The Ohio History Connection is the state historical society, headquartered in its own building in Columbus. Founded in 1885 and the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, it actually had its roots in an organization funded in 1822.
Its mission is to preserve and educate people about Ohio history — from prehistoric ice-age relics, mounds and earthworks up to thousands of years old to the creators of Superman comics — with its massive archives of materials, such as documents, photos, magazines, books and more.
Its network includes 58 historical sites and museums in 40 of Ohio’s 88 counties. There are sites devoted to Ohio’s eight presidents including U.S. Grant’s birthplace, Warren G. Harding’s home and the Rutherford Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, dedicated to the president who owned the U.S.’s first Siamese cats.
Other sites include astronaut/U.S. Senator John Glenn and his wife Annie, who recently passed away and the Neil Armstrong Art & Space Museum in Wapakoneta; a museum dedicated to Armstrong’s fellow astronaut (and U.S. Senator) John Glenn and his wife Annie who died recently; and a home near Cincinnati where Harriet Beecher Stowe lived for several years in 1830s. In Shaker Heights, there’s the Shaker Historical Museum where you can learn about this sect that gave the suburb its name.
No, you can’t visit them right now. But luckily, like many similar organizations, it’s digitized a chunk of its holdings, which you can access at its website or its social media. You can lose a significant chunk of time scrolling through photos and bios of important Ohioans you probably never heard of; pictures of long-forgotten disasters such as the Great Lakes Storm of November 1913 which dumped more than 22 inches of snow on Cleveland in two days, collapsed buildings and killed more than 235 lost on Lake Erie; and nostalgic pictures of everyday life from the 1800s to today. We’re sharing a few with you. There are thousands more!
One Response to “Ohio History Connection Offers a Window to the State’s Past”
ted dick
Nice article –
Seeing as this history in the context of the Indians rumored to be changing their name – why not the Presidents or the Astronauts or the Supermen or the Lake Effects. I am flooded with ideas – but I don’t mean to snow you under.