Category Archives: ARB Library

Posts related to the archives and rare books category.

T. M. Berry Project: Civil Rights in Ohio

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By Laura Laugle

Woodward High School Oration Competitors

Theodore M. Berry with his Woodward High oration competitors Charlotte Lightfield, Nelson Murphy, and Aston Welsh, 1924

For those readers who have kept up at all with these blog posts, it will come as no surprise that Theodore M. Berry played a major role in aiding the civil rights movement in Ohio, and more particularly in Greater Cincinnati. What may be surprising to those who don’t know much about his life, though, is the way he went about it – firmly but politely and, most importantly, effectively. This was and continues to be, in this archivist’s humble opinion, one of his greatest contributions to the cause. For many people who were not witness to “the civil rights movement,” that term conjures images of the race riots which took place in Avondale, Detroit, and Watts during the 1960s, or of militant Black Panthers like those depicted in the film Forrest Gump. Berry, however, took a very different tack right from the start, believing the only way to extinguish the fire of discrimination would be to invalidate the prevailing stereotypes about African Americans which fed its flames. Well before he ever had the idea of becoming a city councilman, a personal liaison for a United States presidential candidate, or the director of a federal agency, Berry simply strove to be the best that he possibly could be. He broke down a number of walls in doing so.

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Zen in the Archives and Rare Books Library: John Cage and the Van Meter Ames Papers

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By Lauren Fink

Cage and Van Meter Ames

Van Meter Ames (left) with John Cage.

A new collection, documenting the friendship between composer John Cage and UC professor Van Meter Ames, has just been added to the Van Meter Ames Papers in the University of Cincinnati Archives and Rare Books Library. Van Meter Ames was a faculty member in the UC philosophy department, beginning in 1925, and served as its head from 1959 until 1966 when he retired. Ames was a Rockefeller grantee, a fellow of the UC graduate school, and a Fulbright research professor in philosophy, University of Komozawa, Tokyo, 1958-59. Throughout his career, Ames wrote and published on a vast range of topics including aesthetics, the self, ethics, religion, science, freedom, existentialism, and Eastern philosophy. His interest in Zen paralleled Cage’s and solidified their mutual respect for one another, which is evidenced in this collection of documents.

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Oral History Project documents Cincinnati's African American Community

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By Suzanne Maggard

In the Archives and Rare Books Library, we help students, faculty, and even outside researchers with their projects, so it is always exciting when we are able to reap the benefits of great student projects of the past.  One such project is a collection of oral histories organized by Eleanor Smith, a professor in the Afro-American Studies Department (now the Department of Africana Studies) at UC.  Smith was inspired to direct this project after encountering a lack of information on black Cincinnatians in the area’s libraries and archives.  She designed an oral history class to change that and in 1975 and 1976, Smith’s students conducted interviews with 23 African-Americans in Cincinnati from a variety of backgrounds.  The oral histories that resulted from this project provide a unique view of African American life in Cincinnati in the early and mid-20th century and shed light on the experiences of African Americans in a city where segregation may not have always been in writing, but was certainly the norm.  Those who were interviewed saw the importance of passing on their stories to the next generation.  Although equal rights were still being sought in the mid-1970s and are still a struggle today, leaps and bounds were made in the lifetimes of many of these men and women and their stories taught the student interviewers important lessons.

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Updated Finding Aids Lists on ARB's website

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ARB Stacks

By Suzanne Maggard

Did you know that the Archives and Rare Books Library holds thousands of linear feet of archival material?  ARB has material relating to Urban Studies, German-Americana, University Archives and local government records including things like UC Board of Trustees minutes, wills for Hamilton County, Ohio, photographs of Cincinnati’s never completed subway,  theater programs, labor newspapers, sheet music and much, much more.  We are constantly in the process of organizing these materials and creating finding aids to help you locate them.  We’ve recently updated the finding aids lists on our website to show you even more of what we have.  We’ve also added links to our finding aids available through the OhioLINK Finding Aid Repository.    Take a look and see if there is anything that interests you.  For more information, call the Archives and Rare Books Library at 513-556-1959 or send an email to archives@ucmail.uc.edu.

Additions to ARB's Greek Life Exhibit

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By Janice Schulz

Additions and updates have been made to ARB’s exhibit Going Greek: Fraternity and Sorority Life at the University of Cincinnati.

Omega Psi Phi pledges From Clifton Magazine, Autumn, 1981

Pledging traditions of African-American fraternities are highlighted in an article from the Autumn, 1981, edition of Clifton Magazine, now available on the 1980 and Beyond history page. During the anti-hazing controversies of the early 1980s, long-time pledging rituals practiced by Black fraternities, such as marching and branding, were brought into focus and their legality was questioned. Members defended these activities while outsiders tended to view them with a more critical eye. Continue reading →

New Accession in the German Americana Collection

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By Lauren Fink

A new collection containing materials of the Swiss Benevolent Association of Cincinnati, Ohio has just been processed in the Archives and Rare Books Library and a finding aid is now accessible at http://rave.ohiolink.edu/archives/ead/OhCiUAR0270. This Cincinnati-area organization was founded in 1871, with the objective of bringing Swiss citizens together to cultivate traditions and provide support, and remains active today.  From its inception, the association has not only organized social events, but has also provided assistance (i.e. funeral costs, welfare services, and scholarships) for members and German-Swiss related charities.  This collection, of a primarily German-speaking group, adds a new dimension to the UC Libraries’ other holdings in German Americana. Continue reading →

T. M. Berry Project: Great Living Cincinnatian Award

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By Laura Laugle

In 1984, while Theodore M. Berry was heavily involved in the battle to end racial segregation in Cincinnati Public Schools, the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce chose him as a “Great Living Cincinnatian.”  This prestigious designation by the Chamber is part of the organization’s annual honor conferred on local citizens who have made a substantial impact on Cincinnati life.  Joining Berry in being honored that year was Cincinnati Bell CEO, Richard T. Dugan.  Every year since 1967, the Chamber of Commerce (now called the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber) has chosen a select few Cincinnatians as “Great Living Cincinnatians” based upon their achievement in five categories over a lifetime of work: community service, business and civic attainment on a local, state and national or international level, leadership, awareness of the needs of others, and distinctive accomplishments that have brought favorable attention to their community, institution or organization. Continue reading →

T. M. Berry Project: Berry and the Fight for Fair Housing in Cincinnati, Part 3

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By Laura Laugle

All these delays caused one huge problem: members who had been in need of homes back in 1947 found housing before homes could be built for them at Hollydale in the mid to late 1950s. The result was an enormous expense for the Cedar Grove Homestead Association, which had to refund many of its original members’ investments. Gail Berry remembers her father going to Cedar Grove meetings and to the building site at Hollydale in Springfield Township many times during her childhood. Fortunately, as Berry points out in the article to the right, this type of persistence paid off and the association managed to build a safe and stable community for Cincinnati’s black residents.

Approximately 200 homes were built in the subdivision in the middle part of the 20th century. Thanks to the efficiency of the building techniques used, the homes in Hollydale were relatively affordable. However, the people who ended up settling there were the same people who could afford to wait for houses to be built to his/her specifications and who generally had steady if not large incomes. At first glance then, it would seem that Hollydale would have had little effect on the massive overpopulation problems in Cincinnati’s low income black neighborhoods. However, this is one instance (of only a few) where “trickle down” economics seems to apply beautifully. People moving to Hollydale cleared up at least a little space in the basin of the city which, when combined with additional new housing projects like Park Town, Garden Hill and Richmond Village for which Berry acted as counsel and others like Laurel Homes and Lincoln Court eventually created enough housing to relieve much of the congestion plaguing poor black neighborhoods. Continue reading →

Historical Cincinnati Maps

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A map of Cincinnati in 1869 from The Queen City in 1869 by George E. Stevens

By Janice Schulz

The Archives & Rare Books Library has digitized some historical Cincinnati maps dating from 1802 – 1929 and has made them available for research on our website. The maps are all located in materials from our Rare Books Collection and are scanned at a high resolution to provide detail for researchers.

The maps provide both geographical and social information about the City of Cincinnati through the years. Several of the maps included keys or labels indicating buildings and landmarks and can show trends in public services and the development of particular communities. Continue reading →

T. M. Berry Project: Berry and the Fight for Fair Housing in Cincinnati, Part 2

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By Laura Laugle

On May 28, 1948, less than a year after its initial formation, Cedar Grove Homestead Association had the funds available to authorize Berry to begin negotiations to purchase a 93 acre tract of land. The final price for the land: $17,500. Unfortunately, getting the owner to sell to an association made up entirely of African Americans wasn’t so easy…

The problem for Berry and his partners was, as expected, discrimination. The chosen plot of land for the subdivision which would be named “Hollydale” was a farm in Springfield Township near Glenview Golf Course. Continue reading →