Tag Archives: Cincinnati History

T. M. Berry Project: The New Horizon

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Cover of New Horizon

By Laura Laugle

Now that the physical processing of the Berry collection is complete and I’ve begun arranging materials, I’ve come across some items which, when I processed them months and months ago, I was too ignorant of their context to fully appreciate. Chief among those items are three copies of The New Horizon. I had no idea when I pulled out the rusty staples, pried off the bits of rapidly disintegrating paperclips and filed them temporarily (read: labeled with a removable sticky note) as “Misc. Copies of New Horizon” how incredibly important these school papers really are. Continue reading →

College of Music Historical Collection in ARB

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By Lauren Fink

Cover of Concert Program, 1901In the Archives and Rare Books Library, we recently processed a collection containing historical records of the College of Music of Cincinnati. This collection spans 1878-1967 and contains commencement bulletins, programs, student rosters, and minutes of executive, financial, and stockholder’s committee meetings. Illustrating the historical and biographical nature of this collection, the 1926 commencement bulletin entitled “College Comments,” contains articles on the College’s faculty, graduating students, clubs, and ensembles. Further, meeting minutes provide details of all of the College’s major educational and financial concerns and Minutes of the Finance Committee, 1896decisions, such as how to create more space for radio labs or the necessity of hiring certain faculty for certain departments. The minutes also contain outlines of correspondence between the College and the Conservatory of Music on having a connection with each other. To view the contents of this new collection, see the finding aid online (http://rave.ohiolink.edu/archives/ead/OhCiUAR0287). Continue reading →

T. M. Berry Project: Proportional Representation in Cincinnati

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By Laura Laugle

A large part of Theodore M. Berry’s work in obtaining equality for African Americans in Ohio and especially in Cincinnati centered on the electoral process. The “Berry Backers” frequently ran “Get out the Vote” type events throughout the 1940s and 1950s, using the lure of bowling tournaments and visiting speakers like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to encourage blacks to work with the systems in place and become involved in the political process. It should then come as no surprise that Berry spent many years fighting for what he believed to be the fairest system of voting – proportional representation.

Bowling Team

The “Berry Backers” bowling team at one of their many events

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An Alma Mater Moment

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By Kevin Grace

University BuildingOver the years, I’ve gathered a fair amount of UC ephemera from garage sales, flea markets, estate sales, and Ebay, and eventually I’ll end up giving it to the University Archives.  In the meantime, it’s always a nice little surprise when I dig around in my basement boxes and find these odds and ends.  The postcard shown here is of the original University Building, constructed on Charles McMicken’s property in 1875.  That property had been bequeathed to the City of Cincinnati in McMicken’s will when he died in 1858, and after litigation and the Civil War, the city was ready to create a university.  UC initially held classes in the old Woodward High School building in Over-the-Rhine.  With the erection of a permanent building, the university moved to the hillside below present day Clifton Avenue as it winds its way downtown. Continue reading →

Domestic Manners of the Americans by Mrs. Frances Trollope

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By Janice Schulz

“We heard on every side, that of all the known places on ‘the globe called earth,’ Cincinnati was the most favourable for a young man to settle in…”

From Domestic Manners of the Americans

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Mrs. Frances Trollope

Mrs. Frances Trollope

London gentlewoman Mrs. Frances Trollope had an idea. She would open a shop – a shop in America where she could offer the residents of that fast-growing country the finer things in life – unique items that they otherwise would not have the chance to purchase. Her middle son Henry could run the store, establish himself in a lucrative business, and take advantage of the opportunities that America had to offer a young man. Although possessed of the highest manners and an impressive family background, the Trollopes were not wealthy by the definition of London society, a fact that seriously interfered with Mrs. Trollope’s plans, especially for her children’s future. So she looked to America, and specifically to Cincinnati, to provide the right economic climate and market for her shop idea. In the end the venture was not a smashing success and her expectations of Cincinnati were far from confirmed, but the trip resulted in what would become Mrs. Trollope’s crowning glory, Domestic Manners of the Americans, a travel log of her adventures in the United States. While the book earned Mrs. Trollope popularity and was hailed as a triumph in her homeland, its revelations of uncultured Americans served to portray her as a snobbish villain in the States, particularly with the residents of Cincinnati. Continue reading →

A Matter of Time

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Robert Marx

Robert S. Marx

By Lauren Fink

The Archives and Rare Books Library was recently delivered a copper box that looked like it had been through a fire. The box, actually a time capsule from 1963, was found on the top shelf of a safe in the College of Law. Curious faculty members then inquired about opening it and were granted permission. The contents were revealed and, regardless of what the time capsule has gone through, all are in excellent condition.

Many of the contents of the 1963 College of Law time capsule commemorate the contributions and achievements of Robert S. Marx (1889-1960). Marx graduated from the University Of Cincinnati College Of Law, where he later became a member of the faculty. While attending the university, Marx was a football captain in 1908 and a member of the wrestling and debate teams. Later, as a professor and a well-respected judge, he created courses and established a lecture and seminar series that helped advance justice education and the College of Law as a whole. Continue reading →

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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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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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 →