Description: This is a photograph of Top and Susan Hawkins, two ex-slaves who lived at 809 Sebert Street in Springfield, Ohio, standing in front of their home. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F05_011_001
Subjects: Ohio--History--Pictorial works; African Americans--Photographs; African American women--Ohio--Photographs; African American Ohioans; Slavery; Freedmen; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Springfield (Ohio); Clark County (Ohio)
 

Description: A photograph of women assembling electric motors in the Small Motor Division of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company factory. Located in Lima, Ohio, the factory was built in 1935. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B07F07_001_1
Subjects: Assembly lines; Factories; Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company; Women--Employment; Machinery industry -- Ohio; Manufacturing processes
Places: Lima (Ohio); Allen County (Ohio)
 

Description: In this letter dated December 30, 1887, Caroline M. Victor asks Mina Miller Edison to urge her husband to fulfill a promise to invent a hearing aid. Thomas Alva Edison answered the letter from Orange, New Jersey in February 1889. His note is in the upper right corner. Edison urges her not to get discouraged since he is working on the problem. The letter is two pages and measures 8.5" x 10.5" (20.96 x 26.67 cm). Edison (1847-1931) was born in Milan, Ohio. He gained fame as an inventor, registering a total of 1,093 patents for such innovations as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the moving picture camera. As a boy, Edison was boxed in the ears by an angry train conductor after he destroyed a box car when his science experiments exploded. Edison pointed to the incident as the cause of his loss of hearing, which worsened throughout his life. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1339_1136022_001
Subjects: Science and Technology; Inventions; Inventors; Hearing aids; Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931; Edison, Mina Miller, 1865-1947
Places: Orange (New Jersey); Milan (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio); Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: This silk flag served as the national colors of the 21st Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry. The flag was manufactured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, between 1863 and 1865. The flag has 35 gold-painted stars on a blue canton. The stars are arranged in two concentric ovals. There is also one star in each of the canton's four corners. The flag has thirteen alternating red and white stripes and gold fringe on its top, right and bottom sides. Text in the flag's stripes reads: "21st. REG. OHIO, VET. VOL. INF[...] / IVY MOUNTAIN, NASHVILLE, HUNTSVILLE, LAVERG[...] / "WILSON'S BEND, WHITE'S CREEK, STONE RIVER, TULLAHOM[...] / DUG GAP, CHICKAMAUGA, CHATTANOOGA, ROCKY FACE / RESSACCA, NEW HOPE CHURCH, PUMPKINVINE CREEK, ALTOONA CREEK, KENNESAW [...] / OLD KNOB, VINING'S STATION,NANCY'S CREEK, PEACH TREE CREEK, SIEGE OF [...] / JONESBORO, MILLEDGEVILLE, LUMPKIN'S STATION, SAVANNAH, CO[...] / ROCKY MOUNT, AVERYBORO, BENTONVILLE, RALE[...]." Some of the text is no longer legible or intact due to deterioration. The dimensions of the flag are 191 by 188 cm. Ohio battle flags were on display at the Ohio Statehouse until the 1960s, when the state formed a committee to oversee the efforts to restore the fragile flags. Some of the battle flags were on display on the Plaza Level of the Ohio Historical Society from 1970 until 1989. For conservation reasons, the flags have been in storage since 1989. In the 1960s, the collection was photographed and commercial artist Robert Needham painted illustrations of many Civil War flags. Photographs of the flags and the paintings are now part of the society's archival collections. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL01907
Subjects: Flags--Ohio; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry
Places: Ohio
 

Description: F. Peterson identification photograph from the files of the Republic Steel Corporation, Central Alloy District. The Central Alloy District consisted of two plants: one in Canton, Ohio, and one in Massillon, Ohio. Identification photographs were taken over a period of time and logged into the files as one batch on June 3, 1942. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: YHC_MSS192_B01F083_10
Subjects: Republic Steel Corporation; Republic Steel Corporation -- Employees
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Painting of regimental colors of the 163rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. (Regimental colors of the 163rd Ohio National Guard.) Rectangular flag measures 105 cm high by 129 cm wide. Text on flag reads: 163rd Reg't Ohio N.G. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02583
Subjects: Flags--Ohio; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
 

Description: The Republic Steel Corporation Collection (MSS 192) consists of 13,000 black and white photographic negatives, 2,000 color photographic negatives, and many 35 mm slides which document Republic Steel Corporation’s main production facilities and its subsidiaries, 1941-1975. This collection also includes images of social events such as company picnics, award banquets, and dances. Founded in 1899, Republic Iron and Steel Company was a steel production company based in Youngstown, Ohio, and the result of a consolidation of 34 steel mills across the United States including the Mahoning Valley’s Brown Bonnell Iron Company, Andrews Brothers and Company, and Mahoning Iron Company. From 1927-1937, Republic Iron and Steel Company expanded its reach by acquiring a number of other companies such as Trumbull Steel Company in Warren, Ohio, and Central Alloy Steel Corporation in Canton, Ohio. With its expansion, Republic Iron and Steel Company became the third largest steel producer in the United States behind United States Steel Corporation and Bethlehem Steel Company, and changed its name to Republic Steel Corporation to reflect its new status. After the outbreak of World War II in 1941, the Corporation’s production increased by 33%. This increased production continued into the 1950s and 1960s as the company continued to be one of the leading developers of steel production technology. Due to a myriad of factors including decreased demand for steel from automobile manufacturers and imported foreign steel, steel sales declined and in 1984 the Republic Steel Corporation was purchased by LTV Corporation, which led to the closure of the Youngstown plant. LTV filed for bankruptcy in December 2000. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: YHC_MSS192_B02F184_13
Subjects: Republic Steel Corporation; Steel industry; Youngstown (Ohio)
 

Description: Official program for the Annual Mid-West Classic, Wilberforce University Bulldogs versus West Virginia State College Yellow Jackets held at Lakin Field Institute in West Virginia on November 24, 1938. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: NAM_MSS6_B08F01_03
Subjects: Wilberforce University; West Virginia State College; Historical Black Colleges and Universities; Sports
Places: West Virginia; Wilberforce (University); Wilberforce (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio); Institute (West Virginia)
 

Description: This image shows the front facade of the Fayette County courthouse. It was built between 1882 and 1885 by architect David Gibbs in an eclectic architectural style, features of which included an arched entrance, pedimented pavilion, and central belfry surmounted by a statue of Justice. Renowned for its Willard murals located outside the entrance to the courtroom, the mural's themes of electricity, telegraphy, and mail represent the early progress of Fayette County. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F02_142
Subjects: Courthouses; National Register of Historic Places;
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio); 110 E. Court
 

Description: The Republic Steel Corporation Collection (MSS 192) consists of 13,000 black and white photographic negatives, 2,000 color photographic negatives, and many 35 mm slides which document Republic Steel Corporation’s main production facilities and its subsidiaries, 1941-1975. This collection also includes images of social events such as company picnics, award banquets, and dances. Founded in 1899, Republic Iron and Steel Company was a steel production company based in Youngstown, Ohio, and the result of a consolidation of 34 steel mills across the United States including the Mahoning Valley’s Brown Bonnell Iron Company, Andrews Brothers and Company, and Mahoning Iron Company. From 1927-1937, Republic Iron and Steel Company expanded its reach by acquiring a number of other companies such as Trumbull Steel Company in Warren, Ohio, and Central Alloy Steel Corporation in Canton, Ohio. With its expansion, Republic Iron and Steel Company became the third largest steel producer in the United States behind United States Steel Corporation and Bethlehem Steel Company, and changed its name to Republic Steel Corporation to reflect its new status. After the outbreak of World War II in 1941, the Corporation’s production increased by 33%. This increased production continued into the 1950s and 1960s as the company continued to be one of the leading developers of steel production technology. Due to a myriad of factors including decreased demand for steel from automobile manufacturers and imported foreign steel, steel sales declined and in 1984 the Republic Steel Corporation was purchased by LTV Corporation, which led to the closure of the Youngstown plant. LTV filed for bankruptcy in December 2000. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: YHC_MSS192_B03F486_002
Subjects: Republic Steel Corporation; Steel industry; Youngstown (Ohio)
 

Description: Parade down Auglaize Street celebrating Neil Armstrong coming back to his hometown Wapakoneta, Ohio after NASA mission Gemini 8. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV_203B2F1_052
Subjects: Armstrong, Neil, 1930-2012; Wapakoneta (Ohio)--History--Pictorial works
Places: Wapakoneta (Ohio); Auglaize County (Ohio)
 

Description: A hand-written letter from Charles Noel Young, “Tonton” in Paris, France to his mother Ada Young regarding the death of his Father Col. Charles Young. Col. Young was the first African American to reach the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Army. In 1918, after being forced into retirement, due to health concerns, he rode on horseback from Wilberforce, Ohio to Washington D.C. to prove his physical fitness for duty. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Page1
Subjects: African American soldiers; African American men; African American women; Horses; Young, Charles, 1864-1922.