Tag Archives: Cincinnati History

New Collection Documents Fundraising During Trying Times

Posted on by
Mont Reid Brochure

In 1943 the University created this brochure to solicit donations for the Mont R. Reid Memorial Fund to benefit the College of Medicine.

By Janice Schulz

A new collection in the Archives and Rare Books Library shows how the University was able to fund programs, research, and building projects as the country was in the midst of the Great Depression and later in World War II. Transferred to ARB from the Controller’s Office, the one-box collection contains records from the former Department of Business Administration of funds, grants, fellowships, scholarships, and gifts to the University from the 1930s and 1940s. The research of prominent persons, such as Mont Reid, Lucy Braun, George Sperti, and Otto Szász was funded during this time. Some of the biggest donors to UC were Procter and Gamble, Coca-Cola, Baldwin Piano, Julius Fleischmann, and the Streitman Biscuit Company.

In 1934, the Alumni Association started the Committee on University Bequests. Made up of alumni working as practicing attorneys, bankers, trust officers and insurance officials, the committee was designed to provide assistance to those wishing to include UC in their will as well as to encourage alumni to do so. The collection contains the records of the committee’s founding, including correspondence, meeting minutes, and reports. Continue reading →

Answering the call: 25th General Hospital featured in UC Magazine

Posted on by
Barbara Lincoln Ashbaugh with patients in Tongres (Belgium)

Barbara Lincoln Ashbaugh with patients in Tongres (Belgium)

The April edition of UC Magazine features an article based on Courage and Skill in World War II: 25th General Hospital, a UC Libraries online exhibit. Additional photographs, texts and video can be viewed from the digital collection.

During the summer of 1941, the U.S. Army invited the University of Cincinnati to organize the 25th General Hospital to serve as a major medical facility in the European war theater. More than 600 physicians, surgeons, nurses, and enlisted men served the 25th with distinction in England, France, and Belgium until the end of the war. An earlier incarnation of the 25th had bravely served on the battlefields of World War I.

Continue reading →

A Look into the World of Landscape Architecture: The Myrl E. Bottomley Collection

Posted on by

By Janice Schulz

Myrl Bottomley

Professor Myrl E. Bottomley

In 1922, the College of Engineering and Commerce started a new degree program in Architecture that included a few classes in Landscape Design. The classes were well received, and when the Architecture Department moved to the newly created School of Applied Arts in 1925, a complete degree in Landscape Architecture was offered. With the growth of the Landscape program and the School of Applied Arts, a dedicated professor was needed to lead the Landscape Architecture program. Enter Professor Myrl Elijah Bottomley in 1926. A native of Michigan, Bottomley earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State College in 1916. He served in World War I as a lieutenant on the front lines in France, where, as a result of gas attacks, he developed health issues that would stay with him for the rest of his life. After returning from the war, he earned a Master of Landscape Design from Cornell University in 1922. Before coming to UC he served as Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at Iowa State College from 1922-1925. Continue reading →

Paul Hoxworth and Greater Cincinnati's Blood Bank

Posted on by
Blood Donation

Blood Donation, circa 1940. Image from Paul Hoxworth’s dissertation.

If you have ever donated blood, you probably did not sit and think about the history of blood donation in the process.  You likely were more concerned about the needle stick, watching that little bag fill up with your blood or avoiding doing so, or maybe you were already thinking about that cookie you could eat after it was all over.  What you may not have realized was the important role the University of Cincinnati played in developing the modern blood donation process.  Certainly, if you have ever donated blood in the Greater Cincinnati area, you have heard of the Hoxworth Blood Center, which is actually part of the University of Cincinnati.  You may not have heard of its namesake, though.  Dr. Paul Hoxworth was the founder of Greater Cincinnati’s blood bank.  He helped to revolutionize blood donation, thereby saving countless lives. Continue reading →

Greg Hand's History of UC Series Now Available from the ARB Website

Posted on by

Greg Hand

By Janice Schulz

In January, 2012, UC Assistant Vice President and University Spokesperson Greg Hand began a series of lunchtime talks focusing on the history of the University of Cincinnati. At the inaugural presentation, Hand noted that the dozen or so talks he plans to give will be a good way to get people thinking about the University’s bicentennial celebration in 2019. The UC Foundation has agreed to record and post each lecture and make them available on the web. The first two, “Cincinnati’s Efforts to Create a University: 1800 to 1870” and “An Overview of UC History from 1870 to 2010” have been posted and are linked from ARB’s University Archives page.

The talks are held the third Thursday of each month at 12:30 p.m. in TUC’s Main Street Cinema. The remainder of Hand’s talks this academic year includes:

  • March 15  —  Evolution of UC’s Campus and Many Campuses of UC’s Colleges
  • April 19     —  Student Pioneers: First Alumni
  • May 17     —  Origin of UC Regalia & Symbols

The University Archives page offers many links to information about UC’s history and is a great starting point for researchers interested in UC’s story.

City Reports Offer Wealth of Information for Cincinnati Researchers

Posted on by
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 →

Edythe Klumpp and the "Case of the Century"

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading →

Charles Dickens in Cincinnati

Posted on by

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 →

A Charles Dickens February

Posted on by

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 →

UC's Commitment to Community Was Significant During the Great Flood of '37

Posted on by

By: Dawn Fuller

 As Cincinnati marks the 75th year of the greatest flood to ravage this area, UC Archives reveal the university’s volunteer efforts and personal accounts in a university president’s diary.

“In the battle in which our city waged against the greatest flood in the history of the Ohio Valley, the University of Cincinnati has done its duty.” – UC President Raymond Walters, in a February 1937 letter to The News Record student newspaper.

The Great Flood of 1937 was never seen before in this area and has never been seen since. Record rains, followed by surging floodwaters, led to catastrophes that included fires and explosions on the Ohio River in Cincinnati and left behind massive destruction, power outages and, ironically, outages of clean, drinkable water. The local damage alone in 1937 was reported at $20 million ($300 million in current value). More than 50,000 people were reported to be homeless. Continue reading →