May & June 2022 Echoes Magazine

MAGAZINE

MAY & JUNE 2022 POET AT 150

CLEVELAND’S GUARDIANS

OHIO VILLAGE

NED ROSS

Rebuilding the World of Paul Laurence Dunbar

The Jazz-Age Giants Who Guard The Land

New Villagers, Fresh Stories

Space for Queerness in the Archives

Page 24

Page 32

Page 36

Page 42

MAGA ZINE

Cover: Many of the scalpellini, or stonecutters, who created Cleveland’s Guardians were from the Italian province of Campobasso.

This photo was taken about 1931 in the Ohio Cut Stone Co. shop in Cleveland’s Little Italy neighborhood. See page 32.

Cleveland Memory

Contents M A Y & J U N E 2022

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“The Most Promising Young Colored Man in America”—Rebuilding the World of Paul Laurence Dunbar

32

Cleveland’s Guardians— The Jazz-Age Giants Who Guard The Land

36

Ohio Village Reimagined— New Villagers, Fresh Storylines

Vol. 61, No. 3 EDITORS

Bill Eichenberger Tom Wolf CONTRIBUTORS

Mohamed Abdelhamed Hadley Drodge Randy Edwards Erin Esmont

42

Derek Pridemore

“As Most of Us Knew Her”—Leaving Space for Queerness in the Archives

Kieran Rober tson David Simmons 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

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

Editorial Offices: Ohio History Connection, Ohio History Center, 800 E. 17th Ave., Columbus, OH 43211-2474 Phone 844.836.0012 Email echoes@ohiohistory.org Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Echoes Magazine, Ohio History Connection, Ohio History Center, 800 E. 17th Ave., Columbus, OH 43211-2474 Entire contents © 2022 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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I N E AC H I S S U E

2 4 4 6 15 16 18 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

THANKS TO OUR OHIO HISTORY CONNECTION STRATEGIC PARTNERS:

Moving?

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

The Ohio History Connection is a

Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok at @OhioHistory

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“The Most Promising Young Colored Man in America” REBUILDING THE WORLD OF PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR Paul Laurence Dunbar was born 150 years ago this summer. Hadley Drodge and Derek Pridemore of the Ohio History Connection’s National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center, curators for the new exhibit Paul Laurence Dunbar—Diamond of the Gem City, take a fresh look at the world in which the Dayton poet grew up.

Cleveland’s Guardians THE JAZZ-AGE GIANTS WHO GUARD THE LAND

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Local history and a local landmark have inspired the new team name of Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians. But what, exactly, is a Guardian? Author David Simmons shares the story of Cleveland’s Hope Memorial Bridge linking the east and west sides of the city and the eight Art Deco colossi who watch over traffic on it.

Ohio Village Reimagined NEW VILLAGERS, FRESH STORYLINES

36

At Ohio Village, the Ohio History Connection’s recreated 19th-century community in Columbus, our staff is busy at work researching new storylines and expanding the variety of people and histories represented in this living town of the 1890s. Get a look behind the scenes with author Erin Esmont.

“As Most of Us Knew Her” LEAVING SPACE FOR QUEERNESS IN THE ARCHIVES

42

In an Ohio History Connection archival collection, Kieran Robertson discovered family papers and photos of Ned Ross, a late-19th-century Lebanon, Ohio, photographer and postmaster who appears to have “lived her life outside the gender norms.” Robertson reflects on what might be inferred from the collection and the value of including such stories in history books, concluding that “a history that invites queerness is simply a more accurate history.”

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FROM OUR EDITORS When Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team announced its name change to the Guardians last July, we were perplexed.

Why the Guardians? Was there a tie-in to the popular movie Guardians of the Galaxy? (Which would have been silly.) And who was the team defending, protecting or keeping watch over anyway?

We were indifferent about the name change at best.

But then team owner Paul Dolan explained that he rides his bicycle to and from work (at Progressive Field) across the Hope Memorial Bridge, which connects downtown Cleveland and Ohio City. And riding his bike, he couldn’t help but notice the 45-foot-tall Art Deco figures that adorn the bridge.

Known alternately in Cleveland as the Guardians of Transportation or the Guardians of Traffic, the eight massive statues have kept a silent vigil over the city ever since they were finished in 1932, at a time when Cleveland enjoyed a status as our nation’s sixth-largest city. Ranking just behind Los Angeles, it was a transportation hub and an economic juggernaut.

Wilbur Watson, the bridge’s engineer, said at the time that the statues “typify the spirit of progress in transportation.”

The Guardians took on a new meaning after the northeast Ohio steel industry collapsed. They were a point of pride for a city that did, indeed, need a little defending. And like the beleaguered city, the bridge almost didn’t make it out of the 1970s. (See page 32.)

But the bridge survived and now the Guardians’ name will be enshrined in Major League Baseball in perpetuity. Now if only the Guardians can protect a lead in the eighth and ninth innings …  Former Ohio History Connection curator Kieran Robertson missed the story on page 42 the first time they examined the Laura Cunningham Collection several years ago. But something about the photographs drew their attention. And finally, they decided what it was: One person in several of the photographs was Ned Ross, who lived a life, as Robertson explains, “outside the gender norms of her society in a queer way.”  This June, Dayton’s Paul Laurence Dunbar House celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of poet, novelist and short-story writer Paul Laurence Dunbar (see page 24).

One of the great things about history is finding unexpected information that changes what we know and the way we think about things. It turns out, so our research unearthed, that it was Dunbar who originally wrote, “I know why the caged bird sings.” And for decades we thought that it was Maya Angelou.  Ohio Village is open weekends through May 15 and Wednesdays through Sundays from May 21 through Oct. 30. Our recreated 19th-century community is a renewed point of emphasis for the Ohio History Connection.

Simply put, there are more villagers, more artisans and more stories.

New inhabitants in our living 1890s town (see page 36) represent the Ohio History Connection’s commitment to reinvesting in Ohio Village and an enhanced village experience. Join us on Sat., May 21, or Sun., May 22, for the Village Carnival, which opens the summer 2022 season (see page 16).

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

For this issue, we asked,

“ What’s your favorite hometown landmark?”

Here are some of your responses: KILPI HALL, CONNEAUT All the way up and over in the sharpest corner of the state, as far north and as far east as you can get in Ohio, is my hometown of Conneaut. This is where Moses Cleaveland first set foot in the Western Reserve, back in 1796, before going on to found Cleveland. About 100 years later, in 1899, Charles Gran and the Finnish Temperance Society built Kilpi Hall as a place for Finnish immigrants to gather for fun and fellowship. The Finns had come to Conneaut, and the rest of the Great Lakes, to work on the docks and help construct water lines and other infrastructure. The climate and latitude were reminiscent of Finland.

Kilpi is the Finnish word for shield. In 1976, a group of concerned citizens acquired the building and saved it for use as a community center. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and today it is the Conneaut Arts Center, still serving the cultural needs of the community with visual arts, theatre, music and dance classes.

An outside performing arts stage hosts a summer concert series, and an ancillary building houses additional class sessions. I Kilpi Hall Courtesy of Bert Drennen

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Your Story? spent many hours on the board, on the stage and in the audience of my favorite hometown landmark, Kilpi Hall.

—Bert Drennen, Conneaut

WEST SIDE MARKET, CLEVELAND The West Side Market is a fantastic place.

Same location and building since 1912. As a young child, I would ride the bus from Parma with my grandmother to do her grocery shopping with vendors who were like family. As I grew older, I would ride the bus from Seven Hills each school day to attend St. Ignatius High School. The market building with its clock tower was the landmark for us to get off the bus at 25th and Lorain. After school, we would sometimes go in and buy some treat— pastry, smoked sausage, fresh bread—to eat on our bus ride home. Outside is wonderful with the clock tower, chimney and outdoor arcades for the produce vendors. It has been a community anchor and is visible to most of Ohio City. It was and still is a unique grocery store. My family still goes shopping there when we visit relatives and friends in northeast Ohio.

—Raymond D’Angelo, Westerville

ADENA HIGH SCHOOL, ADENA I graduated from Adena High School in 1954, so my heart is in Adena, Jefferson County, but I live in Hudson, Summit County. Since Adena High School was built in 1940 at a cost of about $147,000, the building has been in continuous use. It is the most significant example of public architecture in the small village of Adena.

After extensive consolidation in southern Jefferson County in 1972, the building served as Buckeye West High School.

Further consolidation in 1990 created one high school, Buckeye Local, to serve seven small towns which previously had separate high schools. The Adena building, now Buckeye West Elementary School and age 82, survived the wrecking ball. Smithfield and Dillonvale were not so fortunate. The Mt. Pleasant building burned.

—Rena Glover Goss, Hudson

BASILICA OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, CANTON When I moved to the Canton area more

HOMETOWN LANDMARKS

than 45 years ago, I “discovered” the Catholic parish of St. John the Baptist, now a minor basilica. It was one of a number of historic buildings that managed to escape the wrecking crews of the mid20th century. In fact, the city has what I call a via sacra, a sacred way of historic churches that reflect the religious diversity of the community. For me, the basilica became my spiritual home. Built in 1870 in the popular neo-Gothic style of the age, it resonates a beauty that amplifies the reputation of its distinguished Brooklyn architects. In daytime, the graceful interior is complemented by its early-20th-century stained glass windows crafted in Germany.

Crowning this glorious structure is a magnificent 78-rank pipe organ whose angelic sounds are amplified by the church’s superb acoustics. What a Sunday treat—indeed a spiritual delight!

—Thomas C. Sosnowski, North Canton

FALLEN TIMBERS, MAUMEE Thinking back to my childhood when these things were introduced, mostly by my father, there are several candidates for my favorite Toledo-area landmark. I have settled on the Fallen Timbers site and monument, mostly because my father was very deliberate about taking me there. The mass grave is sobering, and the statue is very respectful in honoring equally the developers of this land: Native Americans, soldiers and pioneers. Close behind for similar reasons are Fort Meigs before it was reconstructed, and Side Cut Metropark, all of which are important parts of American and northwest Ohio history.

—David Keck, Howard

HARDING MEMORIAL, MARION Outside of Washington, D.C., the largest memorial to a U.S. president sits at an intersection in my hometown of Marion.

The Harding Memorial is flanked on another corner by a park honoring the veterans of every U.S. war. The other two corners are arbor-filled cemeteries where members of my wife’s and my family rest, and I will one day, too. I traverse this intersection daily to and from work. I marvel at the impressive Georgian marble

monument with 46 pillars encircling the tombs of Warren and Florence Harding, and I’m proud to know the history of our 29th president is preserved in Marion. I recall many visits to this striking memorial with my parents as we would showcase it to friends and family visiting us. On snowy days, with dozens of children gleefully sledding down the gentle hill on the memorial’s north side, I reminisce of my countless trips down that hill in my youth.

Summer brings vibrant greens to the trees and yellows to the countless daffodils on the 10-acre site. This sacred corner, with its memorials and graves, doesn’t cause me to grieve, but rather fills me with joy to remember and honor the people, famous and otherwise, who preceded me to make my hometown a gratifying place to live and raise a family.

—Dean L. Jacob, Marion

LEVEQUE TOWER, COLUMBUS My favorite Columbus landmark is what I, at my age, still refer to as the AIU Tower (American Insurance Union), a structure that for years defined the Columbus skyline. Once my mother took my sister and me on the streetcar (remember those?) downtown to the AIU Tower for a bird’s-eye view of Columbus from the observation deck on the top floor.

—Joseph R. Weaver, Columbus

WHAT’S YOUR STORY? We want to know your stories, so in every issue of Echoes Magazine we ask you a question, then run selected answers in the following issue. Here’s the question for July & August: What is your favorite vacation destination in Ohio? Describe it and tell us why you love it.

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

OHIOHIS TORY.ORG

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In the News OHIO’S HOPEWELL CEREMONIAL EARTHWORKS

Indigenous Wonders of Our World Two thousand years ago, in the land we now call Ohio, Indigenous people built vast earthworks. Some had precise geometric shapes, and many were aligned to the rising and setting of the sun and moon.

They were built by groups of people who shared a unique cultural tradition. What they called themselves, we don’t know.

Archaeologists use the term Hopewell culture. Hopewell comes from Mordecai Hopewell, who owned the land where Chillicothe’s Hopewell Mound Group is located, the first site studied that had characteristics distinctive to this unique tradition. Culture is because they weren’t a tribe or nation like we know them today, but rather people who shared a number of things in common, such as earthwork-building, making ceremonial objects from unusual raw materials and burying their dead in particular ways.

By A.D. 400, the people changed their way of life for reasons we don’t fully understand. They quit building earthworks and stopped using the unusual raw materials and ceremonial objects archaeologists use to characterize their culture.

NOW ON EXHIBIT

Newly on exhibit at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Indigenous Wonders of Our

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World—The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks looks at eight Hopewell earthworks in Ohio: Fort Ancient, near Oregonia and Lebanon; Newark’s Great Circle and Octagon; and Hopewell Mound Group, Mound City, Hopeton Earthworks, Seip Earthworks and High Bank Works, all near Chillicothe.

Unique in the world, they’re the focus of a nomination now underway proposing that they be named World Heritage Sites

by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. A list of the world’s greatest wonders, UNESCO’S World Heritage Sites include places like Stonehenge in England, the Great Wall of China and the Grand Canyon—important places to preserve and share with all.

Today, descendants of the Ohio Valley’s Indigenous innovators live throughout the country, as do descendants of later generations of American Indians who cared for the earthworks. In developing Indigenous Wonders of Our World, Ohio History Connection staff partnered with American Indian tribal representatives, including Chief Glenna J. Wallace of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.

protected and preserved them so we can appreciate them today.

The first day I visited Newark, I made a commitment to learn all I could about all of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, to teach others about them and to preserve them.”

The exhibit looks at mathematical similarities among them, their enormous scale and their alignments to the solstices and/ or the 18.6-year lunar cycle. An immersive component allows you to experience the astronomical alignments.

A selection of artifacts associated with Hopewell ceremonial practices helps shed light on the kinds of activities that happened at these sites, in particular the practice of leaving offerings containing large numbers of both special and everyday objects that were often purposely broken and burned before being buried together.

In collaborating with tribal representatives, curators have learned that there are many views on displaying American Indian artifacts with sensitive contexts, such as these earthwork sites. To respect those varied perspectives, the gallery has been designed so that you may choose whether to view the artifacts.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

See Indigenous Wonders Wednesday through Sunday 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission. Questions? Call 800.686.6124 or visit ohiohistory. org/wonders.

MATHEMATICAL COMPLEXITIES AND ASTRONOMICAL ALIGNMENTS

Wallace says, “These places embody precision and beauty, containing mathematical complexities in their design and astronomical alignments to the sky. My Shawnee ancestors

Right: This electronic reconstruction shows the alignment of Newark’s ancient Octagon Earthworks with the northernmost rising of the moon.

CERHAS | Center for the Electronic Reconstruction of Historical and Archaeological Sites, University of Cincinnati

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OHIOHIS TORY.ORG

THE NEXT 10 YEARS

Historic Preservation

by Amanda Schraner Terrell I’m pleased to be writing this column in May, which is National Historic Preservation Month. The Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office provides historic preservation services to citizens, organizations and agencies all over Ohio. Through our office, Ohioans can access the National Register of Historic Places, apply for state and federal tax credits for rehabilitation of historic buildings and other grants, coordinate on infrastructureimprovement projects and participate in a variety of historic preservation programs and activities.

Historic preservation is about the past, though also about the future. We have three major projects underway that embody the three priorities of the Ohio Historic Connection’s strategic plan while looking toward the future.

SUSTAINABILITY: PROGRESS TOWARD PAPERLESS

The Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office is working to launch a database and project-tracking tool that we call the Integrated Project System, or IPS. The IPS will consolidate our many decades’ worth of data from the Ohio Historic Inventory, Ohio Archaeological Inventory, National Register of Historic Places and other sources into one robust system. It will serve as an electronic submission system for applicants, agencies and the public. This system will have an environmental sustainability impact by moving us toward a paperless, or nearly paperless, system and providing a modern and efficient way for our stakeholders to access our programs and services. In making this transition from outdated databases and processes to technology-driven solutions, we’re getting ready for the future.

EQUITY: BETTER REPRESENTATION FOR UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITIES

In 2021, we applied for and received a National Park Service Underrepresented Community grant.

The impetus behind seeking this grant was the acknowledgment that properties representing people and communities of color aren’t as well represented as they should be in the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio, or in the United States overall.

We hope to begin changing that with this project. The funded work will involve a survey of existing Ohio properties listed in the Negro Motorist Green Book of 1936 to 1966 and facilitating their listing in the National Register. The project also includes an amendment to the National Register nomination for the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati to reflect its 20th-century history as The Edgemont Inn, an accommodation listed in the Negro Motorist Green Book from 1939 through the 1940s, and assistance with nominating Cincinnati’s King Records building, where James Brown’s recording career began in the 1950s, to the

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Amanda Schraner Terrell is director of the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office.

National Register. The grant funds have allowed us to hire a new staff person, Diamond Crowder, to focus on this work.

RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING: MONEY FOR MAIN STREET

We recently found a way to build relationships with new groups: by partnering on federal grants that bring preservation money to Ohio communities. In fiscal years 2020 and 2021, the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office partnered with the statewide organization Heritage Ohio to apply for the National Park Service’s Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants. Our applications were successful in both years, providing more than $1.2 million to re-grant brick-and-mortar dollars to communities in the Ohio Main Street program, which works to revitalize historic downtowns.

The second year of funding focuses on Main Street communities in the Appalachian region of Ohio. While we’ve worked closely with Heritage Ohio over the years, this is a new opportunity for us to work with Main Street communities.

THE OHIO HISTORY CONNECTION’S STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE Ohio consistently ranks in the top states in use of the Historic Tax Credits.

Ohio Open Doors is a statewide event to recognize historic buildings and landmarks.

Ohio has 76 National Historic Landmarks, from Adena to the Zoar Historic District.

We are a partner in seeking World Heritage inscription for eight Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks in three Ohio counties.

It will be Ohio’s first-ever World Heritage Site.

The State Historic Preservation Office reviews over 5,000 publicly funded projects annually with the goal of minimizing destruction of historic places.

Ohio has 4,024 listings in the National Register of Historic Places including 578 Historic Districts and encompassing 54,000 properties.

We spark discovery of Ohio’s stories.

Embrace the present, share the past and transform the future.

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HISTORY FUND

Eighteen Grants Total $207,100 The Ohio History Connection has awarded 18 Ohio History Fund grants totaling $207,100 to community history organizations.

Both the number of grants and the total dollar amount awarded set new records for the History Fund, now in its 10th year.

“The Ohio History Fund allows us to preserve and share Ohio stories by supporting history and preservation projects all over the state,” says Burt Logan, executive director and CEO of the Ohio History Connection.

This year’s recipients are: AUGLAIZE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, WAPAKONETA

$18,864 to aid masonry repairs at the Wapakoneta Local History Museum and replace a roof on a rear addition. The museum started life in 1862 as First Presbyterian Church. Acquired by the society in 1997, it now protects irreplaceable artifacts, houses local history exhibits and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF SPONSORED PROGRAMS AND RESEARCH, BOWLING GREEN

$16,000 for Trailblazing Women in Ohio Politics, a documentary that tells the story of Democratic and Republican women who broke electoral barriers beginning in the 1960s. With the History Fund grant, BGSU will create a website to extend the reach of the production and conduct additional oral history interviews with trailblazing women officeholders.

BURCHFIELD HOMESTEAD SOCIETY, SALEM • $3,300 for a new coat of

paint and fresh caulking around the windows at the home of noted artist Charles Burchfield (1893– 1967), listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Burchfield’s imaginative renderings of his

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modest Salem home, garden and surrounding areas are featured in many of his paintings.

CHAGRIN FALLS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, CHAGRIN FALLS • $3,700

for digitizing The Exponent, the newspaper for Chagrin Falls and vicinity. The project will microfilm and digitize 4,160 pages of The Exponent from 1894 to 1903 and make them accessible through Ohio Memory.

CHAMPAIGN AVIATION MUSEUM, URBANA

$2,337 for a video display about World War II Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs. As part of its exhibit about the WASPs, the museum will create a wallmounted video display to show archival footage about their service and experiences. Grant funds will support purchase of a video monitor and associated equipment.

CINCINNATI PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION, CINCINNATI

$15,000 for a project that will take steps to document and preserve sites associated with African American history in Cincinnati.

Grant funds will support the salary of a qualified historian to conduct research and identify sites, part of the first phase of a multiphase project.

CITYWIDE NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, DAYTON

$12,750 for a project that will present the history of Lakeside Amusement Park and its later iteration, a concert venue known as the Palladium. Grant funds will support the time of a researcher to write content and will pay costs for making and installing the signs at Lakeside Park in Dayton.

DARKE COUNTY PARK DISTRICT | BEAR’S MILL, GREENVILLE

$15,860 to help support the first two years of an annual Pioneer Day field trip for every Darke County fourth-grader. The 19th-century-

style hands-on activities will take place at Bear’s Mill, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Led by volunteers supervised by park district staff, activities will reinforce Ohio Department of Education fourthgrade content standards for Ohio history.

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY, KENT

$16,000 for the Liquid Crystal Oral History Project. Computer screens, TVs and digital watches are among thousands of objects using liquid crystal technology. This project will preserve the experiences of the field’s pioneers by recording oral histories with faculty and alumni of Kent State’s Liquid Crystal Institute and making them available online.

LAKESIDE HERITAGE SOCIETY, LAKESIDE

$2,157 for a project that will arrange and describe three historically significant collections in the society’s archives—local newspapers, a 35mm slide collection and local plat maps and blueprints—rehousing them in the society’s new archives building. The society’s professionally trained staff archivist will supervise volunteers who’ll organize the collections and create publicly accessible finding aids.

LICKING COUNTY FOUNDATION, NEWARK

$19,000 toward restoring the wall and ceiling murals in Newark’s 1915 Home Building Association Bank designed by famed architect Louis Sullivan (1856–1924) and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The grant will offset the cost of plaster repair essential to conservation of the hand-stenciled murals.

MAC-A-CHEEK FOUNDATION FOR THE HUMANITIES, WEST LIBERTY

$4,000 to strengthen member and visitor engagement at Piatt Castle Mac-A-Cheek, where management is transitioning from the Piatt family to a new executive director

and board. The grant will support a coordinator to set up data-gathering and management systems to aid the board in decision-making, and a consultant will advise on integrating membership, marketing and public programming.

MARION COUNTY FEDERATION OF WOMEN’S CLUBS, MARION

$6,250 to repair plaster and paint ceilings on the second and third floors of the 1903 Marion Women’s Club Home, listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The work will open space for organizations and initiatives the Women’s Club hosts and let the club showcase the work of Marion women to reform the community over its history.

MIAMISBURG HISTORICAL SOCIETY, MIAMISBURG

$5,316 to improve environmental conditions in the Miamisburg History Center archive storage room and exhibit galleries and to rehouse in archival-quality containers objects from the 17,000-item collection that aren’t already stored well.

Experienced members of the society’s all-volunteer staff who moved the collection into its new History Center in 2019 will lead the work.

NATIONAL AVIATION HALL OF FAME, DAYTON

$16,000 to help pay costs associated with the making of a film that will engage visitors in learning about

the National Aviation Hall of Fame’s honorees and their contributions to American aviation history. The film is part of a larger effort to revise the organization’s exhibits.

OVERFIELD TAVERN MUSEUM, TROY

$20,000 for repairs as part of a larger effort to preserve the 1808 tavern, listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The project will replace damaged wood siding, repair wood trim around windows and doors, and repaint the tavern in historically accurate colors.

PLAYHOUSE SQUARE FOUNDATION, CLEVELAND

$16,000 for the Playhouse Square Archives Digitization Project.

Playhouse Square is a group of five downtown theatres that all opened in 1921 and 1922. As part of Playhouse Square’s centennial, the foundation will collaborate with Cleveland Public Library staff and others to inventory, index, catalog and digitize items from Playhouse Square’s archives, making them publicly available.

ZOAR COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, ZOAR

$14,500 for redevelopment of the Town Hall museum housing the group’s extensive collection of Zoar and Ohio & Erie Canal photos and artifacts and its archives. A new “Best of Zoar” exhibit will create a streamlined introduction

to Zoar, serving as an impetus to further reorganize and reinterpret the collections.

ABOUT THE OHIO HISTORY FUND

The Ohio History Fund is a competitive matching grants program funded by Ohio taxpayers’ voluntary contributions through the “check-off” on state income tax forms.

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

It became a reality in 2011 when Gov. John R. Kasich signed Ohio’s two-year state budget into law. The tax checkoff first appeared on state income tax forms in 2012 for tax year 2011, and the first grants were awarded to 11 recipients across the state in 2012.

Since 2013, the History Fund has made 110 grants totaling $1,076,760.

YOU HELP MAKE GRANTS POSSIBLE

David Wilson | Wikimedia Commons

When you make a voluntary gift to the History Fund through the checkoff on your Ohio personal income tax form, you help make grants like these possible. The History Fund is also aided by sales of Ohio History “mastodon” license plates and direct contributions to the Ohio History Connection for the Ohio History Fund.

Know of a worthy history- or preservation-related project that could benefit from an Ohio History Fund grant? Applications for 2023 Ohio History Fund grants are due in September. Find application forms and more information at ohiohistory. org/historyfund starting in mid-June or call 800.686.6124 or 614.298.2000.

1915 Home Building Association Bank Building, Newark OHIOHIS TORY.ORG

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 SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL

Ohio 250 Commission Appointed Semiquincentennial. It’s a big word for 250th anniversary, and you’re likely to hear more of it in the next few years as 2026 approaches.

OHIO HISTORY ONLINE

Refreshed Browsing While at the moment you’re deeply immersed in the physical world of paper, ink and all things Echoes Magazine, we wanted to let you know a bit of news from our digital mothership, ohiohistory.org. Websites, like anything else—cars, houses, roads with newly created potholes—need a little TLC from time to time. With that in mind, last year our team at the Ohio History Connection set about to refresh—an upgrade, a spring cleaning if you like—ohiohistory.org (which you can experience right now by scanning the code below with your phone’s camera).

Not a drastic overhaul—all archival content that was there is still there—but we sought to make everything…better. Better browsing experience, more focus on news and blog content, clearer navigation, connection to video and social media feeds, faster page loads, more stable and secure experience…I could go on. It was a true team effort, with our development partners at The Plan (theplanworks.com). Whether you visit the site for a quick, specific task (like, I don’t know, renewing your membership) or doing deep-dive research on state historic preservation tax credits, it’s all there, and then some, at ohiohistory.org.

Stop by for a look around the place and let us know what you think. (When you’re done reading Echoes, of course.)

—Jerry Dannemiller, Chief Marketing Officer

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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has announced seven appointments to the Ohio Commission for the U.S. Semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. The commission’s duty is to plan, encourage, develop and coordinate Ohio’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary and celebration of the impact Ohioans have had, or will have, on our nation’s past, present and future. Gov. DeWine has made these appointments: Doug Preisse, who’ll chair the commission, serves as principal at Van Meter, Ashbrook & Associates.

Michael Coleman, who’ll co-chair the commission, served previously as mayor of Columbus and currently is partner-in-charge of government law at Ice Miller LLC. Kelly Falcone-Hall serves as president and CEO of Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland.

John Fleming currently serves as immediate past national chair of the American Association for State and Local History.

Elizabeth Pierce serves as president and CEO of the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Ted Strickland served previously as governor of Ohio and as a member of Congress.

Mackensie Wittmer serves as executive director of the National Aviation Heritage Area.

At its first meeting on March 1 following the annual Statehood Day program at the Statehouse in Columbus, the commission appointed Todd Kleismit to serve as executive director of Ohio 250.

Kleismit, who’s been the Ohio

History Connection’s director of community and government relations since 2011, will remain an Ohio History Connection employee, reporting to the commission. Ohio History Connection Executive Director & CEO Burt Logan is an exofficio member of the commission, serving in the role of secretary, and Ohio History Connection Board President Tom Chema has a voting seat on the commission.

PRESERVING HISTORIC HOUSES OF WORSHIP

National Fund for Sacred Places The National Fund for Sacred Places, a program of Partners for Sacred Places in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, provides financial and technical support for communityserving historic houses of worship across America. The fund provides matching grants of $50,000 to $250,000 to congregations undertaking significant capital projects at historic houses of worship, along with wraparound services including training, technical assistance and planning support.

The fund accepts applications from any faith tradition and seeks to provide inclusive programming and resources across religions. Learn more and sign up to receive the Partners for Sacred Places newsletter at fundforsacredplaces.org.

Traveling out of state this summer? Consider a

Premium level membership for free admission at more than 1,000 museums. Visit ohiohistory.org/reciprocal for details.

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HISTORIC PRESERVATION

Recent Ohio Additions to the National Register of Historic Places CLEVELAND • CUYAHOGA COUNTY  EUCLID AVENUE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (EAST MOUNT ZION BAPTIST CHURCH) 9990 Euclid Ave.

A Euclid Avenue landmark, East Mount Zion Baptist Church is significant for its association with the congregation’s history of activism in the 20th-century civil rights movement in Ohio and for its art and architecture. New York architects George Kramer and C.C. Hamilton designed the Romanesque Revival-style building of green serpentine stone. Completed in 1908 as Euclid Avenue Christian Church, it was purchased by East Mount Zion Baptist Church in 1955. The building is Cleveland’s only church designed

by Kramer, who’s renowned for his auditorium-plan churches with Akron Plan Sunday Schools.* Additionally, the church is artistically significant as one of only two in the city with stained glass by J&R Lamb Studios, the oldest stained glass studio in continuous operation in the U.S. The A. Charles Bowie Education Building, a 2003 addition, was crafted to complement the 1908 building. *The Akron Plan originated in 1867 as an architectural response to graded Sunday School curriculums and became hugely popular among Protestant congregations in the decades that followed. In the Akron Plan, classrooms—often two levels of them—adjoin a large shared assembly room. Each classroom has one wall of folding doors that close for classroom use. With doors open, all grades can join in collective opening or closing exercises without leaving their seats. And the superintendent can see every class from one central point in the assembly room.

Clever, those Akronites!

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CINCINNATI • HAMILTON COUNTY  BENJAMIN DOMBAR HOUSE & STUDIO 601 W. Galbraith Rd.

The Dombar House and Studio is a notable local example of the intersection of mid-20th-century modern design principles and organic architecture with Wrightian influences. A protégé and student of Frank Lloyd Wright, architect Ben Dombar developed the design over 15 years, studying the land to situate his home at the optimum location on the hillside site. The four-story house with hexagonal floor plan was completed in 1968 and is oriented for views of a creek. A central fireplace is built of stone taken from the creek, and the basement, lower floor and middle floor all offer access to the hillside, with a walkout to creek level through the foundation of piers. Dombar’s studio was on the lower floor, and he and his family lived in the middle and upper floors from 1968 to 2001.

COLUMBUS • FRANKLIN COUNTY  OHIO STATE OFFICE BUILDING (BOUNDARY INCREASE) 25-145 S. Front St.

In the 1920s when Cincinnati architect Harry Hake Sr. conceived plans for the Art Deco-style Ohio State Office Building—now the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center—it was intended to meet state government office needs until 1940. Hake himself had contemplated the eventual construction of additions to the north and south. Added between 1962 and 1965, the freestanding north and south wings are expressions of modernism designed to complement the 1933 building and the Columbus Civic Center, a grouping of major public buildings along the Scioto River downtown. Constructed for the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation and the Department of Highways, the

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wings provided space for about 2,000 employees. The 1933 Ohio State Office Building at 65 S. Front St. and the plazas that flank it were added to the National Register in 1990. This boundary increase adds the 1960s wings at 25 and 145 S. Front St. to the National Register listing.

FORT RECOVERY • MERCER COUNTY  MORVILIUS OPERA HOUSE 101 N. Wayne St.

The Morvilius Opera House is associated with the history of the arts, entertainment, recreation and commerce in Fort Recovery from 1883 to 1933. The building is notable as an example of a post-Civil War commercial building with an upper-story opera house, and its history mirrors the role that such facilities played in the growth of communities across Ohio and the U.S. Situated in the heart of downtown, the two-story building has typical Italianate-style embellishments, such as its bracketed metal cornice and window hoods. Two first-floor storefronts have housed local businesses for the past 139 years. Upstairs, the highly decorated interior, untouched since the 1930s, retains a level of detail rarely surviving in similar examples, including original wall finishes and architectural features.

MANSFIELD • RICHLAND COUNTY  MOSES AND MARGARET DICKEY HOUSE 159 N. Walnut St.

Built for local attorney Moses Dickey in 1860, the Dickey House is a visual landmark in the north end of downtown Mansfield. Added to the National Register for its local significance as an example of Gothic Revival-style architecture, the one-and-a-halfstory brick cottage retains original features such as its steep roof, wooden bargeboards, Gothic and segmentalarched windows, iron balcony, front door with sidelights, high first-floor ceilings and staircase.

OHIOHIS TORY.ORG

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Ohio History Connection Archival Collections

John H. Patterson

OHIO STORIES

John H. Patterson John Henry Patterson was born on Dec. 13, 1844, near Dayton. He spent his early years attending public schools in Dayton, as well as working in his father’s saw and grist mills.

During the Civil War, he enlisted in the Union Army but served only 100 days near the war’s conclusion.

Following the Civil War, Patterson enrolled in Dartmouth College, graduating in 1867. He became a collector of tolls on the Miami and Erie Canal that same year, a position that he held until 1870. In 1870, Patterson got involved in the coal industry, serving as manager of the Southern Ohio Coal and Iron Co.

Patterson (center) during the 1913 flood.

soon created workers’ benefits, such as hot meals; rest periods; dining rooms; medical service including doctors, nurses and volunteer workers/caretakers; health education; and recreational grounds. He also started a kindergarten, community centers, neighborhood clubs, playgrounds and community country clubs.

Machine operators sat on chairs with backs for support rather than on stools. He provided his workers with indoor bathrooms. Patterson implemented a ventilation system to provide clean air to his workers.

He also maintained a doctor’s office in his factory to assist injured workers as quickly as possible.

CIVIC-MINDED

FORMED NATIONAL CASH REGISTER CO.

In 1882, Patterson became a partial owner of the National Manufacturing Co. in Dayton, a company that made cash registers. In 1884, Patterson bought out the other investors and formed the National Cash Register Co. The company grew slowly, producing only 16,000 registers in its first decade of operation. Through aggressive marketing and advertising, by 1914 the National Cash Register Co. was producing 110,000 cash registers a year.

Patterson was well-known for his compassion for his employees. He provided women workers with coffee and soup for lunch. He

14 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2022

During the Great Dayton Flood of 1913, the National Cash Register Co. was decommissioned to create the Citizens’ Relief Committee.

The group’s responsibilities were to house refugees with bedding, medicine and food supplies and mobilize medical personnel.

National Cash Register Co. became a refuge and a bastion of hope for those who didn’t have anywhere else to go. After the flood subsided, Patterson implored citizens of Dayton to not leave, as there was much work needed to restore the city, and promised that Dayton was going to thrive and prosper despite the flood that had washed away many of their homes. Following

the 1913 flood, the National Cash Register Co. provided about $1 million (about $28.6 million today) to assist people in recovering from the disaster. The company allocated an additional $600,000 (about $17.2 million today) to study how the community could prevent flooding in the future. In addition to these efforts, Patterson donated money to help build parks and playgrounds.

He also donated funds to create the first public kindergarten in Dayton.

“WE PROGRESS THROUGH CHANGE”

John Patterson was seen by many as a great industrial executive, leader and Dayton’s premier citizen. Although he was an aggressive business leader, he had an unbeatable motivation as well as respect for those who shared his work ethic. He explained why potential buyers needed a cash register and created a market for the machine, which revolutionized the retail trade. One of his sayings was “we progress through change.”

In 1888 at the age of 43, Patterson married Katherine Beck. They had two children, Frederick Beck and Dorothy Forster, born June 22, 1892, and Oct. 27, 1893, respectively.

Katherine Beck Patterson died in June 1894. Their son took over operation of National Cash Register Co. in 1922, shortly before Patterson’s death on May 7, 1922.

This biography is from Ohio History Central, our online encyclopedia of Ohio history. Discover many more stories of Ohio history at ohiohistorycentral.org.

HISTORY CONNECTION

John H. Patterson’s mother was Julia Johnston Patterson (1811–1897). Her father—John H. Patterson’s grandfather—was Col. John Johnston (1775–1861) of the Ohio History Connection’s Johnston Farm & Indian Agency, and she was married at the Johnston Farm in 1833.

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

Before traveling, visit ohiohistory.org/sites or call 800.840.6127 to confirm what’s open, hours and any special requirements.

49. Buffington Island Battlefield Memorial Park

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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

COLLECTIONS AT THE CONNECTION

Natural History SAT., MAY 14 • 2–3 P.M. Ohio History Center, Columbus 4 Do you have something that you think is part of Ohio’s natural past? Have you ever wondered just how old that trilobite fossil you have stashed away is? Are you curious about the oldest piece in our natural history collection? Come to the Ohio History Center to learn more. Our natural history specialists and special guest Dale Gnidovec of The Ohio State University’s Orton Geological Museum will be on hand to help you determine what you have in your personal collection. Included with Ohio History Center museum admission.

Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission.

OHIO VILLAGE

Village Carnival SAT., MAY 21 & SUN., MAY 22 10 A.M.–5 P.M. Ohio Village, Columbus 4 Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages! Visit Ohio Village on carnival weekend and see old-time sideshow marvels like fire-eating, the bed of nails, Professor Wurst’s Amazing Flea Circus, the Mysterious Magnetic Lady and legendary Wild West sharpshooter Annie Oakley in an impressive display of trick shots. Meet Sly the Monster Hunter, visit the petting zoo, try classic games of skill, shop artisans selling their wares and enjoy special music at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Included with Ohio History Center & Ohio Village admission.

Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission. Find our full weekend schedule at ohiohistory.org/village.

16 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2022

Storybook Village SAT., JUNE 11 & SUN., JUNE 12 10 A.M.–5 P.M. Ohio History Connection members enjoy early access at 9 a.m. 4 Ohio Village, Columbus 4 Welcome to Storybook Village, where favorite storybook characters magically come to life. Bring your little ones to meet celebrated characters from popular fairy tales. Ask Rapunzel to let down her hair, help Prince Charming in his quest and visit with Cinderella. Meet more favorites from children’s books such as Pete the Cat and Elephant and Piggie. Included with Ohio History Center & Ohio Village admission. Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission.

Advance timed tickets required. Members can reserve free timed tickets starting Mon., May 9. Non-member timed tickets go on sale Mon., May 16. ohiohistory.org/ storybook or 800.686.1541 Thank you to our event sponsor Ohio's 529 Plan, CollegeAdvantage for their continued event support.

COLLECTIONS AT THE CONNECTION

Military Items SAT., JUNE 18 • 2–3 P.M. Ohio History Center, Columbus 4 Do you have something that you think is part of Ohio’s military past? Have you ever wondered how old that photo you’ve had in your attic for decades is? Are you curious about the oldest piece of military equipment in our collection? Come to the Ohio History Center to learn more and solve those history mysteries. Our military history specialists will be on hand to help you figure out what you have in your personal collection. Included with Ohio History Center museum admission. Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission.

OHIO VILLAGE

Juneteenth Jubilee Day Festival SUN., JUNE 19 • NOON–4 P.M. Ohio Village, Columbus 4 Now a federal holiday, Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Originating in Texas, it’s been observed on the 19th of June annually since 1865. At the Ohio Village Jubilee Festival, see artists from the National Association of Black Storytellers, Ohio Black Dance and Watoto Storytellers share the historical narrative of Juneteenth through storytelling, dance and theatrical reenactments. Included with Ohio History Center & Ohio Village admission.

Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission.

Independence Day at Ohio Village SAT., JULY 2 & SUN., JULY 3 10 A.M.–5 P.M. Ohio Village, Columbus 4 Hooray for the red, white and blue! Visit Ohio Village this weekend to see how Ohioans celebrated the Fourth of July in the 1890s. Vote in our mayoral election; meet villagers in their homes; shop the Emporium; visit the bank, pharmacy, blacksmith and undertaker; try your hand at croquet, hoop-rolling and more games on the village green; cheer a patriotic procession; applaud traveling speakers and performers such as Prof.

Wurst’s Patriotic Flea Circus; plug your ears for Grand Army of the Republic cannon-firings; and voice your support (or not) for women to gain the right to vote. Included with Ohio History Center & Ohio Village admission. Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission. Find our full weekend schedule at ohiohistory.org/village.

Choosing your next site visit? There’s a map of Ohio History Connection sites on page 15 in every issue of Echoes Magazine.

*Museum admission is $13; $11/ages 60+; $7/ages 4–12.

Ohio History Connection members and ages 3 & under enjoy free admission.

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Ohio Village 1890s OPEN DAILY WEDS.–SUN. STARTING MAY 21

FEATURED EXHIBITS • • •

Ohio—Champion of Sports ONGOING Ohio—Champion of Sports features more than 70 stories and 35 oral histories covering more than 25 sports ranging from baseball, football and basketball to roller derby, skateboarding and e-gaming.

The exhibit showcases the Ohio athletes, coaches, owners and fans at the center of the action and explores sports through the themes of Character, Adversity, Innovation, Identity, Tradition and Victory—values that relate to the human condition—to connect a broad audience to Ohio’s national sports history. You can test your basketball skills at the Wall of Hoops, record a “victory dance” to share with family and friends, and record your own “One Minute Legends” sports story.

Votes for Women— 100 Years of Change ONGOING Votes for Women commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Through the voices of Ohio women, explore women’s activism in the suffrage movement and other related social movements—such as voting and citizenship—from the 19th century to the present. Featured are a suffrage parade blouse, jacket and sashes worn in the 1910s

by Mary Stuart Andrews of Warren, who worked for the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association, and a suffrage parade banner made in 1910 by Columbus Sign Co.

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

World War I Display ONGOING See equipment, weapons, uniforms and memorabilia commemorating the centennial of World War I.

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

Support provided by the Erika Bourguignon Charitable Trust

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

Online Events

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Storybook Village OHIO VILLAGE, JUNE 11–12

Ohio History Center Hours Museum WEDS.–SUN. 10 A.M.–5 P.M. CLOSED MON.–TUES.

Ohio Village THROUGH SUN., MAY 15: OPEN SAT. & SUN. 10 A.M.–5 P.M. STARTING SAT., MAY 21: WEDS.–SUN. 10 A.M.–5 P.M. CLOSED MON.–TUES.

Third Floor Research Room OPEN BY APPOINTMENT ONLY ohiohistory.org/learn/archives-library WEDS. 12:30–3 P.M. THURS. & FRI. 10 A.M.–3 P.M. CLOSED SAT.–TUES.

Plaza Cafe OPEN WEDS.–SUN. 11 A.M.–2 P.M. The Plaza Cafe serves grab-n-go salads, sandwiches, sides and desserts, coffee, tea, juices and Pepsi products. Ohio History Connection members save 10% at the Plaza Cafe.

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

18 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2022

THE POWER OF VOICE

MEMBER VIP

A Native American Voice

Creating a Museum Exhibit: Paul Laurence Dunbar— Diamond of the Gem City

WEDS., MAY 4 • ONLINE DISCUSSION BEGINS AT 7 P.M. • RSVP FOR LINK Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Cincinnati 4 Our monthly discussion series continues with a new theme for 2022: The Power of Voice. We’ll focus on moments in American—and, in one case, world—history when eloquent voices arose, often from the margins, to address important issues, usually related to social justice, in culture and society.

Find suggested readings at stowehousecincy. org. $5. Advance registration required.

800.847.6507 or stowehousecincy.org MEMBER VIP

Get to Know the Ohio History Connection’s Sites MON., MAY 16 • 3 P.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by the Ohio History Connection’s Membership Department 4 Get to know the 50+ historic sites and museums that make up the Ohio History Connection site system.

Regional Site Coordinators Erin Bartlett and Bill Kennedy will share their knowledge of our sites, as well as ideas for great road trips. They’ll also tell us about the special events and celebrations that are coming up this spring and summer around the state.

You’ll come away with the tools to plan your next Ohio adventure! Free to Ohio History Connection members with required advance registration: ohiohistory.org/knowsites.

Presidential History Book Club WEDS., MAY 25 & JUNE 29 NOON–1 P.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted

by Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 See page 19.

TUES., JUNE 21 • 3 P.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by the Ohio History Connection’s Membership Department 4 Join us for a look behind the scenes at how a museum exhibit is developed. Curators Hadley Drodge and Derek Pridemore will walk us through their process for creating an exhibit from the ground up, with a spotlight on their newest exhibit about Paul Laurence Dunbar and his life. We’ll learn how curators turn an idea into an exhibit through extensive research, community connections and creative design. Free to Ohio History Connection members with required advance registration: ohiohistory.org/ dunbarexhibit.

SEMI-COLON BOOK CLUB

Unfamiliar Fishes SAT., JUNE 25 • 10 A.M. Online—Attend from Anywhere! 4 Hosted by the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Cincinnati 4 Take part in an online discussion of the book Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell, led by Desiree Willis, Stowe House member and volunteer. Publisher Riverhead Books says, “Of all the countries the United States invaded or colonized in 1898, Sarah Vowell considers the story of the Americanization of Hawaii to be the most intriguing. With her trademark wry insights and reporting, Vowell sets out to discover the odd, emblematic and exceptional history of the 50th state. In examining the place where Manifest Destiny got a sunburn, she finds America again, warts and all.” $5. Advance registration required. 800.847.6507 or stowehousecincy.org

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 Many programs and events at Ohio History Connection museums and attractions 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.

Questions? Call 800.840.6127.

CENTRAL OHIO CENTRAL OHIO See Ohio History Center & Ohio Village, pages 16-18.

NORTHEAST OHIO NORTHEAST OHIO

Maifest SAT., MAY 14 • 10 A.M.–5 P.M. Zoar Village, Zoar 4 Welcome spring with a traditional German festival in this National Historic Landmark village settled

by Germans. Enjoy Cleveland Kraut, brats and German potato salad and drinks, plus music, self-guided tours and activities for kids. A German car show starts at 10:30 a.m. $5, Free/age 12 & under.

800.262.6195 or historiczoarvillage.com

Zoar Village Garden Tour SAT., JUNE 18 • 11 A.M.–4 P.M. Zoar Village, Zoar 4 Tour the beautiful private gardens of historic Zoar Village and see demonstrations by local artists including pottery, paintings, fiber arts and photography. Guests can purchase sandwiches and other treats from the 1845 Zoar Bakery. $10, Free/ age 12 & under. 800.262.6195 or historiczoarvillage.com

NORTHWEST OHIO NORTHWEST OHIO

Second Saturdays R 4 Kids SAT., MAY 14, JUNE 11 & JULY 9 9:30–11:30 A.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Enjoy monthly activities for kids in grades K–3 inspired by the 200th birthday of President Rutherford B. Hayes, which is coming up in October.

Each month features a different activity highlighting an important time in the president’s life. These events are openhouse-style, so kids can stop by any time between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. Free.

800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

Presidential History Book Club WEDS., MAY 25 & JUNE 29 • NOON–1 P.M. 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. MAY 25 & JUNE 29: Empire of Mud: The Secret History of Washington, D.C. by J.D. Dickey. 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.

Family Days at the Johnston Farm SAT., JUNE 11 & SUN., JUNE 12 NOON–5 P.M. Johnston Farm & Indian Agency, Piqua 4 John Johnston’s early Ohio farm will come alive with games and activities enjoyed in days past. Tour the Johnstons’ home to learn how the family lived, take in the Historic Indian & Canal Museum for insights into the lives of the first people who called Ohio home and enjoy a relaxing ride aboard the canal boat General Harrison of Piqua to relive the time when mules pulled boats and the world moved at four miles an hour. $10, $9/senior, $5/ages 6–12, Free/Ohio History Connection member

or age 5 & under. You can make this an early Father’s Day gift: Each dad or grandfather will be admitted free when accompanied by his family. 800.752.2619 or johnstonfarmohio.com

Verandah Concerts WEDS., JUNE 15, JUNE 29 & JULY 13 6:30–8 P.M. Free Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Social at 6:30 P.M. • Music Starts at 7 P.M. 4 Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Hear free outdoor concerts on the lawn of the Rutherford B. Hayes home. JUNE 15: Fostoria Community Band. JUNE 29: Bridge County Bluegrass Band. JULY 13: Grande Royale Ükulelists of the Black Swamp. Bring a lawn chair or blanket. If there are thunderstorms on concert night, the concert will be canceled. Get updates at 419.332.2081, rbhayes.org and on Facebook and Twitter at @rbhayespres. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

GroveFest SAT., JUNE 25 • 10 A.M.–2 P.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Enjoy free nature activities at Spiegel Grove, the 25-acre presidential estate that’s also an arboretum.

GroveFest features hands-on activities and crafts at booths hosted by regional nature organizations. South Creek Clydesdales will offer horse-drawn trolley rides for $3/rider ages 13 & older, $1/ages 6–12 and Free/ages 5 & under. Trolley rides are first-come, first-served, and no reservations are taken. Ice cream will be available for a donation. Visitor parking is off-site only, with the exception of those who have handicapped tags. Parking will be available on the street and in ProMedica Memorial Hospital’s parking lots at Buildings A and B, located at 605 Third Ave. Spiegel Grove is a short walk east of the hospital lots. 800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

OHIOHIS TORY.ORG

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Hayes Presidential Library & Museums

Memberships make great Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifts!

“““ Summer Verandah Concerts HAYES PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY & MUSEUMS, FREMONT, STARTING JUNE 15

Current members save 20% on all new Ohio History Connection gift memberships!

Use code GIFT22 when you purchase online at ohiohistory.org/join or call 800.686.1545 and mention this offer.

Barefeet Studio

Offer good April 4–June 19, 2022.

Let Us Help You Create

A Day for the History Books We offer a unique wedding experience you can’t get anywhere else. events@ohiohistory.org ohiohistory.org/weddings 614.297.2475

20 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2022

Independence Day Concert MON., JULY 4 • 2–3:30 P.M. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Fremont 4 Celebrate Independence Day with a free performance by the Toledo Concert Band, featuring members of the Toledo Symphony, played from the verandah of the historic Hayes home.

The band will play a variety of patriotic music, and Civil War reenactors will fire cannons in sync with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. Bring a lawn chair or blanket.

Food trucks will sell lunch and snacks.

Parking is available on the grounds, weather permitting. Overflow parking is on the street and in ProMedica Memorial Hospital’s parking lots at Buildings A and B, located at 605 Third Ave. Hayes Presidential is a short walk east of the hospital lots. The Hayes home and museum will be open to visitors on July 4. Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission. The library will be closed. For updates, visit rbhayes.org.

800.998.7737 or rbhayes.org

SOUTHEAST OHIO

SOUTHEAST OHIO

Buckeye Furnace Spring Festival SAT., MAY 14 • 10 A.M.–4 P.M. Buckeye Furnace, near Jackson 4 Vendors, food, fun and kids’ activities. Free.

740.384.3537 or buckeyefurnace.org

Our House Tavern’s 203rd Anniversary SAT., MAY 28 • 2–4 P.M. Our House Tavern, Gallipolis 4 Join in celebrating the 203rd anniversary of Our House Tavern, built in 1819 by Henry Cushing and his sister, Elizabeth Cushing Foster, to cater to Ohio River travelers.

Now a museum, the tavern hosted the Marquis de Lafayette when he visited French-founded Gallipolis during his tour of the United States in 1825. Ohio History Connection members enjoy free admission. 800.752.2618 or 740.446.0586

SOUTHWEST OHIO SOUTHWEST OHIO

Beyond Barbed Wire—A Family’s Living Legacy of the Japanese Internment Camps of WWII SUNDAY, MAY 1 • 4–5 P.M. Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Cincinnati 4 As a schoolboy, nobody believed Dennis Kato when he told them that his father’s parents and their families had been forced into incarceration camps simply because they were of Japanese descent. He’s speaking up again now in hopes that you’ll believe this happened in America. $7. Advance registration required.

800.847.6507 or stowehousecincy.org

National Archives

On Exhibit: African Americans Fighting for a Double Victory NATIONAL AFRO-AMERICAN MUSEUM & CULTURAL CENTER, WILBERFORCE

PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR 150TH

Silver Melted Into Sound Music Festival  FRI., MAY 6 • 1–4 P.M. Wright State University, Dayton 4 Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poetry has a lyricism and rhythmic pulses that feel like music.

Attend a free music festival whose title comes from a line of Dunbar’s poetry.

Designed to support the programming of diverse composers and open to the public to view, it features 20-minute concert band, vocal ensemble and string orchestra performances in Wright State’s Schuster Hall and Festival Theater. Free. liberal-arts.wright.edu/ music/silver-melted-into-sound or 937.225.7705

Heirloom Plant Sale SAT., MAY 7–SUN., MAY 22 WEDS.–SAT. 9 A.M.–5 P.M. SUN. NOON–5 P.M. Adena Mansion & Gardens, Chillicothe 4 Shop more than 80 types of herbs, tomatoes, vegetables and flowers raised before the days of industrial farming, along with metal art and some hanging baskets. Plant sale admission is free. Shop early for best selection. 800.319.7248 or adenamansion.com

free monthly program is an opportunity for sharing and talking about poetry and its content. Sponsored by the Dayton branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, the Dunbar Literary Circle meets on the second Sunday of the month. Please enter through the Visitor Center on Edison Street, around the corner from the Dunbar House.

Enjoy free Dunbar House tours 10 a.m.– 4 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the last tour beginning at 3:30 p.m.

800.860.0148 or 937.225.7705

Dunbar Poetry  SUN., MAY 8, JUNE 12 & JULY 10 2–4 P.M. Paul Laurence Dunbar House, Dayton 4 Starting and ending with Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poetry, this

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Call 800.647.6921 to learn more.

Mother’s Day Tea SUN., MAY 8 • 2–3:30 P.M. Adena Mansion & Gardens, Chillicothe 4 Join us in your Sunday best to honor and celebrate the special women in our lives. Tea and assorted desserts will be served. Local historian Mary Anne Brown will talk about the women of the Worthington family, who lived at Adena, and Executive Director Kathy Styer will share a brief history of tea parties. $20. Advance pre-paid registration required by May 5.

800.319.7248 or adenamansion.com/ tickets ULYSSES S. GRANT BICENTENNIAL

PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR 150TH DUNBAR LITERARY CIRCLE

Leave a Legacy

Songs and Stories of a Civil War Field Hospital  SAT., MAY 21 • 5:30–7 P.M. Georgetown United Methodist Church, 217 S. Main St., Georgetown 4 Enjoy an evening of Civil War-era music by Steve and Lisa Ball and be regaled with presentations by the Gaslight Players

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of exploits from field hospitals.

Admission is free. Donations are appreciated. 877.372.8177 or usgrantboyhoodhome.org PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR 150TH

Bach Society of Dayton Concert—A Tribute to Paul Laurence Dunbar 

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

2022 HOME & AWAY SCHEDULE ohiohistory.org/muffins 800.686.6124

STORY

BOOK

VILLAGE AT OHIO VILLAGE Fairy Classics Sat., June Tale 11 & Sun., June 12

Meet Your Fairy-Tale Favorites!

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

22 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2022

SUN., MAY 22 • CONCERT PREVIEW 3 P.M. • CONCERT 4 P.M. Kettering Adventist Church, 3939 Stonebridge Rd., Kettering 4 This afternoon concert, presented both live and livestream, features three premieres of new choral works set to Paul Laurence Dunbar poems by Dr. Adolphus Hailstork and two winners of the Bach Society’s Young Composers Competition. These new compositions were sponsored by the Montgomery County Special Projects Grant. In addition to the three pieces, there’ll be choral works set to Dunbar texts and works of his time. Performers are Dr. Minnita Daniel-Cox (soprano soloist), Dr. Herbert Woodward Martin (recitations) and the Bach Society of Dayton Chorus, led by Director John Neely and accompanist R. Alan Kimbrough. $12.50. Tickets required.

937.225.7705 or bachsocietyofdayton. org/buy-tickets/may PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR 150TH

Joshua Dunbar Gravesite Reading  SAT., MAY 28 • 10 A.M.–NOON Dayton National Cemetery, 4400 W. Third St. 4 Joshua Dunbar, father of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, was born enslaved in Kentucky. He fled to Canada via the Underground Railroad only to return to the United States to enlist in the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment in 1863. He moved to Ohio after the Civil War and married Matilda Murphy in 1871.

Their son, Paul, was born in June 1872 and daughter, Elizabeth, in 1874. The Dunbars divorced in 1876. Joshua died in 1885 and is buried at Dayton National Cemetery. This graveside (Section E, Row 14, Site 8) program is sponsored by the Paul Laurence Dunbar branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.

Free. 937.225.7705

ULYSSES S. GRANT BICENTENNIAL

Grant and Mark Twain Reminisce  SAT., JUNE 11 • 6–7:30 P.M. Gaslight Theater, 110 E. State St., Georgetown 4 Two of the most famous Americans of the 19th century had a friendship that spanned almost two decades. Dr. Curt Fields as Ulysses S. Grant and Warren Brown as Mark Twain reminisce with each other over the writing and publishing of Grant’s memoirs.

The program will include period music by the 73rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment Band. Free. 877.372.8177 or usgrantboyhoodhome.org

Harriet’s Birthday Party SUN., JUNE 12 • 1–4 P.M. Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Cincinnati 4 On the Sunday afternoon before Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 211th birthday on June 14, explore the Stowe House and grounds on guided tours, learn about her life and times, and enjoy live music and birthday festivities.

800.847.6507 or stowehousecincy.org PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR 150TH

Juneteenth Celebration at Dayton Philharmonic  FRI., JUNE 17 & SAT., JUNE 18 • 8–10 P.M. Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, 1 W. Second St., Dayton The Dayton Philharmonic celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of Paul Laurence Dunbar, acclaimed African American poet born in Dayton to parents who’d been enslaved in Kentucky prior to the Civil War. Classical meets gospel as the Dayton Philharmonic performs a beautiful program of music honoring the long and arduous fight for freedom. $5. Tickets required. 937.225.7705 or daytonlive.org PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR 150TH

Paul Laurence Dunbar Sesquicentennial Flagship Event with Nikki Giovanni  SAT., JUNE 25 • 5–7 P.M. Victoria Theatre, 138 N. Main St., Dayton 4 Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park and partners host an evening of visual and performance art, recitation and celebration at the 1871 Victoria Theatre commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Dayton

“““

Ohio Village 1890s OPEN DAILY WEDS.–SUN. STARTING MAY 21

poet Paul Laurence Dunbar in 1872. Guest artist Nikki Giovanni is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator.

One of the world’s most well-known African American poets, her work includes poetry anthologies, poetry recordings and nonfiction essays, and covers topics ranging from race and social issues to children’s literature. Call for tickets and details. 937.225.7705 PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR 150TH

Dunbar Birthday Party  SUN., JUNE 26–TUES., JUNE 28 10 A.M.–4 P.M. Paul Laurence Dunbar House, Dayton 4 The local branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History invites you to poetry events June 26–28 at the Paul Laurence Dunbar House historic site celebrating the birthday of Paul Laurence Dunbar. Free. 937.225.7705

FEATURED EXHIBITS • • • PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR 150TH

Paul Laurence Dunbar— Diamond of the Gem City  FRI., JUNE 3–SUN., JAN. 8, 2023 FRI.–SUN. 10 A.M.–4 P.M. Visitor Center, Paul Laurence Dunbar House, Dayton 4 See a new exhibit exploring Paul Laurence Dunbar’s life, work and legacy. Born in Dayton in 1872, Dunbar became one of America's greatest poets, whose work later fueled a Black literary revolution. His life was marked by

personal triumph and inherited trauma, both of which left indelible impressions on the world around him. This exhibit puts that life in context and positions him within a community of African American activists including Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Hallie Quinn Brown, Frederick Douglass and Brig. Gen. Charles Young, framing him not just as a hero, but as a human whose flaws help tell a more complete version of our American story. Free. 937.225.7705

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

NOW OPEN

Six Special Exhibits ONGOING • WEDS.–SAT. 9 A.M.–4 P.M. National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center, Wilberforce 4 On exhibit: African Americans Fighting for a Double Victory; Behind the Mask— Black Power in Comics; Queens of the Heartland; Rhythm of Revolution; and What’s in Your Attic? Selections from Our Permanent Collection, including a special mini-exhibit, Playing with Identity—Selections from the Lillian M. Bartok Black Doll Collection. Included with museum admission: $6, $5/ senior, $3/ages 6–17, Free/Ohio History Connection member or ages 5 & under.

800.752.2603 or ohiohistory.org/ naamcc

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Above: Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem Good Night, set to music written by Brig. Gen. Charles Young. Left: Paul Laurence Dunbar, seated center, and his mother Matilda, seated in a rocking chair, pictured with other relatives, ca.

1890–1900. Right: A portrait of Charles Young and family, about 1900.

“ The Most Promising Young Colored Man in America” REBUILDING THE WORLD OF PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

BY HADLEY DRODGE AND DEREK PRIDEMORE

A

frican American history is often presented as a series of firsts. In 1773, Phillis Wheatley became the first known African American woman to publish a book.

In 1821, Thomas Jennings became the first African American to hold a patent. Born on June 27, 1872, Paul Laurence Dunbar is beloved as one of the first influential African American poets.

These milestones hang on the timeline of American history like plaques, recognition of the inequities within American society and the struggles it took to overcome them. Certainly, these firsts deserve celebration. But when they become tidy sound bites and the defining characteristic of a hero’s legacy, they paint a distorted picture of our past. Black heroes are mythologized as exceptional, superhuman anomalies. More important, we sever their ties to the world around them, ignoring a legacy of community and collaboration.

A new traveling exhibit designed by the Ohio History Connection’s National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center, in partnership with the National Park Service, re-imagines the ways in which we tell these American stories.

CATAPULTED TO FAME The exhibit, called Paul Laurence Dunbar—Diamond of the Gem City, is an effort to rebuild the world around the famous poet as he saw it. The facts of his life remain the same. He was born in Dayton and began composing poetry as a young child. In high school, he published the Dayton Tattler, the city’s first known African American newspaper, with his classmate and friend Orville Wright, who would later invent the airplane with his brother Wilbur. He sold his first book, Oak and Ivy, to guests riding the elevator he operated downtown; after a favorable review by editor William Dean Howells, Dunbar was catapulted to fame.

He went on an international book tour and came home to marry his fiancée, fellow writer Alice Ruth Moore, in March 1898.

He published books of poetry and fiction and even collaborated on the first all-Black Broadway production. Dunbar enjoyed a brief but

All images courtesy of the Ohio History Connection's National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center

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A letter written by Charles Young to Paul Laurence Dunbar.

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A letter written by Paul Laurence Dunbar to his friend, Charles Young.

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bright moment in the spotlight before his health and marriage declined. He returned home to his mother, Matilda, in Dayton, where he passed away from tuberculosis in 1906.

Young and Paul’s father, Joshua Dunbar, enlisted in the Union Army to fight in the Civil War. Arminta Young, like Matilda Dunbar, taught herself to read and encouraged a love of literature in her son.

These details are well-documented in a host of biographies and articles. But a closer look at his personal papers, held in the archives and special collections of the Ohio History Connection, shifts the emphasis away from some of these topics to much lesser-known stories. This standard account of Dunbar’s life leaves out many of the people who inspired him and kept him afloat during his frequent depressions. It also measures his success by his proximity to whiteness and by the volume of white acceptance he received.

Dunbar and Young excelled in school, but their paths diverged in their young adulthood as Young pursued a military career. After serving in the American West and in the Philippines with the 9th Cavalry Regiment, nicknamed the “Buffalo Soldiers,” Young was assigned to Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1894, where he first met Dunbar.

Dunbar was famous because Howells recognized his genius. But in 1893, three years earlier, Frederick Douglass called Dunbar “the most promising young colored man in America.” Far more people today know of Douglass. But we place more importance on Howells’s acceptance of Dunbar because it introduced him to white audiences. The early friendship between Wright and Dunbar, two creatives who changed the world, is a fun anecdote.

A TALE OF TWO STORIES But there is no evidence that the two remained friends into adulthood. There are no surviving letters to illustrate a lasting relationship, no indication that Wright ever visited his ailing friend on his return to Dayton. Dunbar, who often commemorated important people and events with a poem, recorded no lines honoring Wright’s first flight. And yet, we know this story better than Dunbar’s friendship with Charles Young, a great American who was posthumously promoted to brigadier general this year.

Young’s own list of firsts is impressive. He was the first African American military attaché, the first African American superintendent of a national park, the third African American graduate of West Point and the first African American to earn the rank of colonel. He was a spit-and-polish Army officer who commanded deep respect from his soldiers for his bravery and performance in battle. However, like Dunbar, he had a love of poetry, art and music.

Although the two were far apart in age, they had a lot in common. Young was born in Kentucky in 1864 to Gabriel and Arminta Young. Dunbar’s family had also been enslaved in Kentucky, and both Gabriel

Nineteenth-century Wilberforce was a rich center of African American culture and intellect. It was the birthplace of the first private, historically Black university in the United States. It attracted some of the brightest minds in the country. When Dunbar met Young in 1895, he was not yet 23 years old.

However, his public readings had already garnered attention and he accepted an opportunity to read at Wilberforce, where Young was in attendance. Young was no doubt impressed by Dunbar’s masterful delivery and powerful voice.

LONG-DISTANCE FRIENDS Dunbar and Young became long-distance friends in 1897, as different forces pulled them apart and out of the state of Ohio. Dunbar had been busy touring overseas and had moved to Washington, D.C., to take a job at the Library of Congress. In 1898, the conflict between the U.S. and Spain was worsening. Lieutenant Young left to train troops for potential action in Cuba as the Spanish-American War erupted in April.

But Young and his mother had fallen in love with the Dayton area. No matter where he was assigned in the coming years, he made Wilberforce his base of operations, and returned there when he could.

The families of Young and Dunbar became close over the years, sharing visits and meals and creating music together when Young was in town or Dunbar was strong enough to make the trip. Road-weary and consumed by work, both enjoyed the respite of nights spent by the fire at Young's home.

Young was assigned as military attaché in Haiti when he sent Dunbar a letter on Nov. 30, 1904, less than two years before Dunbar died. It was filled with warm humor and encouragement. “I hug you with my whole heart and with my strong black arms and wish you were here.”

Top Right: 2nd Lt. Charles Young, second from left, in front of cadet formation at Wilberforce University.

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Ohio History Connection

Left: Portrait of Matilda Dunbar, mother of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, ca. 1890–1910. Middle: Young’s mother, Arminta.

Right: Paul Laurence Dunbar House interior.

Dunbar, so ill he was barely able to write, sent Young a response the next month, which is preserved in the extensive Charles Young Archive at the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center. He began with the affectionate opening “Dear Old Charlie: I hug you right back, but I must confess that since I have been sick that my arms are not black, but a very delicate coffee color.

IN THE LAND OF SUN He told Young of his aching to be there “in the land of sun” and requested a photograph. He also shared that Young’s mother, Arminta, visited them in Dayton for a party and dinner. According to Dunbar, a set of photos that his wife, Alice, had taken did not develop well (the existence of these films or photographs today is unknown). In 1905, then-Captain Young sent Dunbar a photo inscribed “to Paul L. Dunbar, from his devoted friend, Chas Young.” That photo is now in the Ohio History Connection’s Dunbar Collection.

After Dunbar’s death from tuberculosis in 1906, letters of sympathy flooded Matilda Dunbar’s mailbox. She took time to write those closest to the family, sending a photograph of Paul to Young. Young’s response was delayed due to the purchase of a house about a mile from Wilberforce University’s campus that he named Youngsholm.

He told Matilda that it had “kept [his] nose to the grindstone.” Today, that home still stands in Wilberforce as the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument.

In 1907, Young joined the effort to memorialize Dunbar, as a member of the advisory board for The Paul Laurence Dunbar Memorial Committee.

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He wrote to his friend and former Wilberforce professor W.E.B. Du Bois to request that he organize donations locally to honor “our dead Poet,” and that even “penny contributions from school children will greatly help.”

There are few surviving examples of the friendship between Young and Dunbar. However, these letters demonstrate the depth of their bond. They expressed their wishes to be together and shared hugs and heartfelt encouragement from afar. Their friendship depicts Dunbar’s lasting connection to his community as a leader of his people, not his rise from them. By honoring this relationship, we can begin to rebuild his world and understand him as a human being. After all, is there a greater mirror than the company we keep?

Hadley Drodge is a curator at the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio. She has created exhibits detailing the story of Dayton funk music, the Randolph Freedpeople and African American women’s history in the award-winning Queens of the Heartland. In 2021, she co-taught a graduate-level exhibits course with Derek Pridemore at Wright State University. She lives with her family in Dayton’s Huffman Historic District and is an enthusiastic attendee of Ohio’s many county fairs.

Derek Pridemore is a curator at the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio. With his background as a comic-book shop owner and collector, he created an exhibit that explores the history of African Americans in comics called Behind the Mask: Black Power in Comics. Derek enjoys helping the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center team create exhibits as well as webinars and in-person events.

He loves The Next Generation, but believes that Deep Space Nine is Star Trek at its best.

LEARN MORE LEARN MORE The connection between Young and Dunbar is just one of the lesser-known stories told in the traveling exhibit Paul Laurence Dunbar—Diamond of the Gem City, on display at the Paul Laurence Dunbar House, 219 N. Paul Laurence Dunbar St. in Dayton, beginning in June. The exhibit was created to commemorate Dunbar’s 150th birthday.

Join us on Tuesday, June 21, at 3 p.m. for Creating a Museum Exhibit: Paul Laurence Dunbar—Diamond of the Gem City, a free webinar just for Ohio History Connection members. Get a look behind the scenes at how curators Hadley Drodge and Derek Pridemore developed this special exhibit.

Advance registration is required at ohiohistory.org/ dunbarexhibit.

In 1936, the Ohio General Assembly dedicated the Paul Laurence Dunbar House in Dayton as a memorial to Dunbar. Restored and open to visitors under the auspices of the Ohio History Connection and Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park Service, it is a National Historic Landmark, the highest honor that the federal government awards to historic places in the United States. Plan your visit to the Dunbar House at ohiohistory.org/ dunbar or nps.gov/places/dunbar-house.htm.

As part of the Dunbar 150 commemoration in the Dayton area, many special programs are planned this summer honoring Paul Laurence Dunbar’s 150th birthday on June 27. Find upcoming events in the Southwest Ohio calendar starting on page 20.

Watch a 10-minute video about the life of Col. Charles Young at nps.gov/chyo. Young’s home in Wilberforce, Ohio—now the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument—is currently being restored by the National Park Service.

Dayton’s Paul Laurence Dunbar House is a National Historic Landmark.

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Charles J. Mintz

The Guardians of Traffic rise 45 feet above the sidewalk. Agreements hammered out in 1979 through the federal historic preservation process provided for replacing the original sandstone and aluminum guardrails with tinted concrete railings to meet modern safety standards while duplicating the architectural character of the originals.

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Charles J. Mintz

Cleveland’s Guardians THE JAZZ-AGE GIANTS WHO GUARD THE LAND BY DAVID SIMMONS

C

leveland’s Major League Baseball team recently adopted the name Guardians, one inspired by local history and a remarkable public work of art that dates back nearly a century.

Opinions on public art can vary widely, especially when it appears in unexpected places. Consider the colossal Art Deco pylons known as the Guardians of Transportation, or Guardians of Traffic, at the four corners of the Hope Memorial Bridge (then called the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge), a major span across the Cuyahoga River connecting Cleveland’s east and west sides. In 1976, after they’d been greeting motorists for more than four decades, the Guardians became embroiled in a major controversy that almost led to their removal.

The dispute centered around a study done in the 1960s suggesting that by the year 2000, traffic on the bridge would far exceed its capacity. A project to widen the bridge from four lanes to six was proposed, necessitating removal of the pylons.

Cuyahoga County Engineer Albert S. Porter, responsible for maintaining the bridge, didn’t mince words in March 1976 when expressing an opinion on the Guardians, which were darkened by decades of air pollutants from nearby factories. He proclaimed that the monumental artworks were “monstrosities and should be torn down and forgotten. There is nothing particularly historic about any one of them.”

Porter’s assertion effectively became a call to action for public and private historic preservationists in Cleveland. It began with a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, prepared by Western Reserve Historical Society staffer Eric Johannesen. Despite being only 44 years old—a minimum of 50 years is ordinarily a threshold for National Register eligibility—the bridge pylons were said to be of exceptional significance as the only “major sculptural monument in the city in the Art Deco idiom.”

MAJESTIC TITANS Several letters to The Plain Dealer pointed out the proposed removal of what they termed “majestic titans” on the bridge was made by the same man who’d also suggested paving over the historic Shaker Lakes in Shaker Heights. Others suggested some courses in art and architectural history were in order for Porter, since his emphasis on economy and expediency had “created an ugly blight” in the city.

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Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University

Charles J. Mintz

Left: Artist’s renderings of plans for the Hope Memorial Bridge prepared in the 1920s helped Clevelanders envision the gargantuan pylons that would eventually greet motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately, the free-flowing traffic also envisioned proved more elusive. Right: Dramatic nighttime lighting has made it possible to better appreciate the monumental pylons of the Hope Memorial Bridge. In 1934, one Cleveland journalist gushed that they were “impressive enough to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World.”

Then the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation got involved. The council is the watchdog office that ensures that agencies like the Federal Highway Administration, which was providing much of the funding for Porter’s bridge-widening project, follow the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act. Through that 1966 law, federal agencies were required to give historic properties due consideration in planning their projects and to arrange methods of mitigating adverse impacts.

The coordination pointed out serious shortcomings in the bridge-widening proposal. Without major improvements to the approaches to the bridge, additional lane capacity on the bridge itself was pretty meaningless. And a more recent traffic analysis had already shown that freeway construction offered alternative routes—resulting in significant population shifts—that reduced the number of vehicles using the Hope Memorial Bridge.

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A LITTLE “MOOCHER” Shortly, public sentiment turned even more sharply against Porter due to his mishandling of the request by a 12-year-old student named Beth Ann Louis to preserve a bridge near her school in Olmsted Falls.

Porter was condemned for labeling the student and fellow residents of the village as “moochers” on other communities, since, he insisted, they must leave their community to find anything interesting to do. By the end of May, the tally of letters to The Plain Dealer stood at Beth Ann 36, Porter 2.

Bert Porter was not known for changing his position on anything, but in July 1976 he agreed to a new study to assess the viability of maintaining only four lanes of traffic on the bridge. Incredulous, one county commissioner suggested, “The millennium has arrived.” Indeed, that fall Porter lost a bid for re-election.

With Porter gone, the pylons were preserved and carefully cleaned with chemicals to minimize harm to the stone as part of a total bridge rehabilitation in the 1980s. While some had held out hope for also preserving the original sandstone and aluminum railings, those railings gave way to new crash-rated concrete ones that would imitate the architectural qualities of the originals.

This classic preservation scenario would never have happened if it hadn’t been for the aesthetic sensibilities of Wilbur J. Watson, the designing civil engineer of the Hope Memorial Bridge, who advocated close partnerships between engineers and architects.

In 1927, only a year before beginning work on the bridge, Watson published Bridge Architecture, with 200 illustrations of artistic designs from around the world. He partnered with architect Frank R. Walker of the celebrated Cleveland firm Walker and Weeks to add “giants”—as one eight-year-old who regularly passed them in 1976 termed them—to the bridge.

EACH FIGURE A COLOSSUS Towering 45 feet above the sidewalks, each colossus was intended to greet and inspire motorists as they commuted across the river valley. Facing both east and west, each held a mode of transportation, ranging from a covered wagon, hayrack and stagecoach to more modern versions of trucks and an automobile.

Walker originally intended to place large aluminum placards explaining that these typified “the spirit of progress in the design of vehicles” at the base of each pylon, but they were lost in final cost-cutting efforts.

New York City sculptor Henry Hering, nationally recognized as an architectural specialist and for his association with Augustus Saint-Gaudens, was engaged as lead sculptor. He gave the project high artistic credibility, but it’s unfair to give him complete credit for sculpting the pylons. Fabrication from Berea sandstone was completed in the shops of the Ohio Cut Stone Co. on Random Road in Cleveland’s Little Italy neighborhood with more than 20 immigrant scalpellini, or stonemasons, handling the day-to-day shaping of the stone.

Bob Hope. That led to the former Lorain-Carnegie Bridge being renamed the Hope Memorial Bridge in 1983, a half century after the bridge opened in 1932.

Decades later, the vision of including artistic “guardians” in everyday life has acquired new meaning through Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team. Surely, it would bring a smile to the original creators, especially since the art was once nearly lost.

David A. Simmons retired from the Ohio History Connection in 2020. After a decade in the State Historic Preservation Office, he completed 34 years on the Timeline editorial staff and was named editor, emeritus.

LEARN MORE LEARN MORE David Simmons recommends the following if you’re interested in learning more about the Hope Memorial Bridge: Bridges of Metropolitan Cleveland: Past and Present by Sara Ruth Watson and John R. Wolfs; A Cleveland Legacy: The Architecture of Walker and Weeks by Eric Johannesen; and the article “Italian Immigrants Gave Rise to Cleveland’s Iconic Guardians of Traffic” by Pamela Dorazio Dean, in Italian Sons and Daughters of America, Nov. 28, 2021, ohiohistory.org/bridge1.

WATCH Scan this QR code with your phone’s camera to watch a short companion video with author David Simmons as he talks more about the story behind the iconic Guardian pylons.

The story of one of them, Loreto Petti, along with the tools he used, is presented at the Italian American Museum of Cleveland at 12111 Mayfield Road. Also working alongside the Italians in the company’s shop was William Henry “Hank” Hope, father of comedian

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Ohio Village Reimagined NEW VILLAGERS, FRESH STORIES BY ERIN ESMONT

O

n an unseasonably warm day in February, not a soul strolls along the unpaved streets of Ohio Village, the 1890s living history museum adjacent to the Ohio History Center in Columbus.

The Schmidt House, Dr. Burton’s house and the Taylor House are unoccupied.

There’s no Telegraphic Advertiser newspaper hot off the press to read, and the large community garden with its usual seasonal harvest lies dormant.

The hotel has no visitors wandering through, and the adjoining barber shop with an original hydraulic barber chair circa 1900 sits idle.

It’s the offseason, and the only activity of note emanates from the basement of the Village Church. Down there, it’s no longer the 1890s as it is above, but a modern-day workspace that creates the illusion of time travel and ensures the historical accuracy of each portrayal, costume and prop.

SHARING EVERYBODY’S STORY Andrew Hall, the Ohio History Connection’s senior experience director for Ohio Village, like a number of his co-workers, spent part of the pandemic furloughed as COVID-19 disrupted the normal flow of village life. In 2020, instead of having an in-person experience, visitors could only participate in special online programs. In 2021, the village opened to foot traffic in July, later than usual.

During this period, museums nationwide struggled to stay afloat, and staff layoffs were not uncommon in Ohio and beyond. An infusion of governmental COVID-19 funds, as well as the generous support of donors and members, helped the Ohio History Connection restore many services and staff positions.

The industry also confronted the paucity of diversity in its ranks and a lack of inclusivity in its programming. It grappled with how to accurately reflect the experiences of marginalized communities, especially Black communities, given that much of that history was not documented or preserved or was intentionally destroyed.

“There is a major movement to ensure that everybody’s story has an opportunity to be told, and Ohio Village is no different,” Hall says, noting that a five-year plan calls for expanding the histories of people of color, along with the LGBTQ community and different faiths.

To that end, the village last year added a new resident, Black dress shop owner Mary Taylor, and a new business, a Jewish bakery. That brought new visitors who felt they were finally represented in the village experience, Hall says, adding that feedback, especially on social media, was swift and positive.

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Left: Spring gardening at the Schmidt House in Ohio Village. Right: Andrew Hall as Ohio Village bartender Bill Wurst.

The Ohio History Connection also hired Tress Augustine as interpretive coordinator, responsible for managing the many volunteers and staff who portray village residents and share historical accounts. A larger roster of paid interpreters this season will help Ohio Village become a livelier, more bustling place, where every building is open five days a week, Hall says.

“In the past, when we were more volunteer-dependent and had only a couple of buildings open, it could feel like a ghost town.”

First-person interpreters create villagers from well-researched histories of what was happening in the 1890s in Ohio and the nation. They wear periodappropriate wardrobes and must stay rooted in that era.

Third-person interpreters roam the village to answer questions and can toggle between present day and the 19th century. For example, a first-person interpreter can explain that the Montgomery Ward catalog delivered needed goods by railroad in eight to 12 weeks, an incredible technological advance for the time. A thirdperson interpreter can connect that to present day and the advent of Amazon.

Augustine also is an interpreter, portraying Mary Taylor, a widow whose late husband was a Pullman porter in Chicago, where the historic labor strike of 1894 would shape national labor policy.

She moves to Ohio Village to live with her aunt and owns a dress shop. She talks to visitors about her life in the town and the life experiences and labor struggles

38 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2022

Black citizens faced then. This season, she will speak about the upsurge in lynchings, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan as well as efforts to start a chapter of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs.

Augustine created Mary Taylor after consulting with longtime village volunteer Revonne Hammond to build upon the historical narrative she originated. Oral histories, handed down by elders, form much of the basis of Black history, along with letters and diaries, she says. For generations, academically trained historians largely overlooked or dismissed such unconventional sources.

Hall cited a similar challenge in representing LGBTQ history from the Victorian era because individuals lived in fear of discovery and coded their language.

He says it’s rare to find diary entries or letters that directly address gay life.

TRANSITIONING FROM 1865 TO 1898 Ohio Village may be idle in the off-season but the staff isn’t. Fabrication Coordinator Jennifer Rounds is at work in the basement of the Village Church, the one place on the grounds alive with activity in February, two months before opening weekend.

The large, windowless space has all the modern conveniences the village above does not— computers, the internet, sewing machines, power tools. She helps to create the look of the 1890s, ensuring that wardrobe and props are historically accurate and period-appropriate. She sews or alters many of the costumes herself.

Left: Volunteer Revonne Hammond welcomes visitors to the Taylor House in Ohio Village. Right: Jennifer Rounds talks with visitors to the Taylor House about how she makes cheese.

To research the era, she scans digitized newspapers of the day, and scours books and old catalogs, such as Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Montgomery Ward, and specialty companies online. A few years ago, when Ohio Village fast-forwarded its time setting from 1865 to 1898, everything from costumes and hairstyles to furnishings and curtains had to be studied and switched up.

That time period is the end of the so-called Gilded Age and the beginning of the Progressive Era, and the number of challenges and reforms of that period closely resemble issues America is still grappling with today: debates over the role of government; workers’ rights; rapid technological advances such as the bicycle and the telephone; and marginalized groups clamoring for rights, namely women and Black people.

The 30-year leap in fashion presented its own challenges: Dresses from the Civil War era had much fuller skirts with large hoops, so Rounds converted the fabric into two A-line shaped skirts appropriate for the 1890s. There’s also the armhole opening in a garment called the armscye, or “arms eye,” that changes over the decades, so she had to alter that as well. The style of sleeve changed from an open sleeve called a pagoda sleeve, to big puffy sleeves in the 1890s called a leg-ofmutton sleeve.

The book Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840–1900, by Joan Severa was one of the historical sources Rounds consulted.

There also were workshops to help everyone get up to speed with the changes. A new wardrobe trend

emerged, too. The invention of the bicycle brought greater freedom and independence to women, creating a market for riding trousers.

MIDWAY GAMES AT THE CARNIVAL On this February day, Rounds works on the carnival theme for the summer season-opening on May 21.

After researching midway games popular in the 19th century, she’s settled on four. But first she checks to make sure the term “midway” was in use then. It was.

She dates it to the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.

She’s recreating a ring-toss game in which carnivalgoers use a long stick or "fair cane" to try to throw a small ring over a decorative finial. She found a reference to a fair cane booth in Ohio in 1893. (In 1893, carnivalgoers would have paid a penny a ring to play.) She also talked to local fair operators and tracked down two elderly men in Ohio who still make the canes.

Another game is called Coconut Shy, and the goal was to use sticks or rocks to knock the coconut off a pole.

Back then, coconuts were exotic imports with the outside fibers torn off to fashion into rugs. The game is still popular in England, and references to coconut matting can be found in Sherlock Holmes books, Rounds says.

There will also be a history lesson on the practice of rigging carnival games, featuring one called Hoopla.

Rounds also handles preparations for special events, such as Night at the Museum, inspired by the movies of

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40 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2022

the same name. She supervises the sewing or creation of 30 costumes for that event.

Little wonder her desk is a riot of fabric, reference books and materials and oddities such as a phrenology head.

VIRTUAL QUEST Virtual Field Trip Coordinator Teresa Valencia has a looming deadline to meet. Two months before opening weekend, she finalized a new online initiative for students in fourth through 10th grades called Virtual Quest. Made possible by a grant from the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund, it’s designed to complement the in-person Ohio Village experience.

Educators weighed in on its creation and made an appeal for greater diversity, Valencia says. That led to six characters developed with input from local historians, professors and community members.

Soon, students will have the chance to click on icons representing the six new virtual villagers: Eleanor and Benjamin Burton are the children of Dr. and Mrs. Burton, who reside in the village. Helen Chapman is an African American midwife who works with Dr. Burton and lives with her niece, Ella Chapman.

Morrey Rosenberg is a tailor looking for partners to help him open his own shop; his pre-teen son Abram Rosenberg is working a summer job to help save money.

One visitor encounter from last year stands out for her.

A young child asked her a question about slavery in the 1890s—decades after it officially ended—to which the boy’s grandmother remarked: “Honey, can you believe that some folks decided to stay on the plantation…they chose to stay even after they were free?”

Augustine realized it was an opportunity to explain to the woman that it really wasn’t a choice for many who stayed behind.

“They had no money. They had no food. They were in a hostile environment, and they couldn’t read. And for most people, the last place they were was the last place they saw their family. So what kind of choice is that?”

Augustine says the woman left Ohio Village that day with a whole different perspective.

“And we didn’t argue, we laughed. I’ve invited her back. I made a friend. But I also changed the way she thought about things. And that’s all I want.”

Erin Esmont is a freelance writer and editor. She’s worked at newspapers in Ohio and Pennsylvania. She lives in Columbus with her family.

Students will be able to follow their journeys as they push for social change in the 1890s.

Another component of the project is a 3-D tour of the in-person Ohio Village, created using drones, that educators can use as a resource with their students.

It features hot spots that students can select to learn more information. For example, students can click to learn about C.R. Patterson & Sons of Greenfield, Ohio, the first Black-owned automobile manufacturer.

RELATIONSHIP BUILDING As Interpretive Coordinator Tress Augustine prepared for the upcoming season, she reflected on her role.

“In this job, I am building capacity and community for having open historic conversations about diversity and inclusion, especially in Ohio. So that’s the root of it. I get paid to have fun and dress up and do all these cool things. But the heart of what I do is relationship building. And that’s what’s important to me.”

Left: Villagers watch a game called Graces, with roots in the 18th century. Right: Jennifer Rounds demonstrates cheese-making at the Taylor House in Ohio Village.

LEARN MORE

Ohio Village is a recreated 19th-century community on 15 acres adjacent to the Ohio History Center at I-71 & 17th Avenue (Exit 111) in Columbus.

The village is open 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Sun., May 15.

Ohio Village is open Wednesdays through Sundays 10 a.m.–5 p.m. from Sat., May 21, through Sun., Oct. 30.

Plan your visit at ohiohistory.org/ohiovillage.

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“As Most of Us Knew Her” LEAVING SPACE FOR QUEERNESS IN THE ARCHIVES

BY KIERAN ROBERTSON

S

ix years ago, as an archivist at the Ohio History Connection, I processed a collection of family photographs from the late 19th century.

The collection was pretty average in the scheme of things I had seen in my line of work—an average family doing average things at a fairly average point in the past. But for some reason, it felt like there was something more to be found in these papers and photographs.

The people who appear most often in this collection are Laura Belle Cunningham, Lucy Ross and Ned Ross. Lucy and Ned are sisters, and Laura is their cousin (and the compiler of the collection, so it bears her name). Laura, Lucy and Ned lived together in Lebanon, Ohio, throughout their adulthood.

Ned in particular lived a life full of hobbies and career successes.

She served as the postmaster in Lebanon, apparently learned how to ride a bike and was an amateur photographer. She was such a good photographer that she even included a professional photographer’s mark on many of the pictures in the collection.

LIVING OUTSIDE GENDER NORMS Recently, thanks to the article “Queer Possibility” in the October 2020 Journal of Museum Education, I realized what I had missed about this collection. I couldn’t seem to see it at the time, but now it’s clear to me that Ned Ross was living outside of the gender norms of her society. As the title suggests, Ned was very possibly queer.

In the article, author Margaret Middleton points out that museums (and by extension, historians) generally mention people as queer only if they describe themselves that way, or if there is strict documentation of queer behavior. These rules are so entrenched that I applied them to Ned without even realizing what I had done.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I have written about Ned using her chosen name and the pronoun “she,” because the evidence available suggests that this is the way she liked to be addressed at the end of her life. While inferences are often necessary in the field of Queer History, we can also use available evidence to honor a person’s agency.

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Even when translating the past, it’s always best to define people in the way that they define themselves.

Top: The Cunningham and Ross families. Ned can be seen standing at far left.

Bottom: Two small photographs of Ned.

All images from Ohio History Connection Archival Collection AV 298, the Laura Cunningham Photograph Collection.

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Left: Ned at work, possibly as the postmaster. Middle: Ned Ross on a bicycle. Right: “Ned Ross, as most of us knew her.”

So why do we keep following these rules? Often it comes down to two key points: language and phobia.

In the photographs in this collection, Ned is frequently posed in masculine stances and dressed in masculinized clothing, with jackets, ties and hats.

Lucy and Laura also wore these types of clothing, as they fell into the fashion of the time, but never to the extent of masculinized presentation that Ned follows.

IMPERFECT LANGUAGE Looking back at the collection now, I believe we can infer that Ned lived outside the gender norms of her society in a queer way. But language evolves, as do our conceptions of gender and sexuality.

Ned almost certainly did not use the word “queer” to describe herself, and lived during a time when Americans were only just beginning to define terms like “lesbian” or “gay.” So to define her by our own modern terms and understandings will always be imperfect.

As historians, our job is to try harder to find the words to translate the past for a modern understanding. As Middleton points out, if Leonardo da Vinci traveled to our time, he would be equally confused about being described as a “gay” man as he would a “Renaissance” artist. Neither of these terms are of da Vinci’s time, but these are the terms we have to understand da Vinci.

With all of this taken into account, I believe that today Ned would fall under the transgender umbrella. Each trans person has a different definition of this term, but as a historian I choose to follow the inclusive definition offered by the

44 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2022

Digital Transgender Archive, in which I use the term transgender “to refer to a broad and inclusive range of non-normative gender practices.” By defining transgender as “a practice rather than an identity category,” it becomes easier to bridge the language gap between 2022 and the 1890s.

PHOTOGRAPHER’S MARK Judging by details available in the collection, one of the inferences we can make about Ned is that she preferred her more masculine nickname by the end of her life. In letters and notes from her teenage years, family members and classmates addressed Ned with her given name. The nickname Ned probably did not develop until early adulthood—it first appears in her photographer’s mark. The very fact that Ned would have used this name on an official and lasting mark, which likely cost her some time and money to create, indicates an inclination toward the name.

Furthermore, when Laura Cunningham made handwritten notes on the back of many of the photographs in this collection, she used the name Ned to identify her cousin. This likely means that, by the end of their lives, this was the name Ned was using with those closest to her. Laura’s notes appear to follow the pattern of someone labeling a collection for the purpose of donation, so that future archivists would know what was being represented in the photos. If this is the case, then Laura is also signifying that Ned is the name future historians should use for her cousin.

Even when translating the past, it’s always best to define people in the way that they define themselves.

But often details of a person’s life are left out of the historical record, and we have to make inferences, like I have with Ned. So why not infer queerness?

Historians are afraid to infer queerness, because we don’t want to leave a negative mark on someone’s historical record. However, by refusing to make space for reading queerness, we reinforce the idea that queerness is a negative thing worth hiding from. I might be wrong about Ned, but I also might be wrong about the hundreds of other inferences I’ve made as a historian. To say “based on this evidence Ned Ross might have been queer” should not be more problematic than saying “based on this evidence Ned Ross probably enjoyed riding bicycles.”

AS MOST OF US KNEW HER A final piece of important information in this collection comes from a photograph of a masculine representation of Ned with a particularly interesting annotation on the back. One simple sentence reads: “Ned Ross, as most of us knew her.” This sentence suggests that in this photograph, Ned is presenting in a way that may not have been known to the public, but certainly was to her friends and family.

Kieran Robertson is a former curator of manuscripts at the Ohio History Connection and the author of Little Ohio.

LEARN MORE LEARN MORE Kieran Robertson recommends these books and websites for more information on queerness: Transgender History by Susan Stryker, Black on Both Sides by C. Riley Snorton, Female Masculinity by Jack Halberstam, digitaltransgenderarchive.net and museumoftransology.com.

Let’s include more queer stories in our history books, so that next time an archivist comes across a Ned Ross in their work, it doesn’t take more than a century to figure out what makes her collection so important.

Practically speaking, a history that invites queerness is simply a more accurate history. Queer people helped build Ohio, and their queerness affected those experiences. But most important, we must start to invite a queer lens to our history to allow ourselves to see our own reflections. Queer people deserve to know our ancestors, and young queer people, who are doing the hard work of getting to know themselves, deserve access to the stories that might help them understand their own lives.

Let’s include more queer stories in our history books, so that next time an archivist comes across a Ned Ross in their work, it doesn’t take more than a century to figure out what makes her collection so important.

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I Wish I’d Been There A HOPEWELL CEREMONIAL EVENT

BY R ANDY EDWARDS

We don’t know for certain, but here’s what we know about the Hopewell, or at least believe we know: They lived in very small communities in clearings dotted across the Eastern woodlands, and they had a diverse diet that included game, fish and domesticated native plants grown in small gardens.

AN EGALITARIAN SOCIET Y

One chilly October morning several years ago, I stood within the walls of the ceremonial structure known as Fort Ancient, built by the Hopewell people on a bluff overlooking the Little Miami River, about 30 miles south of Dayton and 35 miles north of Cincinnati, near Oregonia and Lebanon.

Fort Ancient’s entrance road passes through one of the many U-shaped gaps built into the 3.5 miles of perimeter wall that encircles the hilltop site. The morning mist and autumn foliage added a romantic timelessness to the setting and got me wondering, as I have often since, what it might have been like to visit one of the Hopewell ceremonial earthworks at a time when places like Fort Ancient were universally recognized as sacred ground.

I’d have to go back about 2,000 years to the era of the Hopewell, a term that archaeologists use to refer to a network of Indigenous groups with similar economic, political and spiritual beliefs and practices. They occupied a huge swath of eastern North America—from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico— between 100 B.C. and A.D. 500, a cultural golden age that lasted twice as long as the American Experiment so far.

A NETWORK OF EARTHEN STRUCTURES I wouldn’t have to move from my spot at Fort Ancient, though. The Hopewell are known for the earthen structures they

46 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2022

left behind, and the best examples of those earthworks are in Ohio: Newark’s Great Circle and Octagon Earthworks, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Chillicothe and Fort Ancient, leading archaeologists to mark Ohio as the center of the Hopewell world.

These examples of monumental landscape architecture, still standing after centuries of exposure to weather, are believed to have been centers of spirituality that attracted pilgrims from great distances, based on the artifacts found there. These include copper from Lake Superior, seashells from the Gulf of Mexico, mica from the southern Appalachian Mountains and obsidian from Wyoming.

Why did they come? This we know less about. The presence of burial mounds and charnel houses within the enclosures tells us that some came to bury their dead. But the precise alignment of the mounds, marking the movements of the sun and the moon, and the evidence of long pilgrimages suggest that the earthworks were far more than cemeteries.

I wish I’d been there to see exactly what took place when the people gathered in these places. Were the ceremonies as solemn and reverential as evening vespers or as spirited and raucous as an apostolic tent revival?

Did people spend days in travel in service of their religion or were these visits also opportunities for trade, family reunions, marriages and feasts?

The Hopewell were an egalitarian society. Researchers have found no evidence of a ruling elite based on the size of housing, the similarity of burial rituals and the apparent absence of preferential access to food. This is critical to understanding the Hopewell because it makes the Ohio mounds unique—monumental architecture built by small-scale societies without slave labor or a ruling hierarchy.

And we know, from the structures that were left behind, that the Hopewell people had a sophisticated knowledge of astronomy, geometry and engineering. We can’t be certain what they believed about who set the heavenly bodies in motion, but surely those movements inspired awe and devotion.

All of this, to me, demonstrates a trinity of mindfulness that sets them apart from our modern world.

The Hopewell must have been deeply attuned to the natural world, as evidenced by the menagerie of native creatures represented in their effigy pipes and mica cutouts, but also because a close relationship with nature was necessary to survive.

A season of destructive weather, a prolonged drought or a bad year for tree nut production likely had an immediate and devastating influence on life and death.

CERHAS | Center for the Electronic Reconstruction of Historical and Archaeological Sites, University of Cincinnati

They had a sense of community that extended beyond their immediate neighbors, based on the cooperation required to build these complicated geometric mounds. Individuals carried woven baskets of earth, one at a time, to mounds that were carefully layered with various types of soil.

ALIGNED WITH THE HEAVENS And, of course, the alignment of the mounds with the movements of the heavens suggests that these folks were very aware of the cosmos on which their worldview was based.

They knew their place in the universe, and it filled them with reverence.

Quite a contrast to the world 2,000 years later, where we talk a lot about protecting nature without spending much time in it, political polarization and tribalism dominate our social discourse, and cynicism routinely triumphs over faith of any kind.

I wish I’d been there—I think I would find it refreshing to have known the Hopewell, to share a meal, participate in their ceremonies, share in their worship, hear their prayers and songs—even, perhaps, to carry a basket or two of dirt to its appropriate place on the mound.

Ohio’s Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are now a step away from being added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. And this is right and just. But to truly acknowledge the significance of the people who built these remarkable structures, we could do worse than to tap into their natural connections, their sense of community and their devotion.

Randy Edwards is a freelance writer who lives in Columbus.

An electronic reconstruction of the Fort Ancient complex.

LEARN LEARN MORE MORE Ohio History Connection senior archaeologist Brad Lepper recommends these books about the Hopewell: “For beginners, I always refer folks to the Hopewell (Middle Woodland) chapter in my book, Ohio Archaeology, which is out of print as of this year, but available in most libraries.

It’s more technical, but probably the best book is Mark Lynott’s Hopewell Ceremonial Landscapes of Ohio. And Woodward and McDonald’s Indian Mounds of the Middle Ohio Valley, published in 2002, is still solid and a great guide to all the mounds around

the state (and beyond) that are open to the public.”

Visit the new exhibit Indigenous Wonders of Our World, now open at the Ohio History Center in Columbus. See pages 6–7.

Visit these Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks in person: Newark’s Great Circle and Octagon Earthworks (ohiohistory.org/ newark); Chillicothe’s Hopewell Culture National Historical Park (nps.gov/hocu) and Fort Ancient near Oregonia and Lebanon (ohiohistory.org/fortancient).

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The Last Divine Book T H E H I S T O RY O F T H E Q U R A N YO U N G E Y E S O N T H E PA S T BY MOHAMED ABDELHAMED

The Quran, a holy book for Muslims, is internationally recognized as one of the most prominent forms of religiousscripture preservation. I have been memorizing the verses of the Quran for as long as I can remember, so choosing my topic for last year’s History Day competition was easy.

With the prominence of the Quran in my life and upbringing, I decided to conduct research on the historical significance of the Quran. With the help of my mom and teachers, I was certainly ready for this exploration.

While researching, I needed to find additional reliable sources, so I decided to interview my Quran teacher and the imam, a knowledgeable Muslim, of my local masjid.

WHAT IS THE QURAN? Muslims believe that the Quran is the last Divine Book and was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad from Allah by the way of Angel Jibreel.

Library of Congress

The revelations occurred between 610 C.E. and 632 C.E. The Quran covers many topics, including judgment in

Two men seated behind Quran stands inside the tomb of Sultan Mahmud II and Sultan Abdülaziz, Istanbul, about 1876.

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the afterlife, monotheism, Islamic laws and stories of prophets. Muslims must follow the Quran and Sunnah, which are the teachings and actions of Prophet Muhammad.

PRESERVATION DURING THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET In the Prophet Muhammad’s 23 years of prophethood, the verses of the Quran were orally taught to the companions because the Prophet was illiterate.

He strongly encouraged everyone to write it down as well as memorize it, so that there could be two means of preservation.

The Prophet was given permission to teach the Quran in the seven main dialects of the region to allow it to be understood by the different people. At the time of the Prophet’s death, a large amount of written records remained with the companions, in addition to the verses that they had memorized.

COMPIL ATION AFTER THE DEATH OF THE PROPHET During the time of the first caliph, a successor of Prophet Muhammad, a conflict between Muslims led to the Battle of Yamama, where many of those who memorized the Quran died. Abu Bakr, the closest companion of Prophet Muhammad and first caliph, was worried about the preservation of the Quran for future generations, and appointed Zaid ibn Thabit to compile the Quran using manuscripts written during the lifetime of the Prophet. After sorting them in order, they were reviewed by those who memorized the Quran from the Prophet.

During the time of the third caliph, Uthmaan, problems were starting to arise concerning the dialect of the Quran. He appointed a committee of 12

companions to essentially repeat the process of Zaid ibn Thabit, gathering all of the primary sources, rectifying any differences and confirming them with those who had memorized the text orally. Finally, all other copies were burned and the reviewed Quran was sent to all Muslim provinces to be copied.

THE QURAN IN TRANSL ATION In order for the Quran to be distributed throughout the world, it first had to be translated into different languages. However, translation was a complicated process, as it required a deep understanding of the Arabic language and its origins, as well as many phrases that shouldn’t be taken literally. A famous Muslim scholar, Imam Ash-Shafi’i, recommended that Muslims should learn the Arabic language to understand the Quran better.

Although some regions such as West Africa adopted Arabic as their primary language, translations were made for the other regions.

When the second caliph, Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, expanded the Islamic empire into Persia, many people there converted to Islam.

Salman Al-Farsi, or Salman the Persian, was a companion of the Prophet who could speak Persian, and his partial translation of the Quran benefited the new converts.

Two more translations were made into Greek and Sindhi before the first millennium C.E., with the Greek being the first full translation of the Quran.

Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections, University of Birmingham

Later, translations began to appear in European languages, although commonly with a Christian interpretation. A translation was made by Robert the Letton in the mid-12th century into Latin, then in 1647 by André du Ryer into French.

The first translation into English was in 1649 by Alexander Ross. Many more translations appeared, but it wasn’t until the early- to mid-20th century that the Quran was translated to English by a Muslim. The most notable of these was Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s translation, which was considered among the most accurate.

AN INFINITE CHAIN Over approximately 1,450 years, every person who memorized the entire Quran under a certified teacher is part of a chain of narrators that connects all the way back to the Prophet Muhammad. This way, they can be sure that it came from the Prophet, with no changes to the verses.

Muslim scholars including the caliphs, the Prophet’s companions, translators and Quran teachers helped verify, distribute and communicate the verses of the Quran throughout the world. With one accurate copy, the Islamic Empire’s stress during wars was relieved, as they no longer had to worry about losing the Quran.

Also, this has caused the Quran to be the only religious book that remains unaltered for such a long period of time, and with current preservation methods, perhaps, forever.

Mohamed Abdelhamed went to Dayton Islamic School from preschool to eighth grade and is in ninth grade in The Miami Valley School. “I am 13 years old. (I skipped seventh grade.) My strongest subject is math and I am currently in Algebra II. I’ve won a few math and Quran competitions. I like to read and play soccer with my friends. I learned from the Quran to do my best in everything I do.”

The Birmingham Qur’an manuscript is part of the Mingana Collection. The collection comprises more than 3,000 Middle Eastern manuscripts in more than 20 languages, including Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Georgian, Hebrew, Samaritan and Armenian.

LEARN MORE MORE LEARN

In his preface to The One and the Many: The Early History of the Qur’an, published in January by the Yale University Press, François Déroche explains, “My main concern (in this book) is to examine the various ways in which Muhammad’s message was received in the early years of Islam, and to survey the field that was left open to variation in renderings of the sacred text as a consequence of this. Here the term ‘variation,’ as I understand it, covers all of the divergences met with

in the Qur-anic corpus, particularly in the manuscripts, and includes those variants in the text of the Qur-an itself.”

David Stephan Powers, a professor in the Near Eastern Studies department at Cornell University, describes The One and the Many as “a masterful and clearly written synthesis of Déroche’s pioneering and pathbreaking scholarship on early Islamic manuscripts over the past three decades.”

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Reviews

Shop our Ohio History Store in person at the Ohio History Center or online at ohiohistorystore.com for this title and more.

BOOK

Hidden History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley by Sean T. Posey

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The 1915–1916 steel strike resulted in three deaths and more than 100 injuries and in the destruction of most of the village of East Youngstown, to which the strikers set fire. The workers in what

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Sports fans should find interesting “Steel Valley Sluggers: An Early History of Youngstown Baseball,” a chapter that chronicles the emergence of the sport in the Mahoning Valley in the 1880s.

Jimmy McAleer was the city’s first star, eventually making the major leagues and playing for the Cleveland Spiders in the 1890s. Baseball waned in Mahoning County after the departure of the steel mills, once-grand fields overgrown with weeds, the wooden stands crumbling.

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as

Hidden History is a wide-ranging book.

It includes chapters on the Spanish Flu in the Mahoning Valley, the great steel strike of 1919 and the St. Columba Cathedral fire in 1954. In his introduction, Posey writes, “Perhaps no chapter in the book will represent the nature of hidden history in this area more than the story of how the Negro Motorist Green Book

worked in Youngstown. The reality of racial segregation in the Mahoning Valley is likely to be an uncomfortable one for many readers.” But that segregation, Posey argues, “is entirely representative of the larger industrial North during the early and midtwentieth century.”

m

The first 30 years of the 20th century marked an explosion of industry in northeast Ohio. The time was, according to the Youngstown Vindicator, the dawning of “modern Youngstown.” The chapters in Hidden History tell forgotten stories that span the entire 20th century, concentrating in particular on its first three decades. Freelance writer and historian Sean T. Posey outlines the city’s growth in the chapter “The WPA in the Mahoning Valley.” By 1930, “Youngstown reached its peak population of 170,000, making it the forty-fifth-largest city in the country,” Posey writes. That growth was fueled by heavy industry. He continues, “In 1927, the Youngstown steel district had been the biggest producer of steel in the country. Youngstown’s laborers earned the highest average wages of any manufacturing workers in comparable industrial cities.”

is now Campbell eventually earned a two-and-a-half-cent raise, which was adopted by the steel industry nationwide. The strike also led to the construction of housing in East Youngstown and Struthers for employees of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. Campbell was known through the rest of the century as a blue-collar town, a well-earned reputation.

—Bill Eichenberger, Echoes Magazine

National Archives and Records Administration

Thomas Molocea

Top (oval): Members of the Brier Hill baseball team pose for a portrait in 1906. Left: Laborers of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., circa 1919. According to labor historian David Brody, in 1919, the 12-hour day was more common in the steel industry than it had been a decade earlier. Right: The ruins of the Hamory Bank and a neighboring drugstore in East Youngstown (now Campbell) still smolder the day after a long night of arson during the 1915–1916 steel strike.

50 Echoes | MAY & JUNE 2022

Draft of unpublished Ode to John H. Patterson by Paul Laurence Dunbar, from Ohio History Connection Archival Collections.

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NOW ON EXHIBIT OHIO VILLAGE PRESENTS

Enjoy sights and sounds of Christmas Past!

Saturdays 5:30–9 p.m. • Sundays Noon–5 p.m.

I-71 & 17th Avenue, Columbus 800.686.6124 800.686.1541 ohiohistory.org/wonders

Advance timed tickets required. No on-site ticket sales.

ohiohistory.org/dickens