of local activist Benjamin Brown, the 1968 police barrage at South Carolina State College in Orangeburg that killed four students and injured 27, the murder of Black Panthers Fred Hampton

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and Mark Clark by the Chicago police in 1969 and most recently the killing of six African American men, all shot in the back by law enforcement during a disturbance in Augusta, Georgia, just a few days earlier. As this analysis rightly charged, the successes of the civil rights and Black Power movements had not allayed state violence against African Americans, only recast it.

The horror at Jackson State did not receive the same banner headlines or magazine-cover attention that the violence at Kent State University less than two weeks earlier had, leading even Time magazine to acknowledge the phenomenon in which African Americans continued to be cast as “second-class martyrs, subsidiary victims.” Even so, the news media did cover the shootings and their aftermath, and many campuses across the country acknowledged the violence and honored the victims with public actions. Fifty years after the horrific events at Jackson State College (now Jackson State University), though, few people beyond the campus and local community remember them, inflicting a second injury on those who suffered through the shootings.

How to account for this differential capacity to remember? The race of the victims—all black—

Bettmann/Getty Images

Many in the black community saw a direct linkage to other recent assaults by government forces.

Alexander Hall stands in the background as youths give the Black Power fist following memorial services for Phillip Gibbs and James Earl Green, who were killed in a hail of police fire during a campus demonstration on May 15, 1970.

and of the shooters—all white—must ground any explanation, providing context for white Americans’ unwillingness to remember the very history of racial violence at the center of the events. In the aftermath, law and order advocates were quick to dismiss the shootings as a necessary action against lawlessness, refusing to name the racism at their center. This gross misrepresentation of the events of May 14–15 certainly facilitated forgetting.

Just as significant was the tendency of many moreliberal white Americans to combine into one the events at Jackson State and those at Kent State, again cleansing the Jackson State violence of the white supremacy that caused it. If the shootings at Jackson State could be categorized as simply Kent State II, as Time magazine described them, remembering this incident of catastrophic violence became unnecessary.

Soon Jackson State’s horror had become little more than a sidebar to the Kent State story, relegated to the margins and soon forgotten altogether. As the 50th anniversary looms, one can only hope it offers an opportunity for Americans to revisit this historical moment with care, to acknowledge the racism that motivated it, to recognize its ongoing salience given the ongoing crisis of state violence

against people of color, and to pay respect to the victims of the Jackson State shootings of May 14–15, 1970.

Nancy K. Bristow is the author of a new book, Steeped in the Blood of Racism: Black Power, Law and Order, and the 1970 Shootings at Jackson State College. She is a professor of history at the University of Puget Sound. Her other books include American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic and Making Men Moral: Social Engineering During the Great War. LEARN MORE

Though the May 14–15 shootings at Jackson State College in Mississippi are often overshadowed by the shootings 10 days earlier at Kent State, the two events laid the groundwork for cooperation between the two universities. In 1988, Kent State University Press published Lynch Street: The May 1970 Shootings at Jackson State College by Tim Spofford.

Hear Phillip Gibbs’s widow, Dale Gibbs, talk about growing up in Ripley, Mississippi, her husband’s life and death and the shootings at Jackson State at ohiohistory.org/jsc.

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Above: Rutherford B. Hayes served on The Ohio State University's board of trustees from 1887 until his death in 1893.

Ohio History Connection Archival Collections

Right: Hayes Hall on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus opened in 1893.

42 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

Inventing Ohio State HOW RUTHERFORD B. HAYES SHAPED THE UNIVERSITY WE KNOW TODAY BY DAVID A. SIMMONS

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oday it’s hard for us to imagine a time before some of our major state institutions existed.

Take, for instance, The Ohio State University. Whether you’re a daily commuter to Columbus or to one of the five other campuses, seeking high-quality hospital or physician care or simply looking for sports or cultural events, few can deny the ways that the university influences daily lives. As Ohio State celebrates 150 years since it was founded in 1870, it’s a good time to explore the role Rutherford B. Hayes played in making it the multifaceted institution we know today, before and after his time as our nation’s 19th president.

Christopher L. Riley | Wikimedia Commons

Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act in 1862, creating a national system of colleges by using the proceeds of federal land sales. Faced with Civil War priorities, the Ohio General Assembly was slow in accepting the initial grant, and even slower to precisely define the educational beneficiary. Four governors, starting with David Tod, urged the legislature to identify or establish an agricultural or mechanical school to receive the proceeds. Multiple bills were introduced and failed.

FOUNDING LEGISLATION The General Assembly did not pass the necessary legislation until Hayes’s second term as governor, which began in 1870. By that time, existing schools like Miami University had been lobbying hard for a piece—or all—of the land-grant pie. Shortly after the New Year, Hayes had insisted that the location of a college was less important than meeting the pending deadline imposed by the federal government.

Reuben Cannon, a wealthy farmer from Aurora, quickly introduced legislation in the House to establish and maintain an agricultural and mechanical college in Ohio. The bill passed on March 22, 1870—now considered Ohio State’s founding date. The law ordained that the governor appoint a board of trustees that would have responsibility for locating the school, determining a course of study and selecting the president and faculty.

”WISDOM, GOOD JUDGMENT AND FAIRNESS” Hayes quickly named 19 trustees, one from each congressional district. Few things were more important to the institution’s future than the makeup of that group.

While support for the college was widespread in Ohio, there were already sharp differences between those who wanted to limit the course of study, in keeping with the institution’s name, and those who demanded broader liberal arts instruction.

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Early faculty member T. C. Mendenhall gave Hayes credit for his insightful selection of individuals from both camps, including some who’d previously been political opponents. A little more than half of the new trustees had direct ties to agriculture. Six had been educators—either administrators or teachers—and two-thirds had legislative experience at the state or federal level, or both.

After considering locations in Champaign, Clark, Montgomery and Franklin counties, the 300-acre Neil Farm north of Columbus was chosen on the basis of a generous subsidy Franklin County offered.

LOGGERHEADS OVER CLASSES Debate over the curriculum was far more contentious.

Hayes was on record as insisting that the Morrill Act had been intended to educate laborers through a broad, liberal course of study. A major opponent was Norton S. Townshend, trustee from the north central congressional district stretching from Holmes to Lorain counties. Representing the state’s farm community, he demanded a “no frills” college that taught only “practical” subjects. Townshend’s voice wasn’t easily discounted, for he eventually joined the new college faculty as head of its first agriculture department. But in the end, the perspective of Columbus trustee Joseph Sullivant held sway: farmers and mechanics were like others in needing a general and liberal education. “I would teach all that was worth knowing,” Sullivant insisted.

Undeterred, Townshend took another shot at restricting the curriculum. As trustees met to consider staffing, he attempted to prevent the appointment of any professors of English literature or foreign and ancient languages, effectively eliminating those courses. Townshend’s effort lost by one vote.

PICKING THE FIRST PRESIDENT Hayes took a direct hand in selecting a president for the Ohio Agricultural & Mechanical College. Edward Orton had been hired as an assistant state geologist in 1869 during Hayes’s first term as governor. Orton’s work frequently brought him to Columbus, and he willingly offered suggestions on implementing the college legislation. This was likely how Hayes got to know him. After Orton became president of Antioch College in 1872, Ohio Agricultural & Mechanical College trustees offered him the presidency in 1873, though he seriously considered it only when they also included a geology faculty position. Still, Orton was reluctant to accept, fearing that a personal theology that had led him to question the literal interpretation of the Bible might prove too radical for the head of Ohio’s new agricultural college. At this point, Hayes stepped in to reassure Orton and persuade him to accept the role.

ARBITER EXTRAORDINAIRE Elected governor for a third term in 1875, Hayes was elected president of the United States in 1876 and his attention was soon diverted to national affairs. Three years later, the general assembly passed an act changing the college’s name to The Ohio State University. Hayes took no part in university affairs until 1887, when Gov. Joseph B. Foraker named him a trustee. At the time, a major funding controversy harkened back to the original conflict over agrarian control of the university.

Augmenting the Morrill Act, a federal law known as the Hatch Act was passed in 1887 to facilitate agricultural experimentation. Since Ohio had already created a university-associated

Campus of The Ohio State University, circa 1915.

Built in 1893 on the north side of the Oval, Hayes Hall is visible through the trees at far right.

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agricultural experiment station in 1882, complete with its own board of trustees, everyone anticipated a major fight between the competing boards over the federal funds.

However, as the two boards convened to discuss it, Hayes took control and assumed the role of peacemaker. With a forceful tone that surprised those present, he pointed out the similar goals of both groups and presented a draft agreement. It abandoned all agricultural experimentation by the university and turned the university farm over to the experiment station, in exchange for which the university would receive the Hatch funds. It was the beginning of better relations between the university and Ohio’s farmers. When efforts to relocate the experiment station to Wooster began in 1891, Hayes was asked to oversee arbitration over the fate of the original buildings on the Columbus campus.

CAMPUS LANDMARKS Hayes also played a role in preserving a campus landmark. When the city built a truck sewer across campus in 1891, it destroyed the spring that fed Mirror Lake. Hayes leveled strenuous objections that convinced other trustees to take the matter seriously and commit funds to it. In time, he met with city officials to work out a full restoration, making possible the traditions that surround Mirror Lake.

Another campus landmark had its origins in his experience as a young lawyer in Cincinnati during the 1850s. There Hayes learned of the trendsetting work in manual training by the Ohio Mechanics Institute, emphasizing the intellectual benefits of woodworking and metalworking. Since leaving the presidency, Hayes had advocated manual training in public education. Speaking at the dedication of a manual

The Ohio Agricultural & Mechanical College was founded in 1870 in a farming community at the northern edge of Columbus. University Hall, seen in the distance in this photograph, opened its doors to 24 students on Sept. 18, 1873. Five years later, the first graduating class consisted of six men. The first woman graduated from the college in 1879.

Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections

training department at Toledo High School in 1884, he insisted “the intellect gets a discipline from drawing, and the judicious use of tools…is of the greatest value.”

"It would not be an understatement to say that Hayes felt strongly about OSU and its role in providing education, especially for the trades," says Dustin McLochlin, chair of curation and education for the Ohio History Connection’s Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums in Fremont, Ohio.

Once a trustee at Ohio State, Hayes continued to promote manual training. When state funds finally became available in 1891 for a manual training building and program, Hayes was placed in charge of overseeing what became Hayes Hall on campus. He was engaged in finding a director of the program in 1893 when his final, fatal illness struck.

LEARN MORE

You can visit Harvey Firestone’s boyhood farmhouse at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. The Firestone Foundation donated the 1828 Columbiana, Ohio, farmstead to Greenfield Village in 1983. For more information, visit thehenryford.org.

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Ohio History Connection Archival Collections

I am a looker-on except as to education. On that, I am persistent, in and out of season, before all sorts RUTHERFORD B. HAYES of audiences.

I Wish I’d Been There FIRESTONE AND FORD AT DINNER BY DAVID E . ROHR

Whatever the time in history, it seems that human beings are always nostalgic for bygone eras. We live for the present, but long for the past.

There may have been no better place to illustrate this than at a party gathered nearly 100 years ago in a sturdy but unassuming brick farmhouse in Columbiana, Ohio. So I focus my imagination there on July 21, 1921, for what the New York Times said was an evening that “harked back to earlier days with a farm dinner on the old Firestone homestead.”

I would be sitting with Akron tire entrepreneur Harvey Firestone and Henry Ford, by then world famous for both his automobile company and his political activism. Ford and his wife, Clara, were accompanied by son Edsel and his wife, Eleanor. Harvey and Idabelle Firestone were joined by two of their sons, Russell and Harvey Jr., along with Harvey Jr.’s new bride, Elizabeth.

These two generations of Fords and Firestones were the vanguard of an America on the cusp of remarkable change. They were eating a final meal before a vacation that would help them step back from the “modern world” of 1921.

They were going camping.

GYPSY TRAVELERS AND A U.S. PRESIDENT Camping had become an annual activity for these early-20th-century business icons. The excursions were seemingly an effort to keep them connected to two worlds: the one

46 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

they were born into and the one their enterprises were helping to create.

They slept in tents, chopped wood, built campfires, hunted, fished, rode horseback and fought off mosquitoes.

But what they called their “gypsy trips” were not as minimal as one might imagine. They brought additional vehicles, including kitchen and pantry trucks designed by Ford, plus a sizeable staff.

Before he died earlier that year, naturalist and prolific author John Burroughs (1837–1921) had always joined the men. In one of his essays he said that “it often seemed to me that we were a luxuriously equipped expedition going forth to seek discomfort.”

In the next two days, Firestone and Ford would meet up with others, including Thomas Edison and President Warren G. Harding. This

would be the only time Harding was able to join them. Their destination was a small, secluded camp near the tiny Blue Ridge hamlet of Pecktonville, Maryland.

Nearly everyone destined for the Maryland retreat had strong Ohio connections. Edison, Firestone and Harding are well-known for their Ohio roots. Even Ford had numerous Ohio business interests. His Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad, for example, was described as a virtual “conveyor belt of coal” from the Ironton, Ohio, area to his Detroit assembly facilities.

INDUSTRIALISTS TOASTING DAYS GONE BY Focusing on that farmhouse dinner, there is no telling what the wideranging conversation might have included. I surmise that it might have combined politics, business, ideas on the future of the automobile and perhaps discussion of the days when the guests had been younger.

Perhaps past trips to the Everglades, Adirondacks or Great Smoky Mountains would have come up in conversation. And they would no doubt be toasting and sharing appreciation for their late friend Burroughs, a New York native, who had passed away near Kingsville, Ohio, in March of that year.

Ohio University Press

He is through and through an idealist.

Burroughs had said of Ford: “Notwithstanding his practical turn of mind, and his mastery of the mechanical arts and of business methods, he is through and through an idealist.” He called Firestone the group’s “business philosopher.” Of Edison, Burroughs said “He is a great chemist, a trenchant and original thinker on all the great questions of life.” And he described Edison’s humor as “delicious.”

No doubt the younger guests would be enlivening the discussion as well.

Edsel Ford and Harvey Firestone Jr. would go on to lead their fathers’ companies. And they had the energy of young adulthood with them. The postwar economy was accelerating into what would become known as the Roaring ’20s.

I have a feeling that it would have been an evening characterized by optimism as they supped and followed the main course with dessert, perhaps consisting of the pies they were fond of, and chased by plenty of coffee. It’s likely that the chatter would have covered everything from boosting output to improving trout catches.

We know that many innovations were still ahead for these business giants in 1921. Who knows what else would have come up? Perhaps talk at that old-time dinner with the Fords and Firestones might have germinated ideas for a new invention that we now take for granted. No matter, it would have been a meal with conversation as delicious as the food. I wish I had been there.

David Rohr grew up in Toledo. He is

Left: Automobile manufacturer Henry Ford, inventor Thomas Edison, President Warren G. Harding and rubber magnate Harvey Firestone with their entourage during a 1921 camping trip.

Top: Warren G. Harding, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone horseback riding on a 1921 camping trip in Maryland. This trip was one of several Edison and Firestone took between 1916 and 1924.

Ohio History Connection Archival Collections

LEARN MORE

You can visit Harvey Firestone’s boyhood farmhouse at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. The Firestone Foundation donated the 1828 Columbiana, Ohio, farmstead to Greenfield Village in 1983. For more information, visit thehenryford.org.

the author of The United States of Ohio: One American State and Its Impact on the Other 49.

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Paleontologist Mary Anning YO U N G E Y E S O N T H E PA S T BY SOPHIA ALLEMAN

Last school year, when I was in eighth grade at Saint Rose School in Girard, I competed in History Day by making a documentary on English fossil collector and paleontologist Mary Anning (1799–1847). I had never made a documentary before, but I felt that Mary Anning’s story would be best shared through this medium. The theme for the contest was “Triumph and Tragedy.”

I gathered images from books and websites, including the BBC, Geological Society of London, Lyme Regis Museum and Natural History Museum of London. I compiled images of, and relating to, Mary Anning—including her sketches and letters, her birthplace and her colleagues. I also used audio and visual clips from podcasts and videos.

The most exciting part of my research was a Skype interview that I conducted with Dr. Susannah Maidment, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London.

I also received important resources from the Lyme Regis Museum.

With my winning documentary, I was a qualifier in the state of Ohio for the National History Day competition in College Park, Maryland, in June 2019.

48 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

FROM SOPHIA’S DOCUMENTARY Here are some excerpts from the script of Sophia’s documentary: Mary Anning was born on May 21, 1799, in the seaside resort town of coastal Lyme Regis.

Mary loved accompanying her father and learning how to hunt for, excavate and prepare fossils. In the early 1800s, fossils were called curiosities, because no one knew what they were. Many found them dangerous and disturbing, calling them serpent stones and devil’s fingers. Fossil hunting itself was dangerous, with harsh weather and storms, rockslides and rising tides.

After her father’s death, Anning continued to hunt for and sell fossils to help support her family.

Even though she was only a child, she began a lifelong career of fossil hunting and studying geology and anatomy. Her self-taught knowledge elevated her position in the scientific community, and she began leading scholars on fossil hunts.

In 1824, Anning discovered fossilized feces. The concept of extinction was still not acceptable; however, the fossils being found were unlike any living animals, and so the prevalent belief was that God put fossils into the ground.

With Anning discovering fossilized feces, it was difficult for people to continue to make this argument.

At the age of 29, Anning discovered the first flying reptile to be found in England. William Buckland, her friend and colleague in geology and paleontology, reported to the Geological Society “Miss Mary Anning...has recently found the skeleton of an unknown species of that most rare and curious of all reptiles, the Pterodactyl, a monster resembling nothing that has ever been seen or heard of upon earth.”

Tragedy struck a fatal blow when Anning discovered that she had breast cancer. She died on March 9, 1847. Though Anning, was born poor, she had earned such a high level of respect in the scientific community that she would be the first woman ever given a eulogy by the Geological Society. The society would not admit women for another 57 years.

The Natural History Museum in London has her Ichthyosaur, Plesiosaur and Dimorphodon on display, and Anning’s legacy continues to drive tourists to visit the seaside resort of Lyme Regis.

In 2009, the Royal Society named Mary Anning as among the top 10 women who’ve had the greatest influence in the field of science.

Anning faced a lifetime of tragedies. Despite being born into poverty at a time when women were neither permitted to attend universities nor belong to professional organizations, she took the science world by storm.

Through her determination and hard work, she transformed fossil hunting from a hobby to a science, triumphed in the developing field of paleontology and helped lay the groundwork for Darwin’s theory of evolution. Mary Anning paved the way for women and changed the face of science forever.

National Museum of Wales

Sophia Alleman is a freshman at Ursuline High School in Youngstown, Ohio.

She takes all honors courses and her favorite class is French I. Sophia competes in speech and debate and plays clarinet in the school band. She also enjoys playing piano and guitar and taking care of her pet chameleon in her free time.

LEARNMORE MORE LEARN

Natural History Museum, London

Watch Sophia’s documentary at bit.ly/MaryAnningDoc

Top: In 1830, Mary Anning’s friend and colleague, Henry De la Beche, painted the very first example of Paleo Art, titled Duria Antiquia. The painting depicted what prehistoric life might have looked like, based on the fossils Mary Anning had discovered.

Left: Portrait of Mary Anning with her dog Tray and the Golden Cap outcrop in the background. This painting was owned by her brother Joseph and presented to London’s Natural History Museum in 1935 by Miss Annette Anning.

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Reviews

A Mile and a Half of Lines: The Art of James Thurber is available in our Ohio History Store at ohiohistorystore.com.

Ohio History Connection members enjoy a 10% discount.

Use code MEMB1803.

BOOK

A Mile and a Half of Lines: The Art of James Thurber by Michael J. Rosen with contributions from Ian Frazier, Seymour Chwast, Liza Donnelly, Michael Maslin and Rosemary Thurber

“If all the lines of what I’ve drawn were straightened out, they would reach a mile and a half. I drew just for relaxation, between writing.” —James Thurber (1894–1961) This wonderful book explores the drawings of Columbus native James Thurber, a prolific writer and one of the most famous illustrators and cartoonists of the 20th century.

It coincides with the first major exhibit of Thurber’s art, hosted by the Columbus Museum of Art to commemorate the 125th anniversary of James Thurber’s birth. Rosen, editor of six volumes of Thurber’s work and the first

literary director of Thurber House in Columbus, Thurber’s boyhood home (thurberhouse.org). Rosen has gathered in one volume a host of leading cartoonists and writers to assess the importance of Thurber’s drawings, which “changed the nature of the cartoon in America and paved the way for an entirely different approach to visual art.”

Lavishly illustrated, the book is a visual feast of some 250 drawings, including many that will be familiar to Thurber fans, but others that are unpublished or newly discovered. While the book is engrossing for the illustrations alone, the context and analysis provided by the lively essays greatly enrich our appreciation for Thurber as “a storyteller, even in his one-line captions.” Thurber’s

work touched on humor and insight on the battle of the sexes, technology and progress, social relations and, frequently, dogs, who Thurber loved and esteemed highly for what he considered their superior character.

He drew them with extraordinary tenderness. His personal life was challenging, affected by divorce, ill health and deteriorating sight in the one eye remaining to him after a childhood accident. Yet he responded with perseverance and creativity in finding ways to continue working and drawing until his death.

And his drawings still make us smile and nod ruefully at the pathos and absurdity of life.

—Katie Swett, Ohio History Connection

BOOK

Coal War in the Mahoning Valley: The Origin of Greater Youngstown’s Italians

by Joe Tucciarone and Ben Lariccia

Following the Civil War, coal-mine operators in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, whose coal was highly prized by iron manufacturers, were uncompromisingly anti-union. In 1873, as Mahoning Valley miners resorted to work stoppages to counter proposed wage cuts, operators sought strikebreakers.

The first were African American miners from Virginia. When they, too, raised questions over pay, impoverished foreign immigrants recently docked in New York City from the Molise region of southern Italy replaced them.

Like many, these immigrants fled an intolerable homeland. Shortchanged in the ending of feudal land ownership during the 1860s Italian states unification, they escaped inflation, crushing taxation and bands of dispossessed peasants terrorizing the countryside. After a horrendous Atlantic voyage, they were housed in overcrowded holding facilities

50 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2020

and then enticed to come to Ohio by unscrupulous labor contractors. The Italians innocently walked into the middle of the owner-miner conflict.

Violence against the replacement miners naturally ensued, but eventually the Welsh and British-born miners returned to work. Still, hostility to Italians continued. The brutal lynching of Giovanni Chiesa on July 27, 1873, is believed by the authors to be the first documented murder of an Italian immigrant in America.

Both authors have affiliations with La Gazzetta Italiana, an Italian heritage and cultural newspaper in Cleveland.

They brought a historical spotlight on the long-ignored Italian heritage of the coal mines that once filled the rural townships north of Hubbard. What started as family history research for the authors led to Part 2 being devoted to the stories of specific families who

endured so much to become Mahoning Valley residents.

Like Joe Tucciarone, my paternal grandparents had a connection to Coalburg, Ohio, a sleepy little unincorporated village in that part of Trumbull County. In our youth, neither of us had any inkling that the village was central to creating a defining element of the Mahoning Valley’s populace. Tucciarone’s quest of discovery began with his Italian genealogy, mine by reading his book. The historical journey it takes is definitely engaging, whether you have Italian heritage or not.

—David A. Simmons, Echoes Magazine

From Ohio History Connection Archival Collections

“NAZIS IN TOTAL SURRENDER—WAR IN EUROPE NOW OVER” declares the headline of this extra edition of The Zanesville Signal on May 7, 1945. According to the caption of this photo from Ohio History Connection collections, Germany’s surrender was welcome news to Paul Tague (left) and Pfc. Bill Parry. A holder of the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Parry had been wounded in France and was on furlough from an Indiana military hospital when the news reached Zanesville. May 7, 2020, marks the 75th anniversary of V-E Day. OHIOHIS TORY.ORG

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Ohio Village is open Wednesday through Sunday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

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Mark your calendar now for these upcoming events!

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