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In the News
OHIO HISTORY CONNECTION SITES Hayes Descendant Donates Original Painting of President’s Sister
A descendant of President Rutherford B. Hayes has donated an original portrait of the president’s beloved sister, Fanny Arabella Hayes Platt, to Hayes Presidential Library & Museums. Lisa Westwater of Columbus had loaned the oval painting to the museum for the recently ended special exhibit Women of Spiegel Grove, which focused on women’s history.
PORTRAIT DESCENDED IN FAMILY
“It was so clear to me that I was supposed to give the painting to the museum,” Westwater says. Westwater’s grandmother was Fanny’s granddaughter. The painting passed through the family to Westwater, in part because Westwater shares a birthday with the president, and her middle name is Hayes in honor of her family connection to him.
Fanny was two years older than the president and was very close to him. She worried about his health, career and love interests and checked in with him often.
Although Fanny was very intelligent, she, like many women of that era, did not have the opportunity to attend college. Instead, she wrote to her brother often while he was at school and encouraged him to pursue his academic studies and stay focused on them. She was a voracious reader and started her own book club for women in her hometown of Delaware. She also attended educational lectures and musical performances. In 1856, Fanny died after suffering from illness for nearly a month after losing her twin daughters right after childbirth. She was 36.
BELOVED SISTER
“My dear only sister, my beloved Fanny, is dead!,” Hayes wrote in his diary. “The dearest friend of childhood…the confidante of all my life, the one I loved best, is gone.” The closeness between the two is one of the reasons Westwater felt Fanny’s portrait should be at Spiegel Grove. Over the years, Westwater stored the painting in her basement and wrapped and preserved it as best she could. Last year, she decided to see whether Hayes Presidential Library & Museums would want it, and her timing coincided with the special exhibit.
After the exhibit ended, she took the painting home with her to have it appraised and complete the paperwork to donate it to Hayes Presidential Library & Museums. On her way back to Columbus, she took a wrong turn and ended up driving through Delaware, which was Fanny’s and the president’s birthplace. Westwater drove by the new statue of Hayes there with Fanny’s portrait carefully buckled in the back seat.
“FANNY WOULD HAVE WANTED IT”
To her, it was a sign that Fanny would have wanted to see the sites related to her brother and childhood and would have wanted her portrait to be at Spiegel Grove with so many things that belonged to her brother.
“The primary mission of our collection is to preserve artifacts from President Hayes and his family,” says Kevin Moore, Hayes curator of artifacts. “The donation of this painting helps us fulfill that mission because it is a beautiful piece that captures the likeness of Fanny Arabella Hayes, who played such a critical role in Rutherford’s life.”
Hayes Presidential Library & Museums is America’s first presidential library and the forerunner of the federal presidential library system. It is partially funded by the State of Ohio and is affiliated with the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums at rbhayes.org.
Descendant Lisa Westwater with Fanny Hayes
Alex Wesaw
NATIVE OHIO Wesaw Named Director of American Indian Relations
Alex Wesaw has joined the Ohio History Connection as director of American Indian relations.
PROMOTES KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF AMERICAN INDIANS IN OHIO HISTORY
Wesaw is a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, a federally recognized tribe in southwestern Michigan and northern Indiana. In his role as director of American Indian relations for the Ohio History Connection, Wesaw works to promote knowledge and understanding of the role of American Indians in Ohio history and fosters a collaborative relationship between the history institution and federally recognized American Indian tribal governments with historic ties to Ohio.
Wesaw will serve on the Ohio History Connection’s leadership team, and his position reflects one of the organization’s greatest strategic priorities of addressing structural inequalities and ensuring representation, access and inclusion. Virtual Statehood Day, March 1
Wesaw is a Ph.D. candidate in city and regional planning at The Ohio State University. He holds a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Ohio University.
ADVISED PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
Among his many accomplishments, Wesaw was one of the tribal leaders who advised Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign in the development of its initial national policy for Indian Country, titled Achieving Autonomy for Tribal Nations and Enhancing Opportunities for Native People to Thrive. In July 2020, Wesaw was re-elected to a second term on the Pokagon Band’s Tribal Council (the tribe’s governing body) and Pokagon Gaming Authority (the board of directors of the tribe’s Four Winds Casino Resorts).
LEARN MORE
For more information on American Indian Relations at the Ohio History Connection, visit ohiohistory.org/ americanindianrelations.
ADVOCATE FROM ANYWHERE! Attend Statehood Day Online March 1
Join fellow history advocates from across Ohio online for the first-ever virtual Statehood Day advocacy event on Mon., March 1, our state’s 218th birthday. Ordinarily held at the Statehouse, Statehood Day is an annual advocacy day for Ohio’s history and heritage interests sponsored by the Ohio History Connection, Heritage Ohio, the Ohio Academy of History, Ohio Archaeological Council, Ohio Council for Social Studies, Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board, Ohio Humanities, the Ohio Local History Alliance, Ohio Museums Association, Ohio Travel Association, Preservation Ohio and the Society of Ohio Archivists. This year’s online Statehood Day event is free with required advance registration by Feb. 25 at ohiohistory.org/statehoodday. Questions? Call 614.774.5537 or email tkleismit@ohiohistory.org.
Dr. Hasan Jeffries
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY Where Do We Go from Here?
Shortly before he died, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. published his last book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, a powerful explication of his thoughts and ideas on how to create a more democratic society. On Sat., Jan. 16, at 7 p.m., the Ohio History Connection’s Ohio History Center and National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center will jointly host an online program in honor of Martin Luther King Day by Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries of The Ohio State University, Where Do We Go from Here? MLK’s Vision for a Fair and Just America. Jeffries will explore the blueprint for the future that King laid out, highlighting the elements of his vision that are most applicable today.
TEACHES AT OHIO STATE
An associate professor of history at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Jeffries teaches courses on the civil rights and Black power movements.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from Morehouse College with a B.A. in history in 1994. He earned a Ph.D. in American history
Panel from Deliver Black Dreams on display at the Ohio History Center. Learn about the outdoor exhibit in nine Columbus locations at gcac.org.
with a specialization in African American history from Duke University in 2002, then taught for a year at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa before joining the faculty at The Ohio State University in 2003.
Jeffries is the author of Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama’s Black Belt, which tells the story of the African American freedom movement in Lowndes County, Alabama, birthplace of Black power. He is also the editor of Understanding and Teaching the Civil Rights Movement, a collection of essays by leading civil rights scholars and teachers that explores how to teach the civil rights movement accurately and effectively.
PUBLIC HISTORY PROJECTS
From 2010 to 2014, he was lead historian and primary scriptwriter for the $27 million renovation of the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, site of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He hosts the podcast Teaching Hard History, a production of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and regularly shares his knowledge of African American history and contemporary Black politics through lectures, workshops, op-eds and radio and television interviews. He’s also contributed to several documentary film projects as a featured on-camera scholar, including the PBS documentary Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise.
CONSULTS WITH SCHOOL DISTRICTS
Jeffries consults with school districts on developing antiracism programming, conducting professional development workshops for teachers, speaking to student assemblies and developing inclusive curricula centered on social studies. In the classroom, he takes pride in opening students’ minds to new ways of understanding the past and present. For his creativity and effectiveness, he has received Ohio State’s Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, the university’s highest award for teaching, and the Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award. The Jan. 16 online program by Dr. Jeffries is $15 (Free/Ohio History Connection member) with required advance registration. Call 800.686.1541 or visit ohiohistory. org/mlkday.
THE NEXT 10 YEARS What Lies Ahead by Ben Garcia Strategic planning may sound like a particularly snooze-worthy topic for an article. But actually, it’s one of the most energizing and optimistic activities in which an organization can engage. Honest. It’s all about future visioning, imagining the possibilities and selecting a set of activities and guiding principles to get you there. This year especially, staying positive, focused and hopeful takes real intention. And the strategic planning process that our staff and trustees undertook last summer definitely left us excited about what lies ahead for the Ohio History Connection.
OUR PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS INCLUDE:
SUSTAINABILITY. For the Ohio History Connection, this means investing in what visitors experience across our sites to ensure their ongoing relevance—basically, making them all unmissable attractions that families and adult visitors want to return to over and over. It means increasing our earned and contributed revenue so that we can make the yearly investment by the State of Ohio in its history and historic preservation go further and serve the greatest possible number of students, families and communities. And it means setting a goal of carbon neutrality for the organization by 2030 to ensure we’re doing all we can to sustain our natural resources for future generations. EQUITY. Ohio’s human history is astonishingly long. The ancient earthworks that we steward attest to at least 15,000 years of humans establishing communities on these lands. Ohio in the 1800s was a multicultural and multiracial state where American Indians, settlers from the eastern U.S. and abroad, and free people of color (among others) established homes, businesses, social and civic groups and local governments. In the 1900s, many of those histories went untold and our goal is to bring them to light so that all Ohioans today can appreciate the full sweep of our history and recognize our collective heritage when visiting a site or attending a program. RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING. Whether working with Certified Local Governments to boost federal and state investment, or working with small historical societies through the annual Ohio Local History Alliance conference, we understand that prioritizing the needs of partner organizations is essential for us to have the impact to which we aspire. Our plan ensures that Ohioans in all 88 counties can access the services and experiences we provide, like our digital social studies textbook for fourth-graders, Ohio as America. Some of the major projects in the plan are already underway, including restoring Ohio Village to a yearround attraction that offers tons of family fun for every season. We are on track to obtain UNESCO World Heritage designation for a number of Ohio’s ancient American Indian earthworks, ensuring that these Indigenous wonders of the world gain the respect and understanding they deserve. And early design work has begun on a new collections facility where Ohio’s treasures will be accessible as never before to researchers onsite, and to all Ohioans (and anyone with access to broadband) digitally. Echoes Magazine will keep you informed of our progress, and we invite you to support Ohio’s future by renewing your membership or gifting a membership to friends, family and colleagues. You can find the complete strategic plan on our website at ohiohistory. org/plan under “Our History.” Ben Garcia is deputy executive director and chief learning officer for the Ohio History Connection.
Octagon Earthworks, Newark
Preservation Office State Historic
Eleanor B. Rainey Memorial Institute, Cleveland
HISTORIC PRESERVATION Recent Ohio Additions to the National Register of Historic Places
CLEVELAND • CUYAHOGA COUNTY ELEANOR B. RAINEY MEMORIAL INSTITUTE 1523 E. 55th St.
Cleveland boomed in the early 1900s, becoming the nation’s fifth-largest city. Hundreds of thousands of people were drawn to the Forest City between 1900 and 1930 by the jobs and opportunities the boom created, many of them Eastern European immigrants and African Americans migrating from the South. Opened in 1904, the Eleanor B. Rainey Memorial Institute, originally the Willson Avenue Industrial Institute, was a settlement house offering educational, cultural and social services in the Hough neighborhood. Designed by the Cleveland architectural firm Badgley & Nicklas, it resembles a large Tudorstyle house. Today it’s Cleveland’s oldest remaining settlement house building. The Rainey Institute relocated to a new facility in 2011 and now serves 2,500 children a year through after school, weekend and summer arts education programming. Learn more at raineyinstitute.org.
LAKEWOOD • CUYAHOGA COUNTY LAKEWOOD DOWNTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT Detroit Ave., roughly bounded by Bunts Rd. and Hall Ave., plus Warren Rd., roughly bounded by Detroit Ave. and Franklin Blvd.
Cleveland’s early-20th-century boom drove growth into neighboring communities like East Cleveland and Cleveland Heights to the east and Lakewood to the west. The Lakewood Downtown Historic District encompasses roughly 14 blocks of Detroit Avenue in the geographic heart of Lakewood that are associated with the community's growth as a streetcar suburb. Though much of pre-streetcar Lakewood gave way to development long ago, the district does include two buildings of the earlier years, the 1864 Curtis Hall House and 1879 Rockport Central School. Once streetcars started running on Detroit Avenue in 1893, new houses sprang up on Lakewood’s side streets, and older ones on Detroit gave way to commercial, institutional, civic and church buildings. Many were designed by leading Cleveland architects of the 1890s to 1930s. These one- to six-story commercial buildings interspersed with churches and other civic landmarks still characterize Detroit Avenue today. The 1950s through early 1970s saw the demise of streetcars, construction of I-90 about one mile south of downtown and a concerted effort to keep downtown Lakewood thriving. The National Register district includes several mid- and high-rise office and apartment buildings of this era, such as the Lakewood Center North office building and parking garage, and the Westerly Apartments complex.
HISTORY DAY Important Update
Ohio History Day and the Ohio History Connection are committed to serving the needs of the educational community while taking precautionary steps on behalf of our teachers, students, judges and the wider Ohio History Day community. We are in communication and coordination with our partners to follow all guidelines provided by the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ohio Department of Health and Gov. Mike DeWine. It’s with this in mind that all regional Ohio History Day contests plus our annual state contest will be held virtually for the 2021 contest season. We would love to see you all in person, but until that time comes,
Lakewood Downtown Historic District, Lakewood
State Historic Preservation Office
we’ve created an engaging virtual opportunity for your students. They will be able to showcase their work, attend an optional judge interview, get feedback and be recognized for all their hard work. For more information about the date of your virtual regional contest, visit ohiohistoryday.org/ regions. Questions? Reach out to our Ohio History Day team at historyday@ ohiohistory.org.
AGES 55+ Grant-Funded Arts Workshops
For the second year, the Ohio History Connection will be offering free arts workshops for adults ages 55+ as part of the Seeding Vitality Arts in Museums competitive grant program. The Ohio History Connection is one of 20 museums nationwide selected to participate.
ART OF WEAVING STARTS JAN. 12 ONLINE
A nine-week online class on the art of weaving begins Tues., Jan. 12. “I look forward to teaching students about historical and contemporary weaving techniques,” says teaching artist Robin Schuricht, who is also an Ohio History Connection educator. “Teaching weaving online provides a great way for students to learn a new skill safely at home.” See page 20 for details on registering for the weaving class.
BEADS AND JEWELRY
A second nine-week class on creating African handmade beads and jewelry will be offered by the Ohio History Connection’s National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center in summer 2021. “We have not decided yet whether the class will be online or in-person,” says teaching artist and National AfroAmerican Museum curator Rosa Rojas. “Either way, we’ll feature the museum’s jewelry collection as students learn about the African cultural heritage of bead-making and how to make beads and design their own pieces of jewelry.” Seeding Vitality Arts in Museums is funded by Aroha Philanthropies and offered in partnership with the American Alliance of Museums and Lifetime Arts. The program addresses the need to change the narrative about what it means to grow old in America, combat ageism and promote a healthy change in attitudes toward aging as senior populations grow. In the November & December issue of Echoes Magazine we shared the story of Ohio-born Victoria Woodhull, who in 1870 became the first woman to run for president of the United States. That prompted reader Joe Koldys to visit the Victoria Woodhull clock at Granville’s Robbins Hunter museum, which was pictured in our story.
I read the November / December issue of Echoes Magazine and then ended up visiting Granville a few weeks later. I've been trying to visit towns I've never been to, or towns I haven't been to in years, so that is why I was there. I am also trying to visit state parks throughout Ohio. It is a good way to get out and explore while still avoiding large crowds. I stopped by to see the Victoria Woodhull clock and was surprised to see that when she made her appearance, she was wearing a COVID-19 mask, appropriately having the word "Vote" on it multiple times.
–Joe Koldys
OHIO HEROES Betsey M. Cowles
Betsey Mix Cowles (1810–1876) is known for her contributions to education and the women’s rights movement in Ohio. She was also quite active in the struggle to abolish slavery. In the late 1820s and early 1830s, Cowles and her sister began opening infant schools in northeastern Ohio. Infant schools were a predecessor to kindergartens. After obtaining a degree from Oberlin College in 1840, Cowles began a career as a teacher. She taught at a number of grammar schools and served as a principal and superintendent in the Painesville, Ohio, school system. Women did not often serve as superintendents of schools in the mid-19th century.
SPOKE OUT FOR ABOLITION AND AGAINST BLACK LAWS
Even before she began teaching, Cowles was interested in the abolition of slavery. She became involved in a number of abolitionist organizations and often served in leadership positions. Beginning in 1835, Cowles served as secretary of the Ashtabula Female Anti-Slavery Society. This was one of the largest antislavery organizations in the state and had more than 400 members. She began giving speeches about abolitionism and gained a reputation as a public speaker. Former slave and prominent abolitionist Frederick Douglass respected her abilities. In addition to her interests in the state of Ohio, Cowles became well known at the national level. Many people believed that women should not speak in public, and Cowles’s speeches left her open to criticism. In spite of this, she continued to actively participate in the antislavery movement.
In addition to working for the end of slavery in the United States, Cowles criticized what she viewed as the hypocrisy of many Ohioans. While they were willing to oppose slavery, many people did not want to give civil rights to free Blacks in Ohio. Cowles spoke out against the “Black Laws” which kept African Americans from voting in the state. At one point, she even quit a job when the school where she was working refused to admit Black students.
PRESIDENT OF 1850 WOMEN’S RIGHTS CONVENTION
Cowles became interested in women’s rights as well. In 1850, Ohioans held a women’s rights convention in Salem, Ohio. The attendees elected Cowles as president of the convention. Ohio was planning to convene a new constitutional convention, and the delegates wanted women to have more rights in the new Constitution of 1851.
In the late 1850s, Cowles turned her attention to higher education for women teachers. After briefly teaching at the McNeely Normal School in Hopedale, Ohio, she began teaching at the Illinois State Normal School in 1857.
She retired from teaching in 1862 to Austinburg, Ohio. Betsey Mix Cowles died in 1876.
This biography is from Ohio History Central, our online encyclopedia of Ohio history. Discover many more great Ohioans and many more stories of Ohio history at ohiohistorycentral.org.
OHIO HISTORY CONNECTION
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
CENTRAL OHIO
25. Flint Ridge Ancient Quarries & Nature Preserve 26. Hanby House 27. Logan Elm 28. Newark Earthworks 29. Ohio History Center & Ohio Village 30. Shrum Mound 31. Wahkeena Nature Preserve 32. Warren G. Harding Home & Memorial
SOUTHWEST OHIO
33. Adena Mansion & Gardens 34. Davis Memorial Nature Preserve 35. Fort Ancient Earthworks & Nature Preserve 36. Fort Hill Earthworks & Nature Preserve 37. Harriet Beecher Stowe House 38. John Rankin House 39. Miamisburg Mound 40. National Afro-American
Museum & Cultural Center 41. Paul Laurence Dunbar House 42. Serpent Mound 43. Story Mound 44. U.S. Grant Birthplace 45. U.S. Grant Boyhood Home & Schoolhouse 46. William Henry Harrison Tomb
SOUTHEAST OHIO
47. Big Bottom Memorial Park 48. Buckeye Furnace 49. Buffington Island Battlefield Memorial Park 50. Campus Martius Museum 51. John & Annie Glenn Museum 52. Leo Petroglyphs & Nature Preserve 53. National Road & Zane Grey Museum 54. Ohio River Museum 55. Our House Tavern
PROGRAMS & EXHIBITS AT THE Ohio History Center & Ohio Village
Each time new COVID-19 information becomes available, we reevaluate our operations. For us, at the center of this decision is your health and safety and the health and safety of our staff, volunteers, visitors and community.
With COVID-19 numbers rising at previously unseen rates in Franklin County and across Ohio, we’ve made the decision to keep the Ohio History Center & Ohio Village closed this winter and offer online-only programming through the winter months. Although the center and village are closed, you can still enjoy Ohio History Center & Ohio Village programs and events online from the comfort of home. We’ll continue to host virtual programs online until it’s safe to gather in person, and will continue to reevaluate each month. Meanwhile, find online events hosted by the Ohio History Center & Ohio Village in coming weeks on pages 19–21.
For the latest on upcoming events, sign up for our weekly Enews at ohiohistory.org/enews, visit our online calendar of events at ohiohistory.org/calendar or find upcoming Ohio History Center & Ohio Village online programs and register for them at ohiohistory.org/virtual. Questions? Email info@ohiohistory. org or call 800.686.6124.
Our online Ohio History Store remains open. Shop 24/7 at ohiohistorystore.com.
LEARN AT HOME
Find engaging and educational resources to keep students learning at home.
ohiohistory.org/learnathome
In response to requests from members, we now offer autorenewal when you purchase or renew your membership online.
