Author Archives: Suzanne Reller

City Reports Offer Wealth of Information for Cincinnati Researchers

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Loan Sharks

In 1912 the Department of Charities and Correction launched a crusade against loan sharks who were targeting the poor of Cincinnati

By Janice Schulz

The Archives & Rare Books Library holds City of Cincinnati Annual Reports from 1853-1870, 1875-1876, 1905-1914, and 1926-1958. These reports contain valuable information for anyone researching the history of Cincinnati, its departments, its people, and its issues.

While reports included in each volume vary, the Mayor’s report is always available.  Also available may be various city financial reports and reports from City Council, schools, the Health Department and health care facilities, the House of Refuge, the Fire Department, the Police Department, Public Works, the City Engineer, jails, Civil Service Commission, City Solicitor, Parks Department, the University of Cincinnati, and other city commissions. Until 1914, each individual annual report is published in full, but after that time the reports take on more of a summarized format under the title Municipal Activities. Continue reading →

Does the Magic 8 Ball have a UC connection? Signs Point to Yes.

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By Janice Schulz

At the Archives & Rare Books Library we frequently get requests asking us to verify that a certain individual attended UC or one of its predecessor schools. Recently a call came in asking us to substantiate a claim found on the internet that Abe Bookman, creator of the Magic 8 Ball, was a graduate of the Ohio Mechanics Institute (OMI). Generally this is an easy task – we simply look in alumni directories, yearbooks or commencement brochures for the person – but Abe proved to be a bit more elusive than most. With no attendance dates to go by, we started pouring through all of the resources we have for OMI using his birth date and the Magic 8 Ball’s introduction as guides, but to no avail. After further research, the reason for his elusiveness began to become clearer – at some point around 1936, we believe he Anglicized his surname from Buchmann to Bookman. He seemed to use both names until around 1955, eventually dropping Buchmann and exclusively using Bookman. That research also uncovered some interesting details about his life. Continue reading →

Edythe Klumpp and the "Case of the Century"

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By Janice Schulz

Every city in every era seems to have its “Crime of the Century” and during the 1950s in Cincinnati, that was the 1958 murder of Louise Bergen, a Cincinnati housewife.  The trial of her accused killer, Edythe Klumpp, was held during the summer of 1959. The case was sensational for many reasons – a “love triangle” between Edythe, Louise, and Louise’s husband, Bill Bergen; Edythe’s history of two divorces and other affairs; the participation of Foss Hopkins, Edythe’s defense attorney; the specter of the death penalty for a woman; and the controversial role of Ohio Governor Michael DiSalle in Edythe’s ultimate fate.

Edythe Klumpp Booking

Edythe Klumpp’s booking photographs. From the collection of the UC Archives & Rare Books Library

Louise Bergen’s body was found burned near the public beach at Cowen Lake on the evening of November 1, 1958. The subsequent investigation zeroed in on Bill Bergen’s live-in lover, Edythe Klumpp, who confessed after failing a lie detector test. Edythe claimed that the killing was accidental, that a gun went off during a struggle and hit Louise in the throat. But Hamilton County Prosecutor C. Watson Hover disagreed, charging her with first degree murder and seeking the death penalty.

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Celebrating the Theodore M. Berry Project

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By Kevin Grace

Theodore Berry     Yesterday evening a special event celebrated the processing of the Theodore M. Berry Papers.  Hosted by the Office of the President, UC Libraries, UC College of Law, UC Alumni Association, and the UC Foundation, the gathering attracted over a hundred people to recognize the outstanding contributions of civil rights leader Berry to his alma mater, his community and his nation.   Theodore “Ted” Berry (1905-2000) was the first African American mayor in Cincinnati, served the Lyndon Baines Johnson presidential administration in civil rights programs, and was an active attorney for the NAACP.  The Berry papers, acquired by the UC Libraries many years ago, were able to be fully processed through a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission of the National Archives.  The materials are now available for research and teaching. Continue reading →

Please, sir, it is time for more 50 Minutes-1 Book

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Scene from Oliver Twist

By Kevin Grace

-Just a reminder: this Thursday, February 23, our monthly “50 Minutes – 1 Book” lunchtime talk from 12-12:50 in 814 Blegen Library will feature Oliver Twist, a look at the poor orphan and the nefarious Fagin as well as a short, but illuminating, discourse on the Dickens holdings.

For more information about the Archives & Rare Books Library and its collections, call (513) 556-1959, email archives@ucmail.uc.edu, or visit the website, www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/archives

Scene from Oliver TwistCharles Dickens

Love and Romance

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By Janice Schulz

In honor of St. Valentine’s Day, the Archives & Rare Books Library is highlighting some of our holdings related to love, romance, and marriage.  Like the course of romance itself, our material can run the gamut from wonderful, to bittersweet, to downright tragic.

The March's from Their Wedding Journey

Basil and Isabel March rest in the Boston ticket office before continuing Their Wedding Journey.

Their Wedding Journey, written by William Dean Howells in 1871, chronicles the expedition of newlyweds Basil and Isabel March, a European couple taking their honeymoon in North America. The March’s are beyond the “standard,” age of newlyweds, having had some fits and starts in their relationship before finally tying the knot, and as such, they wish to behave with a bit more maturity than the average honeymooners. Disembarking in Boston (where, on a local note, conversation from the ticket counter leads them to believe that “it is easy enough to buy a ticket in Cincinnati, but it is somewhat harder to arrive there”) their plans take them through New York, to Niagara, Montreal, and finally Quebec. The story is one of a truly contented couple. Upon arriving home, “Their holiday was over to be sure, but their bliss had but begun; they had entered upon that long life of holidays which is happy marriage.” The book is available in the ARB Rare Books collection, cataloged as PS2025 .T58 1871.

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Charles Dickens in Cincinnati

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By Kevin Grace

Dicken's "The British Lion in America"As we continue to celebrate Dickens’ birth (he turned 200 this past Tuesday, and still seems robust), we should note his visit to Cincinnati in 1842.  The visit was part of Dickens’ itinerary on his first journey to America, with initial stops in Boston, New York, Washington, and Pittsburgh.

Accompanied by his wife, Catherine, Dickens thoroughly enjoyed Boston, was not so enthralled by the nation’s capitol with all the necessary politics, and had quite a negative impression of Pittsburgh.  Cincinnati in springtime, however, he found to be “a beautiful city, cheerful, thriving, and animated.”  Dickens documented his trip to the United States in American Notes for General Circulation, published in October after his return to England.  In Cincinnati, he was very complimentary about the orderly streets and houses, so it is apparent that he wasn’t walking about during one of the regular hog-drives to the slaughterhouses!  He enjoyed the view from Mt. Auburn, complimented the city’s system of free schools, and sat in on a nuisance trial in the courts.  In American Notes, he stated: “The society with which I mingled was intelligent, courteous, and agreeable.” Continue reading →

Charles Dickens, the Serial Man

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By Kevin Grace

Edwind Drood CoverPart of Charles Dickens’ immense success as an author in the 19th century was due in no small measure to the changes in book production and readership brought on by the Industrial Revolution.  Steam printing increased book production.  Cheap availability of books, along with the development of libraries and public schooling, led to increased readership.  Coming into his own in writing his novels, Dickens took advantage of a growing demand on the part of readers for fiction.  And, as the consummate marketer of his works, Dickens had his finger on the pulse of all of this.

By 1836, he had compiled his writings that formed Sketches by Boz into a single volume, realizing that he could build his popularity and create a market for his fiction by publishing serial chapters.  The next year, 1837, Dickens became the editor for Bentley’s Miscellany and began issuing chapters of Oliver Twist.  Acutely aware of his reputation and the acclaim given him by the reading public, Dickens made at least four separate arrangements with publishers to serialize his work.  Continue reading →

A Charles Dickens February

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By Kevin Grace

Drawing by CruikshankIn our Dickens scene for today, young Oliver watches the Dodger pickpocket a gentleman at a newsstand, an image drawn by London caricaturist George Cruikshank (1792-1878).  Cruikshank penned scathing cartoons in which he lampooned the well-heeled set of London as well as the denizens of despair, and it is these drawings which have made his lasting reputation for 19th century English social and political commentary.   Cruikshank also illustrated several books by Dickens and, in fact, toward the end of his life he claimed that it was he who devised the plot of Oliver Twist.  Dickens, as one would expect, viewed these literary matters quite differently and was rather miffed at Cruickshank anyway because the artist gave up a life of mild debauchery to reject the drink and to squelch discussion of his numerous illegitimate offspring with his mistress, Adelaide Attree.  Dickens thought imbibing in moderation was quite all right.  We shan’t say whether it was for alcohol or keeping paramours. Continue reading →

Please Sir, I Want Some More, or, a Dickens of a Celebration

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By Kevin Grace

Oliver TwistThis month marks the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens, a man who once remarked on an 1842 visit to Cincinnati that the Irish marchers in a temperance parade behaved quite nicely.  Of course, that visit was in January so the St. Patrick’s Day parade was still two months away.  Dickens’ bicentennial is February 7, and throughout the month the Archives & Rare Books Library will be commemorating this notable event.  “Why?”  is the question we hear being whispered across campus.  It is because ARB holds a very fine collection of Dickens – Dickens in parts, Dickens first editions in single and multiple volumes, Dickens in collected works, Dickens, Dickens, Dickens.  It is the Dickens, we say.  Continue reading →