Tag Archives: Cincinnati History

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 →

T. M. Berry Project: Berry and the Fight for Fair Housing in Cincinnati, Part 1

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By Laura Laugle

Cincinnati has had a housing problem for a long time; after all, only so many people can fit into the basin that makes up downtown and its immediate surroundings. However, for much of the city’s early history, the African American population was so small and resident Caucasians depended so heavily on the services which they provided that their housing was simply not a problem. The few blacks living in Cincinnati in 1900 made up only about 4.5% of the city’s total population. Out of practicality (who could afford to rent a horse each day for the housemaid’s commute?) blacks lived either with the white families they served or in neighborhoods close to the whites for whom they worked. As a result, high income white neighborhoods were home to black domestics and middle and lower income white neighborhoods, especially those near business districts, were home to working class blacks. That is not to say that race relations in Cincinnati were A-Ok; there were riots throughout the 1800s, rampant legal and illegal discrimination and general tension, but whites simply had no other choice but to accommodate the blacks living among them. Continue reading →

Theater on the River: The Showboat Majestic Records

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By Suzanne Maggard

In 1967, the City of Cincinnati purchased an old showboat named the Majestic and docked it at Cincinnati’s Public Landing.  The city was in the process of attempting to revive its riverfront and thought the boat, which spoke to an earlier era of river travel, might be a perfect addition.  To keep the tradition of the showboat alive, the city leased this boat to the University of Cincinnati, and in the summer of 1968, UC theater students began performing on the Majestic. Continue reading →

T. M. Berry Project: Sargent Shriver and Special Thanks to Gail Berry West and Judge Ted N. Berry

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By Laura Laugle

Berry and Shriver talkingMy favorite finds for this week come to the Archives and Rare Books library courtesy of Judge Ted N. Berry and his sister Gail Berry West who kindly donated another addition to the Theodore M. Berry Collection. The pair came to visit the ARB while Gail was up from Washington D.C. visiting. I had a great time escorting them down memory lane with some items of particular interest I pulled from the collection for their visit.

Among the treasures they brought were these two photos which picture Berry and Shriver at a meeting with top management at the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) and Vice President Hubert Humphrey (seated at the far end of the table next to Sarge in the photo below.) Though they worked together closely for almost four years during the Johnson administration we have only a few photos of Berry and Shriver together and little in the way of correspondence other than that which pertains to the operation of OEO programs. Continue reading →

Wish you could Dance? Check out the Cincinnati Ballet Records in ARB

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Whether you love to dance or just wish you could, you’ll certainly enjoy viewing the photographs, drawings and posters in the Cincinnati Ballet records.  This recent donation to the Archives and Rare Books Library spans almost the entire history of the Cincinnati Ballet from the early 1960s until 2009.  These records provide a look into the formation of this acclaimed Cincinnati institution and even its connections with UC. Continue reading →

City of Cincinnati Annexation Records

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By Janice Schulz

Map of Cincinnati 1819

Cincinnati in 1819 from “Centennial History of Cincinnati,” 1904

The Archives & Rare Books Library holds a unique collection of local government records vital to the understanding of Cincinnati’s growth from a small walking city into the expansive metropolitan area that exists today. Acquired in 1996 from the Cincinnati Clerk of Council and through the Ohio Network of American History Research Centers program, the Cincinnati Annexation Collection includes annexation records generated by the City and the villages from 1869 to 1939 as well as former village records acquired by Cincinnati at the time of annexation, some dating back to 1829. These records are an excellent resource for researching the history of Cincinnati’s neighborhoods.

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T. M Berry Project: Alpha Phi Alpha

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By: Laura Laugle

It (finally!) stopped raining long enough for me to transport some photos from here in the Blegen Library across campus to the Langsam Library to Preservation Services. My favorite among the photos needing repair work are some wonderful panoramic photos from the 1930s of both the Cincinnati chapter and annual conventions of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation’s first intercollegiate fraternity for African American men. These photos are quite large, around 30-46 inches long and are beautifully done group shots of the members in their spiffiest attire. While those materials are currently undergoing restoration, I would still like to share with you a number of other items I’ve found relating to AΦA. Continue reading →

T. M. Berry Project: Keeping Busy

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By Laura Laugle

I don’t know about you, but when I think of retirement I think of time spent relaxing with cool drinks in a warm climate (at least, I think that’d be the ideal for many of us.) Apparently, Theodore M. Berry didn’t think so. If what I’ve lately found in the collection which he donated to the University of Cincinnati is any indication, I think I can safely say that Berry’s retirement, though most assuredly rewarding, was no walk in the park – not even when he took the neighbor’s dog out for a walk.

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