Tag Archives: Cincinnati

The Visual Power of American Civil War Correspondence: Looking through the lens of the Benjamin L. Askue, Jr. Civil War Letters

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benjamin l. askue, jr. during the American Civil Way, circa 1860s
Benjamin L. Askue, Jr. during the American Civil War, circa 1860s

Frontline accounts of military conflicts provide a glimpse into the world of the war. The historical record reflects numerous descriptions of soldier’s and military doctor’s accounts of the bloodiest war ever engaged on American soil – the Civil War. The Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions announces the launch of the narratives of the 23rd Regiment Ohio Volunteers Infantry doctor, the Benjamin L. Askue, Jr. Civil War Letters Benjamin L. Askue, Jr. Civil War Letters on JSTOR.

Askue was born in November 1833 to Benjamin and Rowena Cordelia Askue in Ashtabula, Ohio. In 1853, he married his cousin Flavia Pritchard. The letters he wrote to Flavia during the American Civil War demonstrate that they had a happy marriage. The couple had five children together.

During the 19th century and early 20th century, physicians often received their training through apprenticeships. Askue followed this path becoming a homeopathic doctor. In 1861 he joined the 23rd Regiment Ohio Volunteers Infantry, Company B in the Union Army. Askue served as a cook, nurse, hospital steward, and in the 23rd Regiment’s infantry. He left the Union Army In July 1865. Askue returned to Ashtabula to farm and practice homeopathic medicine. He died in 1906.

Askue’s archives and artifacts were donated to the Winkler Center. While his archives hold numerous documents and artifacts, the highlight of the collection consists of letters written to Flavia beginning in June 1861 and concluding in July 1865. He described the 23rd Regiment’s travels, battles, camp life, politics, family in Ashtabula, Ohio and Askue engaged in philosophical analysis of the era.

mid-19th century doctor's traveling medicine kit
Mid-19th century doctor’s traveling medicine kit
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Striker Lecture 2025: History of Pharmacy Education in the Queen City

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The University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy’s 175th anniversary was featured in the 2025 Cecil B. Striker annual lecture series on October 14th. The lecture series is an annual program of the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions. Esteemed pharmacy historian, Dennis B. Worthen gave a standing ovation lecture entitled Pharmacy Education In The Queen City: 1850—2025. Pharmacy Education in the Queen City: 1850-2025 – UC Libraries MediaSpace. Worthen traced the origins of pharmacy education in Cincinnati, beginning with Peter Smith’s Indian Doctor Dispensatory (1810), the first medical book published in Ohio, through today’s College of Pharmacy, which boasts PharmD joint degrees, online master’s and interdisciplinary degrees, graduates from the United States and over 23 countries. Worthen’s narrative of the 175th anniversary of the College of Pharmacy is honored with a year-long exhibition in the Stanley Lucas Boardroom, Health Sciences Library.

cecil striker annual lecture invite

Dennis B. Worthen, Ph.D., served as an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy where he taught the history of pharmacy courses from 1999-2017. He was also affiliated with the Lloyd Library and Museum in Cincinnati, OH as executive director and then the Lloyd Scholar from 1999 to 2013. He retired from Procter & Gamble Health Care as the director of pharmacy affairs in 1999. Dr. Worthen completed his undergraduate education at the University of Michigan and received his graduate degrees from Case Western Reserve University.

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Illustrating War: Announcing the Daniel S. Young Archives of Medical Illustrations digital collection

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Medical illustrations and drawings are a reflection of the state of medical practice at a specific moment in time providing a visual record of science, technology, and anatomical knowledge. 

The artwork of Daniel S. Young highlights the artistic and medical contributions of an American Civil War era medical illustrator in a military context. Daniel S. Young: American Civil War Medical Illustrations on JSTOR. His artistry paints a portrayal of how medical illustration informed medical professionals during the 19th century. Young’s Civil War medical illustrations were crucial in educating doctors on surgical procedures and about previously unseen wounds. While medical illustrations such as Dr. Daniel Young’s served to educate doctors they were also important in aiding veterans in their pension claims and showing how the war impacted the soldiers’ health.

Cuts along the upper arm and elbow. Stone's River, Tennessee.
Cuts along the upper arm and elbow. Stone’s River, Tennessee.
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UC Graduate a notable leader in the United States anti-smoking movement

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UC Graduate a notable leader in the United States anti-smoking movement

Ahron Leichtman (February 21, 1943 – October 12, 2018) was a national and regional leader in the quest to ban public smoking in the United States. He graduated in 1964 from the University of Cincinnati, with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, and earned a creative writing certificate from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1971.

UC Graduate a notable leader in the United States anti-smoking movement
UC Graduate a notable leader in the United States anti-smoking movement
UC Graduate a notable leader in the United States anti-smoking movement
UC Graduate a notable leader in the United States anti-smoking movement

During the 1980s and 1990s he founded multiple organizations to carry out anti-smoking initiatives. He established and led Citizens Against Tobacco Smoke (CATS), which was later renamed Citizens for a Tobacco-Free Society (CATS). Leichtman organized a coalition of over 90 nonsmoker’s rights, anti-smoking and environmental health groups to provide tireless grassroots support for the national campaign to ban airline smoking.

He created the Smoke-free Skies Campaign that led to the ban of smoking on all U.S. airline flights. Leichtman developed promotional materials to encourage the news media to cover the health, safety, legal and economic issues involved with airline smoking. He participated in numerous television network, nationally syndicated and radio interview programs about airline smoking, serving as the primary advocate for a total smoking ban on commercial airline flights.

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Black History Month spotlight: Theodore Berry

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In celebration of Black History Month, we are highlighting African American figures who were influential in their efforts to further civil rights, education and leadership in the city of Cincinnati and America.

Our first spotlight is Theodore Berry. A native of the area, Berry was born in Maysville, Kentucky in 1905. As a young adult, he attended the University of Cincinnati where he received his BA and Law degree, and later in life, his Doctor of Laws.

After his time at UC, Berry served as president for the Cincinnati Chapter of the NAACP, served as morale officer in the Office of War Information, acted as lead defense attorney for the Tuskegee Airmen and served four terms on Cincinnati’s City Council. After an unsuccessful campaign for a fifth City Council term, Berry became a representative for future president John F. Kennedy. Once Kennedy was in office, Berry continued to pioneer civil rights by bringing the NAACP into the White House and serving on its National Board of Directors.

Berry during his time as director of federal Community Actions Programs and assistant director of the Office of Economic Opportunity.

In 1963 Berry was elected for a fifth term on City Council and ended his time there when President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him director of Federal Community Action Programs and assistant director of the Office of Economic Opportunity. Nine years later, Berry was sworn in as the first African American Mayor of Cincinnati. Berry retired from political life in 1975 and passed away 25 years later in 2000.

Through his life and work, it’s easy to see that Theodore Berry was a figure who was revered, trusted and that he made a big impact on Cincinnati and beyond. We are proud to honor him this month and always.

His papers, including correspondence, photographs, news clippings, reports, studies and minutes of meetings are located in the Archives and Rare Books Library. To learn more about Theodore Berry, visit the digital exhibit:

The Collection

Prominent civil rights attorney Al Gerhardstein donates papers to the University of Cincinnati

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Al Gerhardstein, noted Cincinnati civil rights attorney, has donated to the University of Cincinnati Libraries’ Archives and Rare Books Library, papers documenting his nearly 50-year career in civil rights litigation and advocacy, with focuses in reproductive rights, prisoner’s rights, policing, employment discrimination, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.

Material to be found in the extensive collection includes briefs, pleadings, depositions, trial transcriptions, newspaper, magazine and journal articles, as well as correspondence and speeches spanning Gerhardstein’s career and notable legal cases. There are 184 boxes available for research, with 45 more boxes sealed under court order.

supreme court letter

Excerpt from letter notifying Mr. Gerhardstein that his case was entered into the Supreme Court.

Prominent cases in the collection include:

  • Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court case establishing marriage equality for same-sex couples in all 50 states. Gerhardstein represented Jim Obergefell in this fight to be recognized as the husband of John Arthur.
  • Planned Parenthood Association of Cincinnati v. Project Jericho, et al., which was a lawsuit against anti-abortion groups for their continued harassment of women seeking abortion and their providers, after a member of one of the groups firebombed the Margaret Sanger Center abortion clinic in 1985.
  • Prisoner rights lawsuit in response to the 1993 Lucasville Prison riots, where Gerhardstein represented inmates against prison officials for failure to protect them during the riot and the forces that caused the riot.
  • Litigation to declare unconstitutional Article XII, which was voted into the Cincinnati City Charter in 1993 and actively prohibited Cincinnati from protecting LGBT people from discrimination.
  • Creation of the Collaborative Agreement as a partnership between the ACLU, Black United Front, the city of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police, which re-oriented the philosophy of policing in Cincinnati towards a Community Problem Oriented Policing (CPOP) model. It was the result of a civil rights action filed on behalf of a class of African American citizens of Cincinnati based on discriminatory policing including racial profiling, excessive force and disproportionate arrests of African Americans. The success of the Collaborative Agreement made Cincinnati a national role model for police reform.

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Cecil Striker Society Annual Lecture Scheduled for May 15 to Celebrate Two Pioneers in Medical Education

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cecil striker invite

The Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions and the Cecil Striker Society for the History of Medicine will host the 10th Cecil Striker Society Annual Lecture from 5:00-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15, in the Kresge Auditorium, Medical Sciences Building, 231 Albert Sabin Way.

This year’s lecture, titled Daniel Drake’s Connection to Sir William Osler: Celebrating Two Medical Education Reformers, will focus on the immense impact both physicians had on medical education. Philip M. Diller, M.D., Ph.D., and Robert E. Rakel, M.D., will serve as co-lecturers for the event. Continue reading →

University of Cincinnati Press and CLIPS to Receive Free Installation and Training on the Manifold Platform to Help Meet Digital Publishing Goals

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On Thursday, Manifold, an open-source, web-based publishing platform that easily integrates the publication of networked and enhanced ebooks with existing publication workflows, announced that it had selected the University of Cincinnati Press and Library Publishing Services (CLIPS) as one of 10 groups to receive free installation and training on their platform.

Liz Scarpelli, director of the University of Cincinnati Press, said of their involvement: “Manifold will help us further our mission to publish new modes of scholarship and enhanced publications by providing a professional, agile and dynamic presentation site for our authors and readers.  We anticipate using Manifold for many of our publications from traditional monographs to digitally innovative projects designed to expand the dialogue between scholars and community based experts and practitioners.  We see Manifold as a key tool in our discoverability strategy at the University of Cincinnati Press and Cincinnati Library Publishing Services (CLIPS).  The mission based approach and affordability and technical support available through the pilot make Manifold an easy choice in partners for us.”

Read the Manifold press release below to learn more: Continue reading →

Join Us for the 2018 Books by the Banks Poster Launch Featuring Artist Courttney Cooper

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books by the banks poster launchUC Libraries is an organizing partner of Books by the Banks: Cincinnati Regional Book Festival. Join us for the 2018 Poster Launch on Thursday, Sept. 13 from 5-7pm at the Visionaries + Voices’ Visionarium at 3054 Madison Road in Oakley.

This year, Books by the Banks collaborated with Visionaries + Voices and artist Courttney Cooper on the creation of the poster art (a snippet of which is included on the invite at the top of this page). The launch will include refreshments, introductions by V+V and Books by the Banks, the poster reveal, and then remarks and a short Q&A with Courttney Cooper. Copies of the 2018 poster will be available for sale at the launch.

Courttney Cooper creates intensely detailed maps from his physical and psychological experiences in Cincinnati, Ohio. Using everyday materials of a Bic pen and re-purposed paper, Courttney methodically pieces fragments of his life experiences together. Established in 2003, Visionaries + Voices is a non-profit organization that provides exhibition opportunities, studio space, supplies and support to more than 125 visual artists with disabilities. V+V artists actively contribute to the greater arts community through creative, educational and strategic partnerships with local and regional artists, schools and business leaders. For more on Courttney Cooper and Visionaries + Voices, visit https://visionariesandvoices.com/courttney-cooper/.

The Books by the Banks festival is schedule for Saturday, October 20, 10am-5pm in the Duke Energy Center.

Libraries’ Proposal to Encourage Diversity in the Library Profession Awarded an Equity & Inclusion Incentive Grant

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regina bourne

Regina Bourne (center), Library Human Resources and Organizational Development Director, is presented with the grant award. UC/ Joseph Fuqua II

The University of Cincinnati Libraries were awarded an Equity & Inclusion Incentive Grant for the proposal “Exploring the Diverse Career Paths within Libraries,” which aims to introduce and educate minority high school students to the academic library profession for the purpose of attracting them into the profession.

Submitted by UC Libraries, in collaboration with Cincinnati Public Schools, University of Cincinnati Admissions, and partners within the library, the grant will support the creation of two half-day programs for up to 60 college-bound high school minority students from local area schools. Throughout the course of the day, the students will: take a tour of the library; meet faculty and staff with a range of skills and educational backgrounds; engage in learning activities related to library professions; learn about the experiences of student workers currently employed by the library; and gain an understanding of the multitude of career options the library has to offer.

This outreach initiative will address the current trend of retiring librarians, introduce students to diverse disciplines and cultivate interest in the library profession among the visiting students. It will also show how IT skills can be used in the library profession and educate the student visitors about library student worker jobs. Student visitors will be given flash drives uploaded with additional information about libraries to continue to engage them after the day is over.

UC Libraries’ faculty, staff and student workers who help to facilitate the program will gain valuable experience and professional development in diversity and inclusion.

The university’s Equity & Inclusion Incentive Grant program seeks to support collaborative efforts between colleges and units to enhance diversity and inclusion through innovative practices that align with the goals and objectives in the Diversity Plan.