Echoes Magazine July & August 2021

MAGAZINE

JULY & AUGUST 2021 GETTING IT RIGHT

1920 Comes Roaring Back at Marion’s Harding Sites Page 22

WINNING THE WAR AGAINST ALLERGIES

CHANNELING A CREATIVE SPIRIT

The Discovery of Benadryl

Ben Hartman and His Rock Garden

Page 28

Page 34

FORGOTTEN OVER TIME

Lost Circuses of Ohio Page 40

MAGA ZINE

Cover: Laid off during the Depression of the 1930s, Ben Hartman of Springfield channeled his creative spirit into a one-of-a-kind rock garden mixing religion, history and pop culture, including actress Mae West, seen here among the marigolds and geraniums. See page 34.

Courtesy Hartman Rock Garden

Contents J U LY & A U G U S T 202 1

22

1920 Comes Roaring Back at Marion’s Harding Sites

28

Winning the War Against Allergies— The Discovery of Benadryl

34

Channeling a Creative Spirit— Ben Hartman and His Rock Garden

40

Forgotten Over Time— Lost Circuses of Ohio

Vol. 60, No. 4 EDITORS

Bill Eichenberger Tom Wolf CONTRIBUTORS

Erin Esmont Erik Harden Conrade Hinds Cur tis Schieber

I N E AC H I S S U E

Kevin Rose 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

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

Truda Shinker O hio Histor y Conne c tion

2 4 4 6 15 16 17 19 46 48 50

Contents From Our Editors What’s Your Story?

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

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

THANKS TO OUR OHIO HISTORY CONNECTION STRATEGIC PARTNERS:

Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Echoes Magazine, Ohio History Connection, Ohio History Center, 800 E. 17th Ave., Columbus, OH 43211-2474 Entire contents © 2021 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.

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Contact us at membership@ohiohistory.org or 800.686.1545 to share your new address.

The Ohio History Connection is a

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22

Getting It Right 1920 COMES ROARING BACK AT MARION’S HARDING SITES President Warren G. Harding’s home in Marion has a new look, restored to its appearance on the eve of the 1920 presidential election. A new museum and presidential library offer a deeper look into our nation’s 29th president. Editor Bill Eichenberger talks with some of the people involved in restoring the Harding Home and building the new museum and library.

Winning the War Against Allergies THE DISCOVERY OF BENADRYL Ohio native George Rieveschl set out to become a commercial artist, then switched to chemistry and the medical arts. At the University of Cincinnati and later at Parke, Davis & Co., he perfected a formula that became the antihistamine Benadryl, a prescription medication that’s brought relief to allergy sufferers since the 1940s. Author Erin Esmont shares the story of Rieveschl and Benadryl.

28

Channeling a Creative Spirit BEN HARTMAN AND HIS ROCK GARDEN

34

What do Lincoln’s Tomb, Felix the Cat, Mae West, Boulder Dam, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, The Little Church Around the Corner and Maxwell House coffee all have in common? Out of work and with time on his hands during the Depression of the 1930s, Springfielder Ben Hartman turned his love of gardening into building a rock garden to beat all rock gardens.

Forgotten Over Time LOST CIRCUSES OF OHIO

40

Three major circuses and many smaller ones once wintered in the Buckeye State. Why Ohio? Curtis Schieber sits down with Conrade C. Hinds, author of the 2019 book Lost Circuses of Ohio, to answer that question, find out more about some of the Ohio-based shows and explore our state’s heyday in the center ring.

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FROM OUR EDITORS Every time we sit down at the keyboard to write an Echoes Magazine feature, we’re driven to tell the whole story. But we’re also constrained by word counts and space considerations and the need to leave room for illustrations.

This juggling act inevitably leads to tough decisions. Choice bits almost always end up on the cutting-room floor.

Historian Kevin Rose wrote our piece on the remarkable Hartman Rock Garden in Springfield created by Ben Hartman from 1932 through 1944. We asked Rose if there was anything he would have liked to have gotten into his piece (page 34) before he came up against his word count.

“I was thinking about adding a sentence or two about his Maxwell House Coffee Cup,” Rose says. “When people asked Ben how he built so much in such a short time, he always credited Maxwell House coffee. It is said that his wife Mary always kept a pot of coffee hot in the kitchen. Sometime around 1933, Ben decided to honor his favorite coffee with its own art object in the garden– we’re not aware of any sponsorship deal!”

Erin Esmont writes about George Rieveschl, who discovered Benadryl. She says she ran out of space trying to get in all the Rieveschls’ philanthropy.

“George and Ellen Rieveschl became interested in helping students at Northern Kentucky University through a friendship with the college president,” she says. “Thousands of students have benefited from the George and Ellen Rieveschl Endowed Scholarship and the Rieveschl Scientific Instrumentation Fund at Northern Kentucky. Ellen Rieveschl, who holds a doctorate in education, recognized the early importance of informatics, and she and George provided early and ongoing support to the College of Informatics, prompting the naming of the George and Ellen Rieveschl Digitorium.”

In our piece about the restoration of the Harding Home and opening of the Harding Presidential Library & Museum (page 22), we try to set the record straight on our country’s 29th president.

We talked to Ohio History Connection Exhibit Design and Production Manager Bill Mahon for the story, but didn’t have space for one particular quote.

“We wanted to acknowledge both sides of Harding,” Mahon says.

“He had a child out of wedlock, and scandals came to light after his death in 1923. But he was also a champion of the eight-hour workday, and gave an incredible speech at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and another about the Americans who died in World War I. One of his most significant policies was providing health benefits to women and children.”

And that’s the rest of the story!

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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 baby boomers,

“ What are some favorite books of your childhood?”

Here are some of your responses:

QUEEN MAGI’S LITTLE PEOPLE “Richer than I you will never be; I had a mother who read to me.”

– From “The Reading Mother” by Strickland Gillilan. (My favorite quote) With parents born in the 1910s and brothers in the ’30s and ’40s, my childhood books were mostly handme-downs that transported me into the past. Queen Magi’s Little People, from 1913, told of a family whose father dealt in the new technology of the telephone and could communicate with tiny people in a far-off land that could only be reached by flying on the back of a huge bird. It featured photographs doctored to illustrate the two worlds. My mother read me every Oz and Winnie-the-Pooh book and the delightful Thornton Burgess series, Old Mother Westwind and the Merry Little Breezes plus every fairy tale book the library offered.

But my absolute favorites were the Eloise books by Kay Thompson.

Your Story?

On rare occasions when my father read to me, it was always Paul Bunyan or Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates. My brothers contributed to my juvenile delinquency with gifts of Shel Silverstein’s Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book and Don’t Bump the Glump.

I memorized every one of those wonderfully absurd poems.

Donna Siple, Columbus

THE WONDERFUL FASHION DOLL Going to the library was the highlight of my week in elementary school. That is where I discovered The Wonderful Fashion Doll by Laura Bannon.

What little girl wouldn’t love the story of a trunk hidden away in the attic waiting to be discovered that contained an antique doll and her clothes and accessories? It was a world of imagination and wonder. As I reached adulthood, I told my aunt about the book and how I would love to have a copy. Years went by as she looked in bookstores all over. She passed away in 2020 at age 100 and while going through her house, I found her notes. This piqued my curiosity again. I went online and found one copy. Not only does this book bring back a simple childhood, but it will always remind me of my beloved aunt.

I think there may have been divine intervention.

Jill Keppler, Parma

CHILDHOOD BOOKS

there spellbound among a small group of kids.

I loved the realistic and gently humorous illustrations of baby ducks as they followed their mother on the streets of Boston and swam in the Charles River. A few years later, I would visit the places in the book, when my much-older brother lived in an apartment 15 stories above that same river in Boston.

Mary Meyer, Fresno

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE “Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs.” Those words were the beginning of a reading adventure for me as a child. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s first book in the Little House on the Prairie series was published in 1932.

Laura was born in 1867 in Wisconsin.

Her books were based on her pioneer family. I loved reading about Laura and her family. As an adult, I purchased and reread the books. I’ve also enjoyed reading adult books written about Laura. In 2004, we went to De Smet, South Dakota. We saw some of the sites mentioned in her books. My reading of historical times ties in with wishing to visit historical sites. My husband, Ron, and I enjoy visiting historical sites in Ohio and throughout the United States.

Kandi Snodgrass, Dublin

MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS

GO, DOG, GO!

One of my earliest memories is listening to Make Way for Ducklings

by Robert McCloskey. It was the late 1950s in the nursery room of our church, where tiny tots were cared for during the service. The woman reading had a soothing voice and an obvious love of books, and I sat

Certainly The Little Engine That Could was among my top-three favorite books of early childhood, as was The Pokey Little Puppy. But pride of place went to P.D. Eastman‘s Go, Dog, Go!, a literary and artistic masterpiece—at least in my young eyes—that deserved to be read daily. So often did I ask

the adults around me to recount the adjective-strewn adventures of the many multi-colored mutts on their way to the “big dog party” up in a tree that my exasperated grandmother once tried to hide the book from me. Much to her dismay, I easily ferreted the book out of the corner into which it had been stuffed, oblivious to the reason why it had been placed there. Years later, it was incredibly gratifying to find that my own boys were equally enraptured with Eastman’s endlessly entertaining tale of canines constantly on the move.

Chuck Bahl, Canal Fulton

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 September & October.

Springfield’s Hartman Rock Garden is one of the best examples of folk art in the country. What unique, quirky, interesting roadside attraction have you been to in Ohio?

Describe it and let us know what the experience was like for you.

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

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PLANNING YOUR VISIT

In the News BLACK HISTORY

Rhythm of Revolution Learn about the intersection of Black art and civil rights in Rhythm of Revolution, a new exhibit at the Ohio History Connection’s National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center in Wilberforce. The exhibit, which maps the visual flow of artistic, cultural, social and political change in America from 1619 to the present day, continues through Sat., Aug. 14.

CURATORS WORKED WITH STUDENTS

The exhibit was created by National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center curators Rosa Rojas, Hadley Drodge and Derek Pridemore, who worked with Wright State University graduate students in public history.

The students did the research, selected the collections objects and assisted with developing Rhythm of Revolution.

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“I found the class to be an incredibly eye-opening experience, and it was nice to explore a different side of museum work,” graduate student Daniel Willis says. “Paring down my panel text into concise yet informative blurbs was the biggest challenge I faced. In the end, it is immensely satisfying to see the final product.”

Classmate Travis Terracino adds, “The most challenging thing about history is speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves anymore. This class aided me in understanding a deep and often overlooked American history, and allows the artists, dreamers and leaders to come alive and share their stories.”

Curatorial Assistant Derek Pridemore says “As Wright State public history grads, it’s important to us and to the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center to allow students to gain valuable work experience that could help them find employment in the museum field. Hadley and I had the good fortune of being former interns here, and we received the same mentoring from our staff and museum leadership.”

The National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center is at 1350 Brush Row Rd. in Wilberforce, near Dayton, Springfield and Yellow Springs. Museum hours are Weds.–Sat., 9 a.m.–4 p.m. All exhibits are included with museum admission: $6, $5/senior, $3/ages 6–17, Free/ages 5 & under. Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission. Masks and social distancing are required.

Questions? Call 800.752.2603, visit ohiohistory.org/naamcc or email InfoNAAMCC@ohiohistory.org.

National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center

Using three-dimensional objects from the museum’s collections, Rhythm of Revolution explores how Black artists, religious leaders and activists worked within their spheres of influence to transform Ohio and our nation. Over time, these known and unknown change agents connected deeply rooted African traditions, interpreted those traditions to attempt to solve contemporary challenges and worked to pave the way forward to a better future.

Assistant Curator Hadley Drodge explains, “The museum has been collaborating with the Wright State public history program for several years to provide hands-on exhibit creation and collections management experience to students. We had the students do a deep dive into the history and accomplishments of African Americans to be better historians.”

One of 50+ museums and attractions across the Buckeye State operated by the Ohio History Connection, the National AfroAmerican Museum & Cultural Center was established in 1988. It shares the history, art and culture of the African American experience and serves as a gathering place for the community.

National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center

Rhythm of Revolution

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THE NEXT 10 YEARS

Equity: A Way to Honor Our Ancestors

by Ben Garcia In May, my husband and I had the pleasure of visiting two Ohio History Connection sites in Tuscarawas County, the villages of Schoenbrunn and Zoar. At Schoenbrunn, a collaborative experiment in crosscultural living, Lenape Indians worked with Moravian settlers. Together they built a community where upward of 300 mostly indigenous adults and children lived for a brief period of security and prosperity in the 1770s.

Traditional beliefs and knowledge from both cultures shaped this community, where women and men were educated together and shared leadership. Food was communally grown and hunted, and residents spoke multiple languages.

Communal values and utopian ideals also characterized life in Zoar. There, German separatists, fleeing religious persecution in the early 1800s, settled along the banks of the Tuscarawas River and made their fortunes when a portion of the Ohio and Erie Canal was sited on their land. Zoar Village served as a way station for travelers on the canal and became prosperous as a result. Zoarites were pacifists and also abolitionists opposed to the institution of slavery. During the Civil War, their commitment to freedom from enslavement for Black Americans led a contingent to fight for the Union despite their pacifist beliefs.

A blacksmithing class was underway at Zoar, where a family of four companionably hammered the nails and hooks they were forging at separate anvils. It was easy to get a flash of what a similar family might have looked like, working together back in 1850. In the evening, we took a candlelight tour of Schoenbrunn, the entire site flickering with the soft glow of hundreds of luminarias while “residents” welcomed us to peek into cozy cabins warmed by crackling wood fires.

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Stories came to life at these sites with the smell of wood smoke, the sound of steel on iron at the forge and the feel of the coarse (and then very fine) lamb’s wool that was being brushed out before being made into yarn.

The stories were uplifting, and also crushing at times. That brief period of peace at Schoenbrunn was followed five years later by a heartless massacre of 96 unarmed Lenape adults and children by a Pennsylvania militia at nearby Gnadenhutten. The ideals of Zoar’s abolitionists co-existed with the state’s repressive “Black Laws” passed in 1807 that made it illegal for Black Ohioans to vote, hold public office, own guns or serve in the state militia, among other limitations.

We identified equity as a priority in our strategic plan to carry forward the ideals of those Lenape and German residents of Schoenbrunn and Zoar who worked for peace, mutual respect and prosperity. As with our other two priorities of sustainability and relationship-building, equity is a strategy for excellence and a commitment to Ohioans. Widening the lens we hold up to history, to include a larger set of experiences, will allow more people to see their heritage reflected, and find meaning today.

Equity is also our commitment to the staff and volunteers of the Ohio History Connection; that we will work to ensure equal access to opportunities in the organization and that labor is fairly compensated.

And equity means, in part, that the staff, volunteers and trustees of the Ohio History Connection reflect the demographics of Ohio and also reflect all the histories we are charged with preserving and sharing.

Whether you and your family are indigenous to these lands, or are descended from settlers who came to this region for the possibility of making a better life for themselves and their kin, whether you are recent immigrants or refugees (or transplants from other states), whether you live in a community of 200 people or of two million, we want to share

Ben Garcia is deputy executive director and chief learning officer for the Ohio History Connection. your story. We are all neighbors living together on lands that have sustained countless generations.

Together we can continue the best work of our ancestors and secure the well-being of the next generations.

Equitably. Sustainably. And through the relationships we build.

To learn more about classes and tours, visit Schoenbrunn Village on Facebook, @HistoricSchoenbrunnVillage, and Zoar Village at historiczoarvillage.com.

We are all neighbors living together on lands that have sustained countless generations.

Ohio History Connection | Tom Wolf

Doorway of the church in the Tuscarawas County village of Zoar, founded in 1817 by Germans seeking religious freedom. In 1819, they organized the communal Society of Separatists of Zoar to ensure their economic survival. The symbol they adpoted, a seven-pointed star inside a circle, appears over this door and elsewhere in Zoar.

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Wikimedia Commons | Jubileejourney

Octagon Earthworks, Newark

WORLD HERITAGE

Supreme Court Hears Octagon Earthworks Appeal A decision in the Octagon Earthworks lawsuit is expected this year after the seven-member Ohio Supreme Court heard oral arguments on April 13. Both the Licking County Common Pleas Court and the Fifth District Court of Appeals have ruled that the Ohio History Connection has the authority to acquire the rest of the lease on the property, now held

by Moundbuilders Country Club.

The club is appealing those rulings, which say that acquisition of the lease is necessary and for a public purpose.

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The Ohio History Connection has owned the Octagon Earthworks, including the site of the country club, since 1933. The club holds a lease on the property that does not expire until 2078. The Ohio History Connection is seeking to acquire the remainder of the lease to open the entire ancient site to visitors. Currently, only a small part is open, except on four days of the year when the club suspends play on the golf course and visitors can freely explore the ancient earthworks in their entirety. The next such opportunities are on Mon., July 26, when the earthworks will be open to visitors from dawn to dusk (see page 19), and Sun., Oct. 17. Ohio History Connection staff will be on hand to answer questions about the Octagon Earthworks both days from noon to 4 p.m.

Our guiding principles throughout this process have been to ensure full public access to the Octagon Earthworks, while also ensuring that Moundbuilders Country Club receives just compensation for the value of the lease. We are unwavering in our belief that the full Octagon Earthworks site must be accessible to all, a position that’s been affirmed by the previous decision of the Licking County Court of Common Pleas, upheld by the Fifth District Court of Appeals.

For more information about the Octagon Earthworks, visit ohiohistory.org/octagon. Learn more about the nomination of Ohio’s Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, including Octagon Earthworks, for designation as a World Heritage Site at worldheritageohio.org.

WORLD HERITAGE

MEMBERSHIP

Ancient Ohio Today

Meet Our New Membership Manager

Ancient Ohio Today is a free online newsletter from the Ohio History Connection sharing American Indian history in the place we now call Ohio plus updates on the Ohio History Connection’s World Heritage initiatives. Sign up for Ancient Ohio Today to become a Friend of World Heritage and follow our efforts to have the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designate Ohio’s Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks—including Newark’s Octagon Earthworks—a World Heritage Site. Subscribe at ohiohistory.org/ancientohiotoday.

AWARDS

Hadley Drodge Named Emerging Professional of the Year Assistant Curator Hadley Drodge of the Ohio History Connection’s National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center in Wilberforce has been named the Ohio Museums Association’s Emerging Professional of the Year. Drodge served as curator for Queens of the Heartland, an exhibit featuring 30 accomplished Black women of the past two centuries who all have ties to Ohio. The award was presented during the Ohio Museums Association’s virtual annual conference in April. The Ohio Museums Association Awards program is an annual celebration of outstanding achievements by Ohio museums and the tireless work museum professionals do to help advance Ohio’s museum community locally and on a national level. Congratulations, Hadley!

Truda Shinker is the Ohio History Connection’s new membership manager. We thank outgoing Membership Manager Erin Wingfield, who’s left to have more time with family. Shinker grew up in Beavercreek near Dayton and has lived all but three years of her life in Ohio. A graduate of Miami University and Ohio University, she’s worked in development for the Ohio History Connection since 2015. Shinker describes herself as a lifelong history enthusiast who loves traveling the Buckeye State with her husband and two children.

She says her favorite Ohio figure is Wilbur Wright. “I’m very excited to be helping Ohio History Connection members discover Ohio’s stories,” Shinker adds. Have questions about your Ohio History Connection membership? Call 800.686.1545 or email membership@ohiohistory.org.

STORY

BOOK

VILLAGE AT OHIO VILLAGE Fairy Classics Sat., Aug. Tale 14 & Sun., Aug. 15 Meet Your Fairy-Tale Favorites!

Advance Timed Tickets Required I-71 & 17th Avenue, Columbus 800.686.1541 ohiohistory.org/storybook

Visit ohiohistory. org/places to check out places around the state where you can use your membership!

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

 HISTORIC PRESERVATION

Recent Ohio Additions to the National Register of Historic Places ASHLAND • ASHLAND COUNTY

 ARTHUR STREET SCHOOL 416 Arthur St.

Ashland experienced a period of industrial and population growth from 1900 to 1920, gaining 5,100 residents and growing from a village into a city. Completed in 1908, the new Arthur Street School served Ashland’s growing educational needs. Designed by Mansfield architect Vernon Redding (1866–1939), who was born in Ashland County, it launched a local school-construction campaign that continued through the 1910s.

of downtown, centered on Euclid and Prospect avenues, evolved from the 19th century to the mid-20th, from palatial estates and apartment buildings to commercial use in the 1910s and 1920s and decline in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by implementation of the Cleveland Today, Tomorrow General Plan in 1949. The plan led to commercial redevelopment and a surge of new mid-century architecture from the 1950s to 1970s, spurred by demand for office space and completion of the I-90 Innerbelt. Buildings in the district range in date from about 1850, when the Italianate style George Merwin House-Rowfant Club at 3028 Prospect Ave. was built, to the 1972 Joseph F. Valente Building at 3250 Euclid Ave. CONVOY • VAN WERT COUNTY

CLEVELAND • CUYAHOGA COUNTY  MIDTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT Perkins (south side), Chester, Euclid, Prospect and Carnegie (north side) avenues, roughly between I-90, E. 27th, E. 40th and E. 55th streets

Cleveland’s Midtown Historic District reflects how the area east

 CONVOY OPERA HOUSE, CITY HALL AND FIREHOUSE BUILDING 111 S. Main St.

 for education, entertainment, recreation and social events in the village from its completion in 1901 through the mid-20th century.

The upper floor Opera House was in use until 1959, and the building served its civic functions into the 1970s.

DELTA • FULTON COUNTY  FULTON LODGE NO. 248 401-1/2 Main St.

Associated with the history of fraternal and social organizations in the village of Delta, Fulton Lodge No. 248 was built in 1894 and is architecturally significant as an example of a multiuse Masonic lodge building that housed meeting space for fraternal organizations, a dining hall for social events and rental commercial space for income. It remains in use by the organizations it serves.

Locally significant as an example of Victorian Romanesque architecture, the Convoy Opera House, City Hall and Firehouse Building served as a seat of local government and a venue



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 12 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

All National Register photos courtesy State Historic Preservation Office





 Pennsylvania bank barn, while the 150-year-old farmhouse also has a Germanic plan.

LIMA • ALLEN COUNTY

 J.M. SEALTS CO. WAREHOUSE BUILDING 330 N. Central Ave.

MARYSVILLE • UNION COUNTY  REUBEN L. PARTRIDGE HOUSE 245 W. 7th St.

Built in 1907, the J.M. Sealts Co. building is a substantial brick wholesale grocery warehouse associated with Lima’s history as a regional distribution center. It was constructed near the railroad at a time when large-scale wholesale distribution was done by rail and meant increased product choice and competitive pricing.

MARSHALLVILLE VICINITY WAYNE COUNTY  TAWNEY MUSSER FARM 10495 Black Diamond Rd.

The Tawney Musser Farm is associated with 186 years of agricultural development in rural Chippewa Township through the Tawney and Musser families. Passed down for six generations, the farm consists of 157 acres John Tawney bought in 1835, 60 of which continue to be farmed. The barn and house reflect the Tawney family’s German heritage. Nearly 200 years old, the barn is a good local example of an early Germanic



The Partridge House was the home of Reuben L. Partridge (1823–1900), a prominent and innovative local bridge designer and builder who patented a reinforced-truss bridge design that was used to span rivers, streams and ditches in Union County in the mid-to-late-19th century. His long, distinguished and financially successful career culminated in construction of this impressive home in 1895.

RISINGSUN • WOOD COUNTY

 RISINGSUN TOWN HALL AND OPERA HOUSE 420 Main St.

The 1901 Risingsun Town Hall and Opera House is the work of one of Ohio’s first woman architects, Alice E. Johnson (1862–1936) of Fremont, who practiced as early as 1889. It’s been added to the National Register for its association with women’s history, its local architectural significance as a combination town hall and opera house, and its role in the history of the village.

Johnson’s design combined municipal offices with the main community venue for recreation, culture and entertainment. A 1960 addition houses the volunteer fire department.

RICHFIELD • SUMMIT COUNTY

 ORSON MINOT OVIATT HOUSE 3758 Brecksville Rd.

The Oviatt House was built in 1867 by Orson Minot Oviatt, son of early settlers in the area and a successful businessman and city council member in Cleveland, where he relocated from Richfield in 1846. Oviatt returned to Richfield in the 1860s and built this home for his family. Added to the National Register for its local architectural significance, it’s an example of the Italianate style popular at the time. Typical Italianate features include the lowpitched roof, called a hipped roof, the deep overhangs, decorative brackets at the eaves and tall and narrow arched windows.

VAN WERT • VAN WERT COUNTY  DOWNTOWN VAN WERT HISTORIC DISTRICT Roughly bounded by Jackson Street, Town Creek, Central Avenue and Cherry Street

The Downtown Van Wert Historic District has been added to the National Register for its association with the commercial and architectural history of Van Wert from 1861 to 1968. The time span reflects the major eras of economic, commercial and physical development for this county seat and its downtown core. The oldest building in the district dates to 1861. The period of prosperity and growth in downtown Van Wert ended after the U.S. 30 bypass was completed in 1968, beginning the shift of commerce away from the downtown commercial center.

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Ohio History Connection Archival Collections

Foreign Relations Committee, the Armed Services Committee and the Special Committee on Aging.

OLDEST PERSON TO TRAVEL IN SPACE

On Oct. 29, 1998, at the age of 77 years, Glenn became the oldest person to travel in space. He served as a member of the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery STS-95. Glenn focused on researching the effects of the space environment on aging. In the years after, Glenn continued to be supportive of both NASA and the American space program. After the space shuttle flight, NASA renamed the Lewis Research Center, located in Cleveland, the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field.

OHIO HEROES

John H. Glenn Jr. John Herschel Glenn Jr. (1921–2016) was born in Cambridge, Ohio, on July 18, 1921. While Glenn was still an infant, the family moved to nearby New Concord, Ohio, where his father owned a plumbing business and car dealership. After attending the local public schools, Glenn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Muskingum College, also located in New Concord.

While Glenn was attending college, the United States entered World War II. In 1942, Glenn became part of the Naval Aviation Cadet Program. After finishing his training, he piloted planes in the Pacific theatre of the war. In the final year of the war, Glenn also became a test pilot. By the end of the war, he had reached the rank of captain. Glenn continued to serve in the military in the years following the war, once again flying combat missions during the Korean War. ONE OF SEVEN ORIGINAL ASTRONAUTS

In 1958, Glenn became one of seven original astronauts chosen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the first American space missions. Glenn 14 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

became the first American to orbit the Earth on Feb. 20, 1962. The mission was known as Friendship 7.

In just under five hours, Glenn orbited the Earth three times. The Friendship 7 mission made Glenn a household name, not only in the United States but also in many other parts of the world. He received a ticker-tape parade in New York City, as well as many other honors. Glenn continued to work for NASA until early 1964, and he retired from the Marine Corps the following year.

He then entered the business world, serving as an executive for Royal Crown Cola into the early 1970s.

ELECTED SENATOR FROM OHIO

In the 1970s, Glenn entered the political arena as a member of the Democratic Party. He ran unsuccessfully for a U.S. Senate seat in the Democratic primary against Howard Metzenbaum in 1970. In 1974, Glenn was more successful.

He won the election and ultimately served in the Senate until retiring in 1999. He also tried unsuccessfully to obtain the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in the 1984 election. As a senator, Glenn was the chair of the Committee on Government Affairs from 1978 to 1995, and he also served on the

John Glenn passed away on Dec. 8, 2016, and was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.

This biography is from Ohio History Central, our online encyclopedia of Ohio history.

Discover many more great Ohioans and more stories of Ohio history at ohiohistorycentral.org.

Leave a Legacy Passionate about preserving history for future generations?

Consider including the Ohio History Connection as a beneficiary in your estate plans. Our staff can help you choose options that best fit your needs.

Call 800.647.6921 to learn more.

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

37. Harriet Beecher Stowe House

SOUTHEAST OHIO

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 Presidential Sites

46. William Henry Harrison Tomb

55. Our House Tavern

25. Flint Ridge Ancient Quarries & Nature Preserve

49. Buffington Island Battlefield Memorial Park

Some Ohio History Connection museums and attractions have reopened. Others remain closed. Before traveling, visit ohiohistory.org/sites or call 800.840.6127 to confirm what’s open, hours and any special requirements.

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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

Clintonville Farmers’ Market SATURDAYS THROUGH NOV. 20 9 A.M.–NOON

South Parking Lot, Ohio History Center, Columbus 4 The Clintonville Farmers’ Market features 60+ producers who grow or make everything they sell. At the market, you’ll find fruits and vegetables, poultry, pasture-raised meats, cheese, honey and jams, baked goods of all kinds, eggs, grains, cut flowers and more, all produced locally and brought to market at the peak of freshness.

Preorder and/or shop onsite at the market! clintonvillefarmersmarket.org

Ohio Village Open WEDS., JULY 7 THROUGH SUN., OCT. 31 WEDS.–SUN. 10 A.M.–5 P.M.

Members’ preview days Weds., June 30, through Sun., July 4 4 Ohio Village, Columbus 4 Step into the 1890s when Ohio Village reopens for the 2021 season, starting with special

Ohio Village MEMBERS’ PREVIEW DAYS JUNE 30–JULY 4 OPEN JULY 7 THROUGH OCT. 31 WEDS.–SUN. 10 A.M.–5 P.M. CLOSES AT 4 P.M. SATURDAYS IN OCTOBER | CLOSED MON.–TUES.

Ohio Village admission is $13, $11/ ages 60+, $7/ages 4–12. Ohio History Connection members and ages 3 & under enjoy free admission. All visitors, including members, must reserve advance timed tickets: ohiohistory. org/ohiovillage or 800.686.1541.

16 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

Ohio History Connection members’ preview days Weds., June 30, through Sun., July 4, then opening to all visitors starting Weds., July 7, for an extended season that runs through Sun., Oct. 31. Starting this summer, you’ll find more villagers and artisans on hand daily to share new stories of 19th-century Ohio life. $13, $11/age 60+ or college student with ID, $7/ages 4–12, Free/age 3 & under. Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission. All visitors, including Ohio History Connection members, must reserve advance timed tickets.

Order at ohiohistory.org/ohiovillage or 800.686.1541 Reopening plans are subject to change based on the evolving COVID-19 status of Ohio and Franklin County. Questions? Call 800.686.6124 or visit ohiohistory. org/openifo.

Our 19th-century village briefly becomes Never-Never Land to host the pre-school ready-to-read event Storybook Village on Sat., Aug. 14 and Sun., Aug. 15. Get details and order required advance timed tickets at ohiohistory.org/storybook.

NEW! The Ohio Village Emporium now offers a selection of grab-n-go foods and cold beverages from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Enjoy your purchase at nearby picnic tables and other outdoor seating in Ohio

Storybook Village SAT., AUG. 14 & SUN., AUG. 15 10 A.M.–5 P.M. Ohio Village, Columbus 4 Bring

your little ones to meet celebrated characters from popular fairy tales as they roam Ohio Village. Ask Rapunzel to let down her hair, help Prince Charming in his quest and visit with Cinderella. You’ll also get the chance to meet some of today’s favorite characters, such as Pete the Cat and Elephant & Piggie. Take advantage of early-literacy and school-readiness resources featuring, among others, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Franklin Park Conservatory and a sensory-friendly space from the Autism Society of Central Ohio. So we can ensure a safe experience for all, masks and social distancing are required on Ohio Village grounds and all visitors, including Ohio History Connection members, must register in advance for timed tickets. $13, $11/age 60+, $7/ages 4–12, Free/age 3 & under.

Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission. All visitors, including Ohio History Connection members, must reserve advance timed tickets. Order at ohiohistory. org/ohiovillage or 800.686.1541.

Questions? Call 800.686.6124 or visit ohiohistory. org/openifo.

Special thanks to our event sponsor Ohio’s 529 Plan, CollegeAdvantage

Village or bring your blanket for an old-fashioned picnic. Ohio History Connection members save 10%.

Museum The Ohio History Center museum reopens Sun., Dec. 26.

AT T E N D FROM A N Y W H E R E !

Online Events OHIO VILLAGE

Meet the Villagers THURS., JULY 8 F 7–8 P.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted

by Ohio Village, Columbus 4 Ohio Village has some new folks in town, and we’re excited to have you meet them. Join us on a virtual visit to our 1890s village as citizens choose a new mayor. Stop by the barber shop, tavern, women’s study club and village homes with our two candidates in their quest for votes. The evening culminates in a debate at the Town Hall, where villagers will question candidates on their vision for the 20th century.

Free with required advance registration.

800.686.1541 or ohiohistory.org/virtual.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING LECTURE SERIES

Raggin’ On—The Art of Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson’s House and Journals THURS., JULY 15 F 7 P.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center, Wilberforce 4 Hear co-curators Carole Genshaft and Deidre Hamlar discuss Raggin’ On: The Art of Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson’s House and Journals, on exhibit through Oct. 3 at the Columbus Museum of Art. They’ll examine Robinson’s lifelong dedication to documenting the ordinary and extraordinary lives of Black people to “fill in the blank pages of American history” and discuss the Aminah Robinson Legacy Project. Free with required advance registration: InfoNAAMCC@ohiohistory.org.

800.752.2603 or ohiohistory.org/naamcc GENEALOGY WORKSHOP SERIES

Where My Single Folk?

JULY 17 & AUG. 14 F 10 A.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by the Ohio History Center, Columbus In this series of virtual workshops, explore how to research our unmarried, never married, divorced, widowed, adventurous relatives—think uncles, aunts, cousins, everyone outside the direct-descendant

line—to create a fuller tree with deeper roots that includes everyone’s story.

JULY 17: Using DNA Research to Solve Genealogy Mysteries. AUG. 14: Workin’ 9 to 5–Researching Our Elders’ Occupations. Find the full series schedule at ohiohistory.org/genealogy. Buy three workshops, get any one of the remaining workshops for 50% off. Per workshop: $25, $20/Ohio History Connection member. 800.686.1541 or ohiohistory. org/genealogy

Party Like It’s 1899—Ohio State at the End of the 19th century THURS., JULY 22 F 6 P.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by the Ohio History Center, Columbus Once upon a time, Ohio State students paid $5 a term for tuition, spent most of their classroom time in just one building and stood on the side of the field to watch football games. The university opened in 1873 as a small agricultural college, though by the turn of the 20th century had made significant steps toward becoming the major research institution and athletic powerhouse that it is today. Join University Archivists Kevlin Haire and Halle Mares to learn about a decade of substantial transformation for the OSU campus. $15, Free/Ohio History Connection member. 800.686.6124 or ohiohistory.org/virtual PLEASURES OF THE CUP

Radical Remedies SAT., JULY 24 F 7–8 P.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by the Ohio History Center, Columbus There’s a long history of strange and dubious cures in our past. Dive into the outlandish and sometimes unbelievable history of medicine as our Pleasures of the Cup series goes virtual. Mix drinks along with our mixologist as we bring medical history to life. $15, $5/Ohio History Connection member. Advance registration required. You must be 21+.

Alcohol not provided. We’ll send recipe

cards in advance so you can stock your bar to create along with us, followed by a link to the program about two hours before it starts. 800.686.1541 or ohiohistory.org/virtual

Presidential History Book Club WEDS., JULY 28 & AUG. 25 NOON–1 P.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 See page 20.

HISTORIAN-IN-TRAINING—PRE-K

1890s Fun and Games WEDS., AUG 25 OR SAT., AUG. 28 10 A.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by the Ohio History Center, Columbus 4 Kids ages 3 to 6 can join our museum educators to learn about and take part in Victorian-style activities and crafts, like wooden spinning tops and thaumatropes—an optical toy popular in the 19th century. Sign up for this live online activity and you’ll receive a Historian-in-Training kit with related activities for your little historian to try. $10. Advance registration required by August 1. The Zoom activity will not be recorded, and an adult will need to be present. 800.686.1541 or ohiohistory. org/virtual

Lepidoptera SAT., AUG 14 F 10 A.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by Cedar Bog Nature Preserve, between Springfield and Urbana Attend a free online program with naturalist Jim Lemon. Donations accepted. Advance registration required.

Information on accessing online programs will be posted on the Cedar Bog Nature Preserve Facebook page and at cedarbognp.org. 937.484.3744, cedarbog@ctcn.net or cedarbognp.org.

PLEASURES OF THE CUP

Mad for Martinis SAT., AUG. 21 F 7–8 P.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by the Ohio History Center, Columbus 4 Shake (or stir) with our mixologist, who’ll show you how to make some Eisenhower-era cocktails.

Then enjoy a virtual trip to the Atomic

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Ohio Village—Meet the Villagers July 8

Age, where you’ll be talked into buying a steel Lustron house, explore tasty(?) foods of the time, solve a radio mystery and take part in a game show, all from the comfort of home. $15, $5/Ohio History Connection member. Advance registration required.

You must be 21+. Alcohol not provided.

We’ll send recipe cards in advance so you can stock your bar to create along with us, followed by a link to the program about two hours before it starts. 800.686.1541 or ohiohistory.org/virtual

Uncovering Ohio Cold Cases— A Conversation with True Crime Experts Nic Edwards and James Renner THURS., AUG. 26 F 7 P.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by the Ohio History Center, Columbus Ever wonder how cold cases are solved in real life? Join author James Renner and co-founder of the True Crime Garage podcast Nic Edwards as they discuss The Porchlight Project, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting families of the missing and murdered. In this dynamic conversation, our panelists will discuss the purpose of their organization, how one goes about solving a cold case, as well as some of the details of cases they’ve taken on so far. $20, $5/Ohio History Connection member, Free/Ohio History Connection premium member. 800.686.6124 or ohiohistory. org/virtual

18 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

SEMICOLON BOOK CLUB

America’s First Black Socialist— The Radical Life of Peter H. Clark,

by Nikki M. Taylor SAT., AUG. 28 F NOON Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Cincinnati 4 In pursuit of his foremost goal, full and equal citizenship for African Americans, Peter Humphries Clark (1829–1925) was, at various times, the country’s first Black socialist, a loyal supporter of the Republican Party and an advocate for the Democrats. A pioneer educational activist, he led the fight for African American access to Ohio’s public schools and became Ohio’s first Black principal. America’s First Black Socialist draws upon speeches, correspondence and outside commentary to provide a balanced account of this neglected and misunderstood figure. $5 suggested donation, Free/Ohio History Connection member. Advance registration required.

800.847.6507 or stowehousecincy.org

Ohio Village Behind the Scenes THURS., SEPT. 2 F 7–8 P.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted

by Ohio Village, Columbus 4 Have you ever wondered how our recreated 1890s community, Ohio Village, comes to life?

Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour.

Learn how we transition our educators from the 21st century to the 19th, what goes into creating historically accurate spaces throughout the village and even how we get our chickens in tip-top shape for opening. Free with required advance registration. 800.686.1541 or ohiohistory.org/virtual

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

2021 SEASON SCHEDULE ohiohistory.org/muffins or 800.686.6124

View Echoes Magazine online anytime! Visit ohiohistory.org/ memberechoes and enter your member number.

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 Due to the evolving status of COVID-19, we recommend that you call the number or visit the website listed after each program to confirm hours and any special requirements before you travel.

Many programs and events at Ohio History Connection museums and attractions currently require advance registration. To register, call the number or visit the website listed with each program.

Our online calendar offers more upto-date information about programs and events at Ohio History Connection museums and attractions. Find it at ohiohistory.org/calendar.

Most Ohio History Connection museums and attractions are managed by local partner organizations who set their own standards for COVID safety. Masks and social distancing may be required.

Questions? Call 800.840.6127.

STATEWIDE

STATEWIDE

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Ohio History Fund Grants WEDS., SEPT. 1 Know of a worthy history- or preservation-related project that could benefit from an Ohio History Fund grant? Find application forms and more information at ohiohistory.org/ historyfund or call 800.686.6124 or 614.298.2000.

CCETN CENTRAL OHIO

Quarry Trail Hike SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS THROUGH OCTOBER F 2 & 3 P.M. Flint Ridge Ancient Quarries & Nature Preserve, near Brownsville & Newark Meet at the museum patio for a guided hike on a portion of the half-mile Quarry Trail. Experience its unique features, including pits left by the ancient American Indians who came here to quarry flint. Please dress for the weather and wear

appropriate shoes. Mask required.

Donation of $5/person appreciated.

Advance registration appreciated though not required. 800.283.8707, flintridgesitemanagertim@gmail.com or ohiohistory.org/flintridge

antiques. Don’t miss the Artisan Showcase tent housing highly skilled, juried traditional artisans.

Social distancing required. Sanitizing stations available. 800.262.6195 or historiczoarvillage.com

Octagon Earthworks Open House

NORTHWEST OHIO

MON., JULY 26 7 A.M.–8:30 P.M. Octagon Earthworks, 125 N. 33rd St. on the grounds of Moundbuilders Country Club, Newark 4 Explore the 2,000-yearold Octagon Earthworks, part of Newark Earthworks, the largest set of geometric earthworks ever known. A National Historic Landmark and Ohio’s official ancient monument, the Newark Earthworks served social, ceremonial and astronomical functions for the American Indians who built them. This is a special opportunity to explore the whole 50-acre site of the Octagon, which will be open daylight to dusk with staff on hand from noon to 4 p.m. to answer questions. Masks and social distancing recommended. 800.840.6127 or ohiohistory.org/octagon F

Poindexter Village Drum Circle SAT., AUG. 7 NOON-4 P.M. Legacy Tree, Poindexter Village, Columbus 4 Elder drummers, community leaders, musicians, neighbors and past residents will gather with African drums and lawn chairs to share stories, song and dance. Enjoy various arts, puppet storytellers and craft tables where you can make and decorate a take-home wood box drum to use during the Drum Circle call-and-response. Local artist vendors and food trucks will be on hand. Free.

800.752.2603 or ohiohistory.org/naamcc NORTHEAST OHIO

NORTHEAST OHIO

Zoar Antiques & Artisans Show & Harvest Festival SAT., JULY 31 F 10 A.M.–5 P.M. SUN., AUG. 1 F 10 A.M.–4 P.M. Zoar Village, Zoar 4 Shop more than 60 dealers of high-quality country

NORTHWEST OHIO

Independence Day Concert SUN., JULY 4 F 2–3:30 P.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Celebrate Independence Day with this patriotic concert by the Toledo Symphony Concert Band, played from the verandah of the Hayes home. Bring a chair or blanket for seating on the lawn.

Free. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

Verandah Concerts WEDS., JULY 7 & 21 & AUG. 4 & 18 6:30–8 P.M. Free Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Social at 6:30 p.m. • Music starts at 7 p.m.

Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Enjoy free outdoor concerts on the lawn. JUNE 9: Fostoria Community Band. JULY 21: Bridge County Bluegrass Band. AUG. 4: Matthew Ball, the “Boogie Woogie Kid.” AUG. 18: North Coast Big Band. Bring a lawn chair or blanket. If there are thunderstorms on concert night, the concert will be canceled. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org SECOND SATURDAYS R 4 KIDS

Around the World with Col. Webb Hayes SAT., JULY 10, AUG. 14 & SEPT. 11 9:30–11:30 A.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Enjoy a monthly activity for kids in grades K–3 inspired by the travels of Col. Webb Hayes, son of President Rutherford B. Hayes and first lady Lucy Webb Hayes. These events are open house-style, so kids can stop by any time between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

JULY 10: Cuba. Paint rocks and use clay to carve out rock designs inspired by Cuba’s ancient Taino rock carvings.

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JULY 24: Washington, D.C. SEPT. 11: U.S. National Parks. Free. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

fourth through sixth graders, though all ages are welcome. $7/child, Free to adults who bring kids to this program.

800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

FROHMAN SUMMER SERIES

Hands-On History WEDS., JULY 14 & AUG. 18 10–11:30 A.M. OR 2–3:30 P.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Kids ages 6 through 11 will use historic photos from the museum’s Charles E. Frohman Collection to gain firsthand knowledge in history through STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiatives. JULY 14: Ships and Boats of the Great Lakes. AUG. 18: Thinking Outside the Box: Engineering and Creative Construction. There are five spots in each time slot for kids to attend in person, and there are 10 take-home kits available for pickup. Free with required advance registration. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

Fort Meigs After Dark Lantern Tour FRI., JULY 16 & AUG. 27 DOORS OPEN 8 P.M. F TOURS START AT SUNSET, ABOUT 8:30 P.M. Fort Meigs, Perrysburg 4 Tour the fort by lantern light, witness a nighttime musket demonstration and experience the historic battlefield as soldiers did during the War of 1812. $15, $12/senior, $10/child or student.

Limited to 20 guests. Advance registration and pre-payment required. 800.283.8916, 419.874.4121 or fortmeigs.org

History Alive at Fort Piqua FRI., JULY 23–SUN., JULY 25 10 A.M.–5 P.M. Johnston Farm & Indian Agency, Piqua See early Ohio come to life as reenactors present a timeline of 1748 to 1862, when events at the site of the Johnston Farm and people involved in them helped set the course of our state’s history. Explore a variety of camps, demonstrations and activities, plus the restored Johnston home, Indian & Canal Museum and the canal boat General Harrison of Piqua. $9, $4/ ages 6–12, Free/Ohio History Connection member or ages 5 & under. 800.752.2619 or ohiohistory.org/johnston KIDS DAYS @ HAYES

Farm Day SAT., JULY 24 F 10–11:30 A.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Kids can learn about animals and farm life at this event geared toward 20 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

SPEAKER SERIES

The 1787 Northwest Ordinance SUN., JULY 25 F 3 P.M. Fort Recovery Museum, Fort Recovery The 1787 Northwest Ordinance was implemented at Fort Recovery. Hear from history enthusiast Joe Beatty of Houston, Texas, an entertaining and informative presenter who’s a descendant of Ensign Samuel Beatty and Captain Erkuries Beatty. They served in the armies that fought at Fort Recovery, where Samuel died. 800.283.8920 or fortrecoverymuseum.com

Presidential History Book Club WEDS., JULY 28 & AUG. 25 F NOON–1 P.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Read and discuss books about the presidency at this free book club. Bring your lunch if you’d like. JULY 28: JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917–1956 by Fredrik Logevall. AUG. 25: His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life by Jonathan Alter.

800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org The Presidential History Book Club meets in person and online. For information on joining virtually, contact Dustin McLochlin at dmclochlin@rbhayes.org

State of Eight Vintage Base Ball Tournament SAT., JULY 31–SUN., AUG. 1 F TIMES TBA Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 See teams from across the state playing base ball by 19thcentury rules at the Hayes estate and elsewhere in the area. The Spiegel Grove Squires will host other vintage teams representing the regions associated with Ohio’s eight presidents. Free.

800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

Evening on the Canal SAT., AUG. 7 F 6:30 P.M. Johnston Farm & Indian Agency, Piqua Travel back to a time when the world moved four miles an hour at the end of a towrope. Begin with a picnic-style meal in the Education Center overlooking the historic Miami and Erie Canal. Afterward, board the 19th-century-style canal boat

General Harrison of Piqua for a twilight journey full of surprises. $35, $30/Ohio History Connection member or ages 6–12, $25/member ages 6–12. This popular once-a-year opportunity requires advance registration by July 31. 800.752.2619 or ohiohistory.org/Johnston

Revolution on the Ohio Frontier SAT., AUG. 14–SUN., AUG. 15 9:30 A.M.–5 P.M. Fort Meigs, Perrysburg 4 See Revolutionary War soldiers drill, demonstrate weapons and recreate life in early America. $12, $10/senior, $7/ ages 6–18, $2/Ohio History Connection member, Free/ages 5 & under.

800.283.8916 or fortmeigs.org

First Lady Lucy Hayes’s Birthday Party SAT., AUG. 28 F 9 A.M.–5 P.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Celebrate the life of first lady Lucy Hayes on the 190th anniversary of her birth. Enjoy lemonade and treats in the museum. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

Craft Beers & Cocktails SAT., AUG. 28 F 5–8 P.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Sample cocktails and beers from area craft breweries at this annual event on the grounds of the Hayes estate.

Enjoy raffles and live music. Buy dinner from on-site food trucks. Seating is limited.

Bring lawn chairs to use in case tables are full. Masks required except when seated in the designated drinking area. Social distancing required. Advance: $30, $25/ member. Day-of: $35, $30/member. $10/ designated driver ticket includes pop and water, no alcohol. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org SPEAKER SERIES

Clash of Cultures SUN., AUG. 29 F 3 P.M. Fort Recovery Museum, Fort Recovery Discover the relationships of Shawnee leader Tecumseh, his brother the Prophet and future president William Henry Harrison with author Frank Kuron, whose books Thus Fell Tecumseh and Intriguing People: The Curious Events They Suffered While Living in the Wilderness of the Northwest Territory will be available to buy and have signed. 800.283.8920 or fortrecoverymuseum.com

History Roundtable with Mike Gilbert SAT., SEPT. 11, 18 & 25 & OCT. 9, 16 & 23 10–11:30 A.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 During this popular series, local historian Mike Gilbert will discuss a new history topic each week. $25 for six sessions or $5/session. Advance registration and pre-payment required.

800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

Spiegel Grove Squires Vintage Base Ball Game SUN., SEPT. 12 F 1–3 P.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 See base ball as it was played in the 1860s when the Spiegel Grove Squires take on the Pluggy’s Town Base Ball Club. Free. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org SOUTHEAST OHIO

SOUTHEAST OHIO

Historic Our House Tavern Open THROUGH AUG. 31: WEDS.–SUN. 10 A.M.–4 P.M. SEPTEMBER THROUGH DECEMBER: FRI.–SUN. 10 A.M.–4 P.M. Our House Tavern, Gallipolis 4 Tour a restored Federal-style tavern built in 1819 that hosted the Marquis de Lafayette when he visited French-founded Gallipolis in 1825. 800.752.2618 or ohiohistory.org/ ourhouse

John Glenn Centennial Celebration SAT., JULY 17 & SUN., JULY 18 John & Annie Glenn Museum, New Concord 4 Enjoy special events commemorating the 100th anniversary of John Glenn’s birth on July 18, 1921. JULY 17, 8 A.M.: Friendship 7-miler race from Cambridge, where Glenn was born, to New Concord, where he was raised. JULY 17, 11 A.M.: Friendship 7 parade from Cambridge to New Concord, where there will be a speaker, activities for kids, an astronaut presentation, space-themed movies, food and music. JULY 17 & 18: New Concord’s John & Annie Glenn Museum offers free walk-through tours. 800.752.2602 or johnandannieglennmuseum.org

BROWN BAGGIN’ THRU HISTORY

The History of 100 Years in Ohio in 10 Objects FRI., AUG. 6 F NOON–1 P.M. Campus Martius Museum, Marietta Explore a century of Ohio history through 10 objects with Andrew Richmond, a recognized expert in the antiques and art field. Free with required advance registration. Limit 30 participants.

800.860.0145 or mariettamuseums.org MUSEUM DAY

Pioneers and Paddlewheels SAT., AUG. 7 F 9:30 A.M.–5 P.M. Campus Martius Museum & Ohio River Museum, Marietta 4 Explore Marietta’s history with reenactors, musicians, storytellers and hands-on activities. The Campus Martius Museum and Ohio River Museum will both be open to tour, with guided tours of the 1788 Rufus Putnam House and W.P. Snyder Jr., a National Historic Landmark that’s our nation’s last intact steam-powered, stern-wheeled towboat. The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission will be on hand with its 2,000-gallon fish tank, offering an up-close view of critters that inhabit local rivers and streams. Free. 800.860.0145 or mariettamuseums.org SOUTHWEST OHIO

SOUTHWEST OHIO

Art with Skip Hathaway SAT., JULY 3 & AUG. 7 F NOON–3 P.M. Adena Mansion & Gardens, Chillicothe Bring the kids for a free art class for all ages with Chillicothe artist Skip Hathaway in the Education Center. Art supplies will be provided. All children must have an adult chaperone. 800.319.7248 or adenamansion.com

19th-Century Independence Day Celebration SUN., JULY 4 F 2–3 P.M. Adena Mansion & Gardens, Chillicothe Celebrate Independence Day the way Ohioans did two centuries ago.

This free event at the picnic pavilion features readings from the Declaration of Independence, patriotic poems, a presentation of the flag and a 21-gun salute by the Ross County Veterans Honor Guard.

800.319.7248 or adenamansion.com

Prairie in Bloom Nature Discovery Hike SAT., JULY 10 F 10:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Fort Ancient Earthworks & Nature Preserve, near Oregonia and Lebanon Hike with Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalists through the prairie and woods to learn about the plants, bugs and wildlife around Fort Ancient. In accordance with state guidelines, we’ll be practicing social distancing and wearing masks. Advance registration required. Limited to 20 participants. $7, $6/senior or student, Free/Ohio History Connection member. 800.283.8904 or fortancient.org

Mask Making from Natural Objects SAT., AUG. 21 F 10:30 A.M.–12:30P.M. Fort Ancient Earthworks & Nature Preserve, near Oregonia and Lebanon Try your hand at this creative activity for ages 8 through adult. Learn to use different sizes, shapes and textures of objects to create a finished mask.

A variety of natural materials will be available. You may bring supplies of your own, too. All participants in this outdoor program will have their own materials, practice social distancing and wear masks to meet state guidelines. $10 material fee + Fort Ancient site admission: $7, $6/ ages 6–17 or 60+, Free/Ohio History Connection member or age 5 & under. Advance registration required.

800.283.8904 or fortancient.org.

FEATURED EXHIBITS • • •

Rhythm of Revolution THROUGH SAT., AUG. 14 WEDS.–SAT. 9 A.M.–4 P.M. National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center, Wilberforce 4 See page 6. Also on exhibit: African Americans Fighting for a Double Victory; Behind the Mask—Black Power in Comics; Queens of the Heartland; and What’s In Your Attic? Selections from Our Permanent Collection, including a special miniexhibit, Playing with Identity—Selections from the Lillian M. Bartok Black Doll Collection. $6, $5/senior, $3/ages 6–17, Free/Ohio History Connection member or ages 5 & under. Masks and social distancing required. 800.752.2603 or ohiohistory.org/naamcc OHIOHIS TORY.ORG

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The newly restored Harding Home in Marion.

The restoration team’s work was made easier by Florence, who meticulously kept hundreds of household receipts so that we could see exactly what the Hardings had purchased and where.

The table is set for breakfast in the Harding Home dining room.

Getting It Right 1920 COMES ROARING BACK AT MARION’S HARDING SITES BY BILL EICHENBERGER

P

resident Warren G. Harding has gotten a bad rap. Still does, in fact.

In an April Siena College Research Institute survey, historians ranked Harding as the fourth worst president in our nation’s history.

But Sherry Hall, site manager for the Warren G. Harding Presidential Sites—which comprise the Harding Home & Press House and the newly opened, 12,000-square foot Harding Presidential Library & Museum as well as the nearby Harding Memorial— hopes to set that record straight.

Left: Ohio History Connection Below: Chris Buchanan

The Hardings slept in a second floor master bedroom in the home they inhabited from 1891 until the couple left for Washington, D.C., in early 1921.

“There are so many myths and just plain old wrong information about President Harding. There have been for decades and decades,” Hall says. “Harding died in office in 1923 and his wife, Florence, died a year later in 1924. So they couldn’t defend their legacy.”

And few historians in the first half of the 20th century cared to examine the Hardings’ story. Though that changed in the 1960s with the release of most of Harding’s presidential papers, all 350,000 of them.

New and better scholarship about Harding has been the norm, but the myths still persist.

The Hardings' kitchen was utilitarian.

“Kitchens were work spaces then,” says Sherry Hall. "People didn't congregate there."

The upstairs bathroom in the restored Harding Home.

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An aerial view of the newly opened Harding Presidential Library & Museum.

A $10.3 MILLION UNDERTAKING The Harding Home closed in 2017 to allow the Ohio History Connection’s restoration team to return the property to its appearance in 1920, the year Warren launched his “Front Porch Campaign” in Marion. The restoration cost $1.3 million, while the Presidential Library & Museum cost $9 million.

Asked how long these ambitious projects have been in the works, Hall says, “Oh, since 1926. I mean, the Harding Memorial Association identified they’d need more room to tell the story, but they just never had the resources.

“In 2014, I was touring the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock with Fred Smith, our architectural services manager, and we began batting the whole thing around, trying to figure out what was needed and what was possible, what it would look like, how it would feel.”

And now their vision has been realized.

“With the completion of this project, we want to celebrate Marion’s presidential history now and for the next 100 years to elevate the Harding Presidential Sites to their rightful place in a national context,” Hall says. “Before we opened

24 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

the Presidential Library & Museum, we had to cram the whole Harding story into our home tours.”

The situation had become increasingly untenable over the years.

“We needed more space for the 5,000 original objects in our collection,” Hall says. “No presidential site in the country has more objects original to the first family than we do.”

The museum will take the burden off those home tours, giving visitors a chance to meet Warren and Florence before they head over to the Harding Home to learn how the couple lived in 1920.

BRING IN THE DETECTIVES Chris Buchanan is restoration project manager for the Ohio History Connection. He researched the home for more than two years before work on it began in earnest. (By the way, you’ll never meet another person who gets as excited about wallpaper swatches as he does.)

“The house was built in 1891, and the Hardings lived in it until 1921. The home had been restored by the Harding Memorial Association, who used to manage it before they turned it over to the state in

1979,” Buchanan says.

“Not to say the association cut corners, but they had limited means. Their restoration was not up to modern preservation standards.”

Returning the home to its appearance in 1920 took a great deal of sleuthing.

“It’s difficult to restore a previously restored house.

There were 15 layers of paint in some rooms, so how do you decide which color is your color?” Buchanan asks. “We were lucky because the home had iron radiators and behind them we found several layers of wallpaper. We just had to determine which wallpaper swatch was from the 1920s.

“Earlier iterations of the Hardings’ décor were somewhat naïve,” Buchanan says, “but the Hardings were both inquisitive and worldly, traveled several times to Europe, and it was clear that Florence in 1920 had a pretty refined sense of decorating. She became more sophisticated.”

The restoration team’s work was made easier by Florence, who meticulously kept hundreds of household receipts, “so that we could see exactly what the Hardings had purchased and where,” Buchanan says.

“Emily Rebmann was the site historian on the project, so she was responsible for gathering and organizing written documentation concerning the house. She

was also responsible for choosing furnishings for the house, and she and I worked together, with a consultant, on recreating the wallpapers,” says Buchanan.

Hall says the goal was for the Presidential Library & Museum to “feel presidential, but we also wanted it to be warm, reflecting Harding’s time in history.”

Needless to say, Hall is delighted with the results.

“This building was designed by an Ohio History Connection architect, Beth McFarlane, and she did a marvelous job. This was her baby, and the Ohio History Connection staff—I can’t compliment it enough. We worked so well as a team,” she says.

“We wanted the Presidential Library & Museum to be presidential but not to overwhelm the Harding Home, not to have a building that was out of proportion for the neighborhood. Beth struck that balance.”

TELLING THE WHOLE STORY Bill Mahon is the exhibit design and production manager for the Ohio History Connection. He was directly involved in bringing the museum to life.

“My team wanted to really tell the story of Warren’s and Florence’s lives, their early lives, Warren’s career as a newspaper editor of the Marion Star, Florence casting her first vote in 1920, thanks to the 19th Amendment. Presumably she voted for her husband,”

The tombs of Warren G. and Florence Harding in Marion.

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Left: Dozens of political reporters filed stories about Harding’s “front porch campaign” from the Press House, affectionately known as “the Shack.” Right: Warren G. and Florence Harding's Marion, Ohio, parlor, newly restored to look as it did in 1920, during Warren Harding's campaign for president of the United States.

Mahon says with a laugh.

Hall says that telling the Hardings’ story in detail was precisely the goal.

“We want people to come away from the museum feeling they know the Hardings, their personalities, their likes and dislikes,” she says. “We want to create threedimensional people for our visitors.”

To that end, one museum exhibit tells of the Hardings’ trips to Europe, another of their “Voyage of Understanding” train excursion through the American West up into Alaska and back down through Canada.

Harding was the first American president to visit Canada and Alaska while in office.

A PLAGUE OF SCANDALS The final exhibit addresses in several panels the Harding administration’s scandals.

His attorney general, Harry Daugherty, was tried twice for improperly receiving funds from the sale of confiscated foreign-owned property. He was acquitted both times.

When Harding discovered that Charles Forbes, his administrator at the Veterans Bureau, was stealing and

26 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

reselling vast quantities of medical supplies and taking kickbacks from vendors, he immediately forced Forbes’ resignation. Forbes was later tried and sent to prison for his crimes.

The worst of Harding’s scandals—the one that has dogged him for nearly a century, the one historians point to as a reason to rank him at the bottom of the presidential rankings—was Teapot Dome, which is considered the worst scandal of the 20th century until Watergate. Teapot Dome refers to two western U.S. sites where government-owned land containing oil deposits were leased to political insiders in exchange for bribes.

Mahon says acknowledgment of the scandals was, of course, required, but hopes the entire exhibit will leave visitors with a more balanced sense of Warren and Florence Harding.

“Harding instituted policies that still have an impact today, providing women and children with health benefits, lobbying for an eight-hour workday and creating voting rights for African Americans,” Mahon says. “And you should hear Harding’s speech on the occasion of Birmingham, Alabama’s, semicentenary. He argues for an adjustment of relations between whites and Blacks, for social equity for all races.”

Ohio History Connection | Chris Buchanan

ABOUT THOSE PRESIDENTIAL RANKINGS And don’t get Hall started on the presidential rankings mentioned at the top of this story.

“I don’t think much of them at all,” she says. “We gave a tour of the home several years ago and at the end, a university professor told us he voted on the presidential rankings every year. I asked him, ‘Well, before the tour, what did you know about Harding?’ And he said, ‘Nothing.’

“The thing is, who could possibly be an expert on every one of the presidents? The rankings just don’t make sense to me.”

What did Hall learn during the past seven years as this monumental project came to fruition?

“I already knew a lot about Warren and Florence, but immersing ourselves in the 1910s and 1920s, one thing that surprised me were all the parallels between 1921 and 2021,” she says. “Immigration is a hot topic, as is the economy. We’d just been through the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918.”

The relevance is obvious.

“This is a story worth telling,” Hall says. “Most people read a line or two about the Hardings in history books.

But that doesn’t make them real. That’s what we want to do here, to tell a more complete version of the story, the good and the bad. We don’t tell people what to think, but to come to conclusions after they’ve learned the facts.”

LEARN MORE LEARN MORE

THANKS! The Harding 2020 project, including restoration of the Harding Home and completion of the new Warren G. Harding Presidential Library & Museum, has been made possible through the generous support of many individuals, organizations and foundations from the Marion community and beyond. We’re especially grateful for the support of these major donors who’ve contributed $100,000 or more:

Marion’s Harding Presidential Sites are now open.

Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission. Reserve timed tickets for Harding Home tours at hardingpresidentialsites.org or 800.600.6894.

Admission includes all-day access to the Presidential Library & Museum, Press House and grounds. The Harding Home & Press House are at 380 Mt. Vernon Ave. The Presidential Library & Museum is adjacent. The Harding Memorial is 1.5 miles away at Vernon Heights Boulevard and Delaware Avenue.

State of Ohio

In Warren G. Harding: The 29th President, John W. Dean (of Watergate fame) writes that “Warren G. Harding is best known as America’s worst president.

This erroneous conclusion endures because the actual record of his presidency has, in fact, been largely overlooked.” After his death, Harding “became a defenseless target of decades of false accusations and distortions. My undertaking, however, has not been to challenge or catalogue all those who have gotten it wrong about Harding, only to get it right.”

Douglas C. & Lynn M. Roberts Family Foundation

The Dennis and Sara Trachsel Foundation Marion Community Foundation Robert M. & Dorothy C. Wopat Community Fund at Marion Community Foundation The Jeffris Family Foundation Ray & Charlotte Baldauf Charitable Trust The Waddell Foundation

Mathews Auto Group The Mennel Milling Company OhioHealth Wyandot, Inc.

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28 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

Winning the War Against Allergies THE DISCOVERY OF BENADRYL BY ERIN ESMONT

O

pen any medicine cabinet in America and you’re likely to find a pink-and-blue package stamped with the name “Benadryl.”

For nearly 80 years, the antihistamine has provided safe, effective relief to millions suffering from runny noses, itchy eyes and sneezing. It’s also been a helpful sleep aid for young and old alike.

The product may be a household name, but the scientist who created it was not.

Ohio native George Rieveschl Jr. discovered the chemical compounds that make up Benadryl, or beta-dimethylaminoethyl benzhydryl ether hydrochloride, while working in a lab at the University of Cincinnati, first as a doctoral student in 1940 and then as a chemistry professor.

The story of his breakthrough begins like so many do—he was actually trying to create something else.

“This was serendipity,” Rieveschl’s widow, Ellen, said in a recent phone interview.

A PHI BETA KAPPA IN THE MAKING George Rieveschl Jr. (pronounced REE-vashell) was born Jan. 9, 1916, at Bethesda Maternity Hospital in Cincinnati. He was the only child of George Sr., a paper mill worker, and Alma, a piano teacher, from Lockland, Ohio. His mother recorded his milestones in a blue baby book, noting that he took his first steps at 18 months. He also had an independent streak, always insisting on feeding himself in the highchair.

He taught himself to read from a large, illustrated cloth version of The Night Before Christmas. It was so thoroughly read and re-read that his mother had to sew it back together. (As an adult, his book collection would grow to so many books—10,000 and counting—that Ellen Rieveschl called in a structural engineer to make sure their home could support the weight.)

Left: A circa 1950 Parke, Davis & Co. ad informing doctors and pharmacists that Benadryl was available in 50 mg Kapseals, 25 mg capsules and in a 10 mg “palatable elixir.” Above: Chemist George Rieveschl working in his lab at the University of Cincinnati.

All images courtesy of the Lloyd Library & Museum

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Left: As a young man, George Rieveschl wanted to become an artist. He attended the Ohio Mechanical Institute before enrolling at the University of Cincinnati to study chemistry. Right: A drawing George Rieveschl created after he enrolled at the Ohio Mechanical Institute in 1929.

Report cards from grade school on up document his academic progress and achievement, a future member of Phi Beta Kappa—the oldest academic honor society in the country—in the making.

But chemistry wasn’t on his radar. He had his heart set on being a commercial artist. Sketches from that time survive and show his talent and promise.

He entered the high school program at the Ohio Mechanical Institute in 1929. He chose it for its excellent teachers, and because his mother wanted him to go there.

“It took me exactly 64 minutes to go by streetcar to the school because Lockland was the end of the line back then,” he recalled in a 2003 interview with the UC News. “Since I was first on the streetcar in the morning, I always got a seat. It cost me eight cents for a one-way ticket, and I did my homework on the streetcar.”

JOBLESS IN THE DEPRESSION When he graduated from the Ohio Mechanical Institute in 1933 in the midst of the Depression, there were no artist jobs to be had. His mother told him to pick a new profession.

“So, I thought about it, and my [chemistry] teacher had just been excellent, and I really liked him,” Rieveschl said. “I’d gotten a chemistry set for

30 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

Christmas, too. So…that’s why I picked chemistry.”

He recalled that his tuition at the University of Cincinnati cost him only $35 a semester. He survived each school day on 50 cents, just enough for his bus fare, lunch and a nickel ice cream cone on the way home.

Rieveschl’s most significant scientific discovery began with an interest in developing an antispasmodic for muscle spasms. He chose that not because of any pain he suffered but because it was an untapped area of science. His motivation wasn’t fame or fortune, Ellen Rieveschl says, but a genuine desire to help people.

However, his formula didn’t work as an antispasmodic. But it worked as an antihistamine.

Histamines are a chemical found in some of the body’s cells. They play a key role as a signaling molecule, sending messages between cells. They tell the stomach cells when to make stomach acid, and they help our brain stay awake. Histamines also work with the immune system to protect it from foreign invaders.

But, with allergies, hay fever and hives, the immune system overreacts and histamines go from friend to foe. That’s why someone allergic to pet dander, for example, can develop itchy eyes, a runny nose or congestion and swelling.

Enter antihistamines, which block H1 histamine receptors and essentially work as a shut-off valve.

A ‘EUREKA MOMENT’ Swiss-born pharmacologist Daniel Bovet discovered the first antihistamine in 1937.

Rieveschl’s discovery was an improvement on it.

“Benadryl was more selective and was helpful for sleep and itching,” Dr. Jonathan Bernstein said via email. He’s a professor of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, in the Division of Immunology, Allergy, and Rheumatology. (His father, Dr. I. Leonard Bernstein, also an allergist immunologist, was a UC colleague of Rieveschl).

“Its discovery was significant, as it identified specific receptors for histamine on blood vessels,” he says.

Such Eureka moments are usually celebrated within the scientific and medical communities and the public is none the wiser.

“Unfortunately, the scientists who make important discoveries like Dr. Rieveschl are not always mentioned beyond the relevant scientific article describing their findings,” Dr. Bernstein says.

In the early 1940s, Rieveschl decided to join Parke, Davis & Co. in Detroit, figuring he could make more contributions to the war effort there—and he did, developing synthetic tanning agents for leather.

His rise at the company was swift.

“He went from a bench chemist to the No. 2 man in the No. 1 pharmaceutical company in the world at the time,” Ellen Rieveschl says. “They liked the product and they liked the man.”

RIEVESCHL COMES HOME In 1970, Rieveschl returned to the University of Cincinnati campus as vice president of research, taking a salary of $1 a year.

He was intent on helping his alma mater, the greater community and society at large.

Ellen Rieveschl says he believed deeply in the importance of giving back and sharing the wealth, and many institutions of learning, research and art are better because of it.

“George said: ‘Philanthropy is not just the act of giving away money, but it is the task of learning what money will do and how it can work most usefully in the real world.’”

In his new position, he took on the role of fundraising and transformed it into the professional operation it is today, says Kevin Grace, a UC archivist for 42 years before his retirement in August 2021. Through fundraising and recruitment, Rieveschl continued to elevate the university’s reputation as a renowned scientific research center.

MORE THAN A SCIENTIST Grace says it’s a disservice to think of Rieveschl as only a scientist.

“He was a humanist as well,” he says. “Rieveschl’s attitude and his approach to his life’s work were more of a Renaissance scholar because he did bring in humanism and scientific inquiry.”

Parke, Davis held the patent for Benadryl, for which Rieveschl received 5% of the royalties.

In 1951, Rieveschl told a newspaper reporter: “I had no idea Benadryl would go so far.”

Once the patent expired in 1964, Rieveschl’s royalties ended. When the Food and Drug Administration approved Benadryl for over-thecounter use in the 1980s, sales exploded.

Luckily, he invested his royalties well.

“He was as good a stock market investor as he was a chemist,” Ellen Rieveschl says.

George Rieveschl (standing) with, seated from left: Neil Armstrong, Henry Heimlich (of Heimlich maneuver fame) and Dr. Edward Patrick. The quartet form a research group they called HARP.

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Left: The George Rieveschl Jr. History of Pharmaceutical Chemistry permanent exhibit at the Lloyd Library & Museum.

Right: Early Benadryl bottles on display at the Lloyd Library & Museum’s George Rieveschl Jr. History of Pharmaceutical Chemistry permanent exhibit.

Today, the University of Cincinnati’s biological sciences and chemistry building is named Rieveschl Hall in his honor.

He also formed a research venture with the late astronaut Neil Armstrong, also a UC professor; Henry Heimlich, inventor of the Heimlich maneuver and director of surgery at Cincinnati’s Jewish Hospital; and Edward Patrick, Purdue University professor of electrical engineering.

The team—calling themselves HARP for the first letter of their last names—attempted to apply NASA scientific advances to develop a miniature human heart-lung transplant, the UC News reported. They also developed a new system to care for patients with advanced emphysema, according to the Ohio Journal of Science.

Armstrong was a close friend who attended George and Ellen’s wedding. Ellen says her husband and Armstrong shared similar qualities—they were modest, didn’t like to call attention to themselves and routinely emphasized they didn’t achieve their successes alone.

When Rieveschl was named Detroit’s Man of the Year in 1951, the Detroit News covered his speech. In it, he praised his co-workers who assisted him in his research, saying noteworthy accomplishments can’t be traced to one man. “In research, as in everything else, teamwork is necessary for success.”

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HONORED AT THE LLOYD Step into the Lloyd Library and Museum at 917 Plum St. in Cincinnati and you’ll quickly notice the Rieveschl name. A sign hanging above a large display of the patented Lloyd’s Cold Still announces: “The George Rieveschl Jr. History of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Exhibit Hall.”

Here, the story of Rieveschl’s life and how he invented Benadryl intersect. On display is the large desk where he worked, and two walls are adorned with plaques and proclamations that honor both his scientific accomplishments and his considerable philanthropic work.

One large glass display case gives a condensed version of the Benadryl story. There are vintage bottles that once held early versions of the medication, photos, newspaper clippings and early advertising for the new drug.

Tucked away in the archives are more than 100 boxes filled with Rieveschl’s personal and professional papers: his baby book, his report cards, his old chemistry notebooks, newspaper clippings about Benadryl and rival medications and a letter from President Nixon asking him to join his administration (he didn’t).

Right (Top): A circa 1947 Parke, Davis & Co. ad boasting that Benadryl “will produce prompt relief of the symptoms of hay fever, urticarial, erythema multiforme, vasomotor rhinitis, contact dermatitis, drug sensitization, and other histamine-induced allergies.” Right (Bottom): Chemist George Rieveschl holds a Benadryl capsule between his thumb and forefinger.

In short, a remarkable life.

Rieveschl died Sept. 27, 2007, at the age of 91. Survivors include his wife, Ellen, his two sons and his grandchildren.

Erin Esmont is a freelance writer and editor. An Ohio native, she has worked at newspapers in Ohio and Pennsylvania. She lives in Columbus with her family.

LEARN MORE LEARN MORE You can read the World History Project’s article about Rieveschl’s discovery at ohiohistory.org/benadryl1.

Worldofmolecules.com has a technical description of diphenhydramine hydrochloride that you can read at ohiohistory.org/benadryl2.

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Channeling a Creative Spirit BEN HARTMAN AND HIS ROCK GARDEN BY KEVIN ROSE

T

o some today, this story may sound a little too familiar: You find yourself without a job due to a devastating worldwide event. You’re stuck at home without anything to do. For most of your life you’ve been working, and you find all that time away from your job disorienting. Days come and go. You start thinking of ways to pass the time— ways to be creative.

For Ben Hartman, it was not a global pandemic (though he’d lived through the 1918 Spanish flu), but the lingering effects of the Great Depression. In 1932, he found himself out of work for the first time in his adult life. At age 49, he was accustomed to grueling days in the smoke-filled Springfield Machine Tool Co. foundry in Springfield, Ohio, producing specialty machine parts for lathes and other small tools.

Stuck at home without money to travel, he turned to the one thing that brought him joy—flowers. Although he’d always loved gardening, it was ordinarily reserved for those few precious hours of sunlight after his shift had ended. Now he had time to dream.

He began by building stone-and-concrete barriers around his flower beds, creating a clear line of separation from the always-encroaching lawn. He scoured nearby fields for small boulders deposited by glaciers 15,000 years earlier, then cemented them together to outline circular beds in his side yard.

At the back of his property, he planted red, white and blue flowers that gave the impression of an American flag when they bloomed. He was channeling a creative spirit buried since childhood.

LITTLE CHURCH AROUND THE CORNER As time away from the foundry stretched into weeks and months, Hartman turned his attention to more elaborate projects. The first was a concrete pond with a stone-embellished birdbath sprouting from its center. He loved to fish, though his private “fishing” pond was strictly ornamental. A small stone-and-concrete church he Ben Hartman created hundreds of small concrete objects in the mid-to-late 1930s.

He placed them both in the yard and in his many flower beds. Right: Ben Hartman created this Mae West figurine for his mother-in-law in Pennsylvania. After her passing, it returned to the Hartman Rock Garden.

All images courtesy of the Hartman Rock Garden 34 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

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DOLLS ATTENDING CLASS Next came a little one-room schoolhouse, modeled after one he’d attended briefly as a child in south central Pennsylvania. To create the right effect, he turned again to small granite boulders from the surrounding countryside, breaking them apart with a sledgehammer, then cementing them together.

Miniature wooden school desks and dolls inside attending class reflected his playful nature.

Hartman built at a rapid pace that summer, including The Old Oaken Bucket, inspired by a then-popular poem of the same name; Lincoln’s Cabin, with mosaic tile spelling “America Needs More Log Cabin Honest Abes”; God’s Gift to the World, four objects representing the biblical story of Jesus; and the Liberty Bell, with its famous crack executed in dark stone.

The themes that define the garden were established at the outset. Through the Liberty Bell and Betsy Ross House, he shared patriotic stories he loved as a child. The schoolhouse represented the importance of a formal education, something he was denied when his family pulled him from school in the second grade. The church and biblical depictions reflected his Judeo-Christian values, though according to Hartman’s relatives, he did not often go to church. Instead, his sanctuary was the flowers and self-made art populating his yard.

Ben and Mary Hartman were close with their neighbors, many of whom came from the same area of Pennsylvania.

Here they are posing in front of the Tree of Life with their neighbor’s daughter, Caroline Powell.

later dubbed “The Little Church Around the Corner” followed, built using the same method and routine he’d employ for the rest of the garden: dream, collect, alter and construct.

To build the church, he collected slabs of dolomite that had broken away from the bedrock foundation of a nearby stream. Back in his workshop, he used a hammer to break the stone into smaller pieces, then joined them together using a combination of cement, sand and water. He formed a roof by using scrap metal and covering it with concrete. To make sure visitors would recognize it as a church, he made stained-glass windows for the nave and mounted a small plaster bust of Jesus in the gable window. He finished the church with a little stone-embellished electric lamp post out front that cast a warm glow on it each evening.

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AN ARTIST WHO GREW FLOWERS At some point in his creative journey, Hartman transitioned from a gardener creating rock embellishments to an artist who grew flowers. In 1933, his second year at home, his creations grew more abstract, including a mirrored mosaic heart circling the A in the word MAN—a playful pun on his last name—and his most significant creation, the Tree of Life.

The seven-foot-tall tree looks more like a saguaro cactus and sits in his largest flower bed, ringed by red cannas, white snow-on-the-mountain, red salvia and pink petunias. A one-room school tops the left branch, and a small chapel tops the right. The trunk is ornamented with a red, white and blue American shield and a globe with the letters “US” in mirrored mosaic tile. Above the globe, Hartman perched a bald eagle with its wings spread. Years later, he added two white doves in a nest of rusted nails at the base of the right branch, a message of peace during turbulent times in the world.

BACK TO THE FOUNDRY Hartman returned to his job at the foundry in the mid-1930s, slowing his work on the garden. He spent more-limited hours in his workshop making small concrete objects, using techniques learned during nearly 35 years of molding. He produced concrete molds of found objects, such as lawn ornaments, then created replicas in concrete.

Sometimes he’d break the replicas and alter them, using arms from one, a head from another and the torso from a third, like a mad scientist.

Hartman created hundreds of figurines during this time, from simple ducks to more complex characters he knew from books and radio, like boxer Joe Louis, actress Mae West and Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull. While he had great admiration for cultures and communities different from his own, many of his figurines were based on popular representations from 1930s periodicals, sometimes giving them an almost cartoonish character that some may view as stereotypical.

Declining health slowed his progress. Silica had settled in his lungs during his long hours at the foundry, a condition known as silicosis. His art changed in scale and message, with religious and moralistic messages infusing his creations.

Using a friend’s postcard of Rome as his model, he built a 14-foot-tall cathedral extending from his shed, placing concrete replicas of Catholic religious figurines in its niches and windows, including a threedimensional cast of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper.

One of his final creations was a concrete-and-stone gateway on the far side of his home, opposite the main garden, in an area he called “The Other Side of the World.” There, cherubs greet visitors on each side of the gate he interpreted as the gateway to heaven.

He was using his art to come to terms with his impending death, though not before he’d built what may be the world’s only concrete picket fence around the garden—a final act to guard his art and protect the family he left behind when he died in 1944.

For the next 53 years, Mary Hartman maintained her husband’s art, tending to the flowers and giving free tours. She called it her Garden of Love. In later years, as effects of aging diminished her ability to work and the couple’s three children became focused on their own families, the garden began falling into disrepair.

When Mary died in 1997, the garden’s future seemed bleak. Then, in 2008, Ben’s granddaughter reached out to the Wisconsin-based Kohler Foundation. Since the 1970s, preservation of folk architecture and art environments has been a major interest of the

Left: Ben Hartman’s castle was inspired by a postcard he received from his sister in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. He built it in only 14 days. Right: With help from an area photographer, the Hartman family produced and sold postcards as a source of income. This one shows the White House (top left), Independence Hall (top right), daughter Ruth with Mount Vernon (bottom left) and Lincoln’s Cabin (bottom right).

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foundation, which bought the Hartman garden sight-unseen and mounted an extensive year-long conservation project.

The Kohler Foundation gifted the site to the newly established Friends of the Hartman Rock Garden, a Springfield group that finished the project and opened the Hartman Rock Garden as Ohio’s first public art environment in 2010.

Kevin Rose serves in the dual role of historian and director of revitalization for the Turner Foundation in Springfield. His research focuses on the history of Springfield’s built environment and how architectural sites are interpreted to the public.

He serves on the state board of Heritage Ohio and Ohio Humanities and the national board of the Victorian Society in America.

LEARN MORE LEARN MORE The Hartman Rock Garden is adjacent to Ben and Mary Hartman’s bungalow at 1905 Russell Ave. on the southwest side of Springfield. Tours are selfguided and admission is free. Learn more, download a kids’ tour and plan your visit at hartmanrocks.org. Find additional historic places to visit nearby at visitgreaterspringfield.com/things-to-do.

Tip: The Hartman Rock Garden is about 5.7 miles north of Young’s Jersey Dairy, a locally popular destination for ice cream.

Learn more about the Kohler Foundation’s efforts to preserve folk art environments like the Hartman Rock Garden at kohlerfoundation.org/preservation.

Right: Ben Hartman often placed this figure of a boy and geese inside the lawn birdbath.

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Cincinnati Art Museum | Strobridge Lithographing Co.

Sells Brothers presents a Roman Hippodrome featuring a women’s chariot race, circa 1889. Acts such as the Imperial Japanese Troupe and Hassan Ben Ali's Moorish Caravan fed audience expectations of exotified content and provided opportunities for Asian and Arab performers though also reinforced stereotypes of the time.

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Forgotten Over Time THE LOST CIRCUSES OF OHIO BY CURTIS SCHIEBER

O

ne of the most popular circus troupes in the late 1880s was called the “Sells Brothers Enormous Roman Hippodrome Double Elevated Stage and Five Continent Menagerie United with S.H. Barrett’s Monster World’s Fair.”

The never-ending title says volumes about the circus business of the time: its economics, appeal, marketing, content and eventual downfall. Shrewd grassroots businessmen tapped the country’s curiosity about the world, applying showmanship, spectacle and a close eye on the dollar in a business that created some of the nation’s first coast-to-coast stars.

As detailed in the new book Lost Circuses of Ohio by Conrade C. Hinds, three of the biggest shows as well as several dozen smaller ones wintered in Ohio.

Hinds expanded on his research for this Q & A with Echoes Magazine.

Echoes: You write that you first became aware of circuses at age three. When did you first attend one in person, and did researching this book take any magic out of that experience?

CH: My childhood experience with the circus came from television.

In the 1960s, actor Don Ameche hosted a prime-time program with European circus acts. The first time I attended a live circus was when I took my four-year-old daughter to see the Ringling circus in 1982.

And yes, my research did verify that shows of the 1980s lacked some of the glamour and diversity of those earlier ones. But I did enjoy spending my last dollar to buy my daughter anything and everything that she wanted. It was a classic case of wanting my child to have that great experience that I missed as a kid.

Echoes: Three of the country’s largest and most successful circuses— the Sells Brothers Circus, the Johnson Robinson Circus and the Walter L. Main Hometown Circus—and many smaller ones once wintered in Ohio. Why Ohio?

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Cincinnati Art Museum | Strobridge Lithographing Co.

S.H. Barrett and Company: Professor Harriman’s Steam-Powered Airship.

CH: One of the key reasons for having their winter headquarters here was that the Ohio region was a center of commerce for the Midwest. Ohio was a railroad transportation hub, with tracks going in all four directions. Between Cincinnati and Cleveland, you could get just about anything via the railroad, Great Lakes shipping or Ohio River transport.

Much of the equipment that the circuses used was made in Ohio, too, including rail coaches and flatcars, circus wagons and printed materials such as posters.

Echoes: Tell us about Sellsville.

CH: Sellsville was a community for Sells Brothers circus workers and performers near, though separate from, Columbus, which, at the time, wouldn’t have easily tolerated the diversity and differences found in the circus community. The Sellsville school was referred to locally as the “Polkadot School” because of its racial and human diversity. Animals occasionally escaped from

42 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

Sellsville. Once while a family was having dinner, an elephant collided with their front porch.

Echoes: What was it about circuses that made them so appealing at the time, especially in small towns?

CH: For many in post-Civil War America, life was hard and often painful, and many people didn’t travel more than 50 miles from their place of birth. Many didn’t read or write and had little or no knowledge of the outside world or other cultures.

But once a year, the sound of the calliope would signal that their lives were about to change for the next 24 hours. The world they couldn’t travel to experience was coming to them. And most of all, they were going to learn something that would impact and perhaps change their thinking for life.

They’d witness colorful creatures beyond the cows, pigs, goats and chickens of their daily lives. They’d look eye to eye with people from foreign lands who were different in color and physical features and talented in unimagined ways. And for a brief

moment, they were entertained in a way that brought joy and put a smile on their children’s faces.

Echoes: The circus troupes’ relationship to folks in the towns they played must have been interesting, something like Martians touching down.

CH: Audiences displayed every emotion and reaction imaginable toward circus performers and especially those with curious physical traits— everything from shock and fear to happiness and surprise and occasional fainting—though in most cases they’d demonstrate appreciation for performers’ talents by applause. One particular source of fascination was the skill of horse-riding performers. So far as performers of another race or culture, often the audience was more delighted by or curious about the costumes and props, though in late-19th-century San Francisco, Asian performers with the S.H. Barrett Circus and other shows were barred by law from performing due to racial prejudice.

Echoes: How did the presentation of Arab, Asian and other performers play to Americans’ curiosity and fears about other cultures, and reinforce stereotypes of the time?

CH: America after the Civil War and well into the 20th century could easily be described as a society where many people were fearful of foreigners. The circus provided a secure opportunity to experience cultures that were frequently stereotyped at the time as primitive or even savage. By exploiting curiosity, fear and stereotype, the circus could offer a brief, novel experience for the price of admission. And all the while, much of the public viewed these people as inferior and incompatible with the American standard of polite culture. At

times, Arab women were brought to America by various circuses and abandoned at the end of the touring season. Hassan Ben Ali’s Arab troupe was a regular at circuses from the 1890s to 1917. Sie Hassan Ben Ali was a Moroccan and a naturalized American citizen. Though his Moorish Caravan Pilgrimage to Mecca was entertaining, it was generally viewed as depicting the enemy of the 12th-century European Christian crusaders. Asian troupes were exploited as an entertainment novelty for their physical skills and discipline, coupled with their distinctive facial features and exotic costumes.

East Asians were also viewed as incompatible with American European culture and seen as competition in the workforce. But the truth is that Asians and especially hard-working Chinese immigrants played a major role in building the 19th-century infrastructure that made America a wealthy country.

Even today, their contribution and role in making America great is too often overlooked, and many people are still unable to acknowledge, accept and respect the differences of other cultures.

Echoes: The billing for these extravaganzas appears painstakingly precise and honed from a marketing perspective. A favorite: “Sells Brothers Great European Millionaire Museum, Menagerie, Circus and Stupendous Confederation of Railroad Shows.”

CH: The titles were all about stimulating public imagination and outdoing the competition— anything from a small-town council or lodge meeting to another competing show. The titles also told prospective circus-goers that they were going to get more than their money’s worth. The name and reputation of the circus owner assured the public that the show was suited for families and church people.

Dayton Metro Library

Robinson Circus parade on Third Street in Dayton, about 1897.

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Cincinnati Art Museum | Strobridge Lithographing Co.

Left: Sells Brothers Circus featuring Ottoe and Higo’s Royal Troupe of Yeddo Japanese acrobats, about 1889.

Right: Sells Brothers Circus featuring Professor Hecks’s Imperial Cornet Band, about 1885.

Echoes: Between spring 1891 and fall 1892, the Sells circus traversed 41,145 miles with an excursion to Australia included. The logistics of such a tour are mind-boggling even today.

CH: The Sells brothers were all Union Civil War veterans from Ohio. Sherman maximized military logistics in his march to Atlanta, and the Sells circus adopted many of the same military deployment protocols. But the Sells brothers were also innovative. They used specially designed flat rail cars that would allow a train to be completely loaded with equipment and animal wagons in only a few hours at night instead of taking an entire day. Everyone with the show had a job to do in setting it up, then later dismantling it for overnight travel to the next show stop. Even the elephants were used. They pulled the big-top tent canvas to the top of the poles. Much of the travel efficiency was due to the genius of coordinating stops and railroad scheduling, made possible by using the 19th-century internet—the telegraph.

The idea was to have diversity and something for everyone—new acts for circuses, and for the menageries, strange, never-before-seen animals from far-off regions of the earth.

44 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

Echoes: The Walter L. Main Circus suffered one of the more spectacular railroad wrecks on May 30, 1893. Did financial benefits of moving the circus by rail exceed using horse-drawn wagons?

CH: Horse-drawn shows were naturally limited by time and distance in the number of stops they could schedule in a season. With the introduction of railroad travel, the number of show stops increased exponentially, along with profits. Train travel was considered safe, especially on flat stretches of track, though it had one big drawback, and that was braking—crucial in hilly regions like Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Accidents happened routinely though weren’t all total disasters. The Main Circus was able to make repairs, acquire new animals and complete the season with a profit. Circuses were motivated to reorganize and overcome obstacles quickly after such an accident because for performers and workers, this was their livelihood.

And a show with a history of good public turnouts could always get bank credit.

Echoes: Did a show’s fortunes rise or fall on keeping pace with the audience’s curiosity?

CH: Just as amusement parks today add new roller coasters or entertainment each year to bring audiences back, circuses were focused on return customers, too. I should note that the circuses and Wild West shows differed from the menageries.

Circuses and Wild West shows were strictly entertainment. Some saw them as vulgar and sleazy. To counter this, the big circuses combined with menagerie shows, which were regarded as educational and suited for all audiences, especially children. The idea was to have diversity and something for everyone—new acts for circuses, and for the menageries, strange, never-beforeseen animals from far-off regions of the earth.

Curtis Schieber is a freelance writer in Columbus. He has written for The Guardian, Dialogue Magazine, The Columbus Dispatch and other publications. He has been the host of WWCD’s Invisible Hits Hour for 30 years.

Conrade C. Hinds is the author of three books about ‘lost’ Ohio history: The Great Columbus Experiment of 1908: Waterworks that Changed the World; Columbus and the Great Flood of 1913: The Disaster that Reshaped the Ohio Valley and Lost Circuses of Ohio. He has lived in Columbus for more than 40 years and worked for the Franklin County Engineer’s Office and for several local architectural firms.

LEARN MORE LEARN MORE Lost Circuses of Ohio by Conrade C. Hinds, published in 2019 by The History Press, “brings this fascinating piece of Ohio show business back into the spotlight.”

The American Circus, edited by Susan Weber, Kenneth L. Ames and Matthew Wittmann, looks “closely at how the circus’s European origins were refashioned for an American audience.

Lavishly illustrated and carefully researched, this volume explores how American culture, values, demography, and business practices altered the fundamental nature of the European circus, and how, by the end of the 19th century, they had transformed it into a distinctly American pastime.”

According to the Library Journal, John Culhane’s American Circus: An Illustrated History is “sure to be a valuable reference source as well as entertaining reading. It’s all here: the first elephant to be exhibited in the United States, the pursuit by daredevil high flyers of the quadruple somersault, the daring and skill of Gunther Gebel-Williams, and, yes, ‘The Living Unicorn.’

This is an unabashed glorification of the circus.”

Tyrone-Snyder Public Library

Cincinnati Art Museum | Strobridge Lithographing Co.

Left: Sells Brothers menagerie tent with cage wagons, about 1889. Right: The 1893 Main Circus wreck at Tyrone, Pennsylvania, with the rail flats, wagon and tableaux in complete shambles.

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I Wish I’d Been There

10-CENT BEER NIGHT AT CLEVEL AND MUNICIPAL STADIUM

BY ERIK HARDEN

There are some events in history I wish I’d witnessed for their gravity and others for their absurdity. What unfolded in Cleveland Municipal Stadium on June 4, 1974, falls squarely into the latter category.

TROUBLE BREWING

By Memorial Day 1974, the Cleveland Indians found themselves at the beginning of a long slog to a fourthplace finish in the American League East. That season, the franchise was also nearing a 20-year playoff drought.

Attendance numbers reflected the team’s futility—with crowd sizes averaging around 7,500 in the cavernous stadium that could seat 74,000 fans.

In the eighth inning of an already chippy affair, Tribe pitcher Milt Wilcox threw a pitch behind Rangers second baseman Lenny Randle. Later in the at-bat, Randle laid a bunt down the first-base line, Wilcox fielded it and received a forearm shiver from Randle while trying to tag him out, which led to a benches-clearing brawl. As both teams headed back to their dugouts, a Texas fan dumped a beer on the head of Indians catcher Dave Duncan.

A portent of things to come?

With the team’s future in Cleveland a legitimate concern, team president Ted Bonda gave his marketing and promotions department a wide berth. And it dreamt up a slew of wild promotions to lure beleaguered Tribe fans back to the ballpark.

Promotions during that time included famed tightrope walker The Great Wallenda traversing the upper deck without a net, human cannonball Hugo Zacchini doing his thing, frequent postgame concerts and—during the 1974 season—three scheduled 10-Cent Beer Nights.

Years later, Carl Fazio—the team’s director of marketing and sales that season—would say, “If we were going to fail, it wasn’t going to be because we didn’t try things.”

46 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

Allowing fans to buy up to six 12-ounce beers at a time (even if they were 3.2% alcohol beers) for a dime apiece clearly could lead to a long night for stadium security, but trouble was already brewing six days earlier in Arlington, Texas.

After the game, a reporter asked Rangers manager Billy Martin (yes, that Billy Martin) if he was worried about the teams’ next series coming less than a week later in Cleveland. Martin quipped, “Naw, they won’t have enough fans there to worry about.”

The day of the game, more than 25,000 fans—double the expected turnout— poured into the stadium, ready for anything.

In the following days, Cleveland sports radio host Pete Franklin and Indians radio announcer Joe Tait used Martin’s words as bulletin board material to fire up Tribe fans ahead of the Rangers’ arrival in Cleveland.

COMING TO A HEAD The day of the game, more than 25,000 fans—double the expected turnout—poured into the stadium, ready for anything. The temperature at game time was an uncomfortable 82 degrees; it didn’t stop Martin from turning up the heat. Before the game, the boisterous manager started heckling Tribe fans behind his team’s dugout, and the fans were more than happy to give it back. With fans fueled by happy hour pregaming and with cheap beer flowing freely, things got weird with a quickness.

In the early innings, exhibitionists grabbed the spotlight, including a woman flashing the crowd from the on-deck circle before trying to kiss home plate umpire Nestor Chylak.

In the fourth inning, a streaker slid into second base—which had to hurt sans pants. The next inning, a fatherson duo ran onto the field to moon the fans in the bleachers. Tribe fans began throwing lit firecrackers into the Rangers’ bullpen and lobbing hot dogs, beer cups, batteries and an empty bottle of Thunderbird wine onto the field.

L AST CALL Miraculously, the game made it to the ninth inning with the Tribe mounting a rally to tie the game 5-5 and putting the winning run on second base. It’s then that a fan ran onto the field, swiping the hat off Rangers outfielder Jeff Burroughs’s head. Burroughs stumbled and fell during the scuffle, prompting Martin to grab a bat and lead a Rangers charge toward the outfield to protect

Associated Press

Left: Wielding bats, Rangers coaches and players surround Jeff Burroughs (center) and lead him off the field.

Right: Injured umpire Nestor Chylak, right, leads his crew (from left) Nick Bremigan and Larry McCoy off the field during the 10-Cent Beer Night melee at Cleveland Stadium June 4, 1974.

Burroughs. By now, hundreds of fans were spilling onto the field, some wielding chains, knives and pieces of their seats as clubs.

During the melee, fans stole the bases, Indians reliever Tom Hilgendorf and Chylak, the umpire, were both hit in the face with chairs and Indians players wielding bats had to ward off fans to protect the Texas players.

Chylak, knowing all control was lost, ruled the game a forfeit win for Texas.

Finally, reinforcements from the Cleveland Police Department arrived, using tear gas and batons to subdue the rioting fans and making a handful of arrests.

In the end, no one died, no one was seriously hurt and the Tribe racked up another loss in a lost season, but the Indians front office would never tempt fate with 10-Cent Beer Night again, right?

Actually, it would … six weeks later.

Erik Harden is a freelance writer living in Columbus.

LEARN LEARN MORE MORE Dan Epstein’s Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging ‘70s takes a look at American popular culture and counterculture as they “collided head-on with the national pastime, rocking the once-conservative sport to its very foundations.” And what a time it was. “Outspoken players embraced free agency, openly advocated drug use, and even swapped wives. Controversial owners such as Charlie Finley, Bill Veeck, and Ted Turner introduced Astroturf, prime-time World Series, garish polyester uniforms, and outlandish promotions such as Disco Demolition Night. Hank

Aaron and Lou Brock set new heights in power and speed, Reggie Jackson and Carlton Fisk emerged as October heroes, and All-Star characters like Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych became pop icons.”

The Weird History website has a mini-documentary about 10-Cent Beer Night. See it at ohiohistory.org/Beer1.

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Teaching on the Fly YO U N G E Y E S O N T H E PA S T BY BILL EICHENBERGER

So you think it’s difficult keeping kids’ attention when they’re in the same room with you?

Imagine having to hold their attention in a Zoom meeting or on Google Meet halfway across town.

But that’s just what Ohio’s history teachers had to do as soon as the pandemic hit in March 2020. They had to learn new technology, devise strategies to keep students engaged and figure out how to replace field trips with online experiences.

MAKING IT WORK Right about now, they’re tired. It’s been a rough 16 months. But they’re also excited at what they’ve learned and how they can apply that knowledge to the classroom whenever we go back to something akin to normal.

“I’m a glass half full type of guy,” says Frank O’Grady, a history and global studies teacher and National History Day advisor at Menlo Park Academy in Cleveland. “The pandemic forced us all to learn a lot of new tools. But it also gave us a lot of flexibility. I could present distance-learning guests to my students from anywhere in the world.

“It hasn’t been ideal, but we’re making it work.”

HOLDING CL ASSES ONLINE O’Grady’s classes met on Google Meet, which is a good tool, as far as it goes.

“It’s just more difficult to engage students over the Internet,” he says.

“The middle school kids especially tend to be shy for some reason on Google Meet. Our students are

48 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

gifted, by nature really engaged and high achievers. But it was still a little awkward trying to get students to participate. They were just not as likely to volunteer online as they would have been in person.”

Becky Shaffer teaches U.S. history from “the 13 colonies through the Civil War” at Columbus Gifted Academy.

“I would say remote learning has been hard for all of us, teachers and students,” she says. “It naturally takes away the hands-on projects, but my students were able to build their ‘passion projects’—on a subject they feel passionate about—and they are presenting either on Zoom or in the classroom now that we’ve gone to a hybrid model.”

Much of the work was also timeconsuming.

“Transferring student-friendly notes from a classroom PowerPoint to Google Slides and adding text boxes took hours,” Shaffer says.

Robyn Fetter is a fourth-grade teacher at Hubbard Elementary in northeast Ohio. She says teachers (and students) had to be agile on their feet.

“Some very important things I learned while teaching remotely are that relationships with our students are extremely important, technology is only as good as the user and you need to have a Plan B when something doesn’t work as expected,” she says.

“Teaching remotely is okay. However, there is nothing like having the students in class. When they are in class, you are able to monitor their learning and growth so much

easier. If a student is having a problem on something, you are right there to assist them. Teaching remotely doesn’t always offer that opportunity.”

FARTHER THAN A FIELD TRIP COULD GO Sherry Daniel is an interdisciplinary studies teacher, also at Columbus Gifted Academy.

She says the “world was turned upside down for us back in 2020,” but there was at least one positive: “We were able to draw on a wider range of expertise, to pull in speakers from farther away than our buses could have traveled for a field trip.

“Zoom learning has been great for some students, hard for others. But it’s made meeting with parents much easier. I think the parents like it, too. I know I don’t like driving to school for parent-teacher conferences.”

In her interdisciplinary studies program, Daniel says “I was able to work with our partners and pivot really quickly to online content.”

Those partners included the Thurber House, Columbus Museum of Art, the PAST Foundation, the Ohio History Connection and Actors’ Theatre of Columbus.

“Actors’ Theatre helped our scholars create three different plays, which they then rehearsed and performed on Zoom,” Daniel says. “When it was an actor’s scene, they would have their camera on, then shut it off when they were done.”

Becky Shaffer

Students in Becky Shaffer’s eighth-grade U.S. history class at Columbus Gifted Academy listen to an Ohio History Connection reenactor talk about camp life during the Civil War.

HISTORY IN REAL TIME Shaffer remembers watching the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 with her students virtually. “We talked about the Capitol and about Black Lives Matter and shared our feelings, emotions and the overall experience in real time. If we’d all been in the classroom, I would have had the TV on, but with all the interruptions it wouldn’t have been the same.

“We also watched Biden get sworn in and watched Amanda Gorman recite her amazing poem and then we moved on to research past presidential inaugurations. I was able to bring real life to my students, but this is a norm.

Doing it all virtually just made it a little more challenging and interesting.”

Shaffer says she doesn’t know what the future holds.

“I hope to be back to normal, but for me, personally, I’m thinking beyond Zoom or face-to-face teaching or some sort of hybrid,” she says. “I’m thinking about our curriculum and how to better serve our students, how to better relate history to them.”

Doing it all virtually just made it a little more challenging and interesting.

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BOOK

The Ohio Literary Trail: A Guide by Betty Weibel

Sherwood Anderson published the American literary classic Winesburg, Ohio, in 1919, a collection of connected short stories set in a small, rural Ohio town not unlike the one where he grew up in the late-19th century, Clyde (near Fremont).

Weibel writes that “Although Anderson claimed that the town and characters were fictitious, when Winesburg came out, the townsfolk considered the

50 Echoes | JULY & AUGUST 2021

Near the end of her guide, Weibel writes about Pulitzer Prize-winning poet James Wright, another Ohioan with a strong sense of place. In his poem “At the Executed Murderer’s Grave,” he writes in the first stanza, “My name is James A. Wright, and I was born / Twenty-five miles from this infected grave, / In Martin’s Ferry, Ohio, where one slave / To Hazel-Atlas Glass became my father. / He tried to teach me kindness. I return / Only in memory now, aloof, unhurried, / To dead Ohio, where I might be buried, / Had I not run away before my time. / Ohio caught George Doty. Clean as lime, / His skull rots empty here. Dying the best / Of all the arts men learn in a dead place. / I walked here once. I made my loud display, / Leaning for language on a dead man’s voice. / Now sick of lies, I turn to face the past. / I add my grievance to the rest.”

—Bill Eichenberger, Echoes Magazine

ODNR

The Ohio Literary Trail is a lavishly illustrated, nearly exhaustive trip through our state’s literary heritage, from the Toledo Lucas County Public Library’s Nancy Drew collection to Cincinnati’s Harriet Beecher Stowe House, from the Thurber House in Columbus to the Harvey Pekar Literary Landmark Exhibit at the Heights Library in Cleveland Heights.

For her part, Weibel knows just why she compiled her book: “These sites should be visited. The (literary) historical markers that dot Ohio’s landscapes are not there to be driven past—they are there to be read and remembered.”

Weibel hits all the major literary stops: Louis Bromfield’s Malabar Farm, Theodore Dreiser’s House of Four Pillars, the Paul Laurence Dunbar House and many others.

But the charm of The Ohio Literary Trail lies in quirky landmarks off the beaten path. To wit: “If you are traveling in Lucas County with children, stop by the Maumee Bay State Park to visit Storybook Trail, which is about a half mile long and features a fun nature story with a free library. Posted book panels along the trail tell the story and ask questions about the surrounding area, keeping children engaged in exploration.”

Toledo Lucas County Public Library

Humorist James Thurber said something not dissimilar: “I have lived in the East for nearly thirty years now, but many of my books prove that I am never very far away from Ohio in my thoughts, and that the clocks that strike in my dreams are often the clocks of Columbus.”

portrayal scandalous. But it’s not as if they hadn’t been warned. Anderson once wrote, “If people did not want their stories told, it would be better for them to keep away from me.”

Janet Sohngen

It is fitting that in his introduction to The Ohio Literary Trail, David Weaver, executive director of the Ohioana Library Association, recalls a speech that Toni Morrison gave accepting the Ohioana Career Medal in 1988: “Ohio is paramount in so much of my work. My gratitude to you and fellow Ohioans is profound—not only for the award but for the gift to my imagination.”

Top: The Donut Machine from Homer Price is a popular attraction at Hamilton’s Robert McCloskey Museum.

Middle: The Jennifer Fisher/Nancy Drew Collection at Toledo Lucas County Public Library. Bottom: Hocking Hills State Park’s Upper Falls on the Grandma Gatewood Trail, named for the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail solo, in 1955

Dedicated in 1931 with a speech

by President Herbert Hoover, Marion’s Harding Memorial is the final resting place of President Warren G. Harding and first lady Florence Harding.

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