Description: Two photographs showing the front and back of a commemorative John Brown medal, commissioned by Victor Hugo and several other French admirers of John Brown and sent to Brown's widow in 1874. The medal is approximately 5.2 x 0.4 cm, and features a relief portrait of Brown on one side with an inscription in French on the reverse. In English, the medal's front text reads "John Brown, born in Torrington, May 9, 1800." The reverse reads "To the memory of John Brown, legally assassinated at Charlestown, December 2, 1859, and to that of his sons and of his companions, who died victims of their devotion to the cause of liberty for blacks." Brown gained national attention when, on October 16, 1859, he led a group of twenty one men on a raid of Harper's Ferry, Virginia (modern-day West Virginia). A federal arsenal was in the town, and Brown hoped to capture the buildings and the weapons stored inside. He then intended to distribute the guns and ammunition to slaves in the region, creating an army of African Americans that would march through the South and force slaveholders to release their slaves. Brown and his men succeeded in capturing the arsenal, but local residents surrounded the buildings, trapping the abolitionists inside. A detachment of U.S. Marines arrived and stormed the arsenal on October 18, capturing seven men, including Brown. He was charged with treason by the state of Virginia, found guilty and sentenced to death. On December 2, 1859, Brown was hanged. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: sc223_11
Subjects: John Brown's Raid, 1859; Abolitionists -- Ohio; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Commemorations;
Places: Harper's Ferry (Virginia);
 

Description: This is the photograph of the monument marking the grave of Thomas Kirker (1760-1837), the second governor of Ohio. The gray stone monument has a carved inscription. Born in County Tyrone, Ireland, he immigrated with his family to this country when he was about 18. After living in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, he moved with his wife, Sarah, to Ohio in 1793 and eventually settled in Liberty Township in Adams County. Kirker became an influential figure in the Northwest Territory. Governor Arthur St. Clair appointed him to be a justice of the peace in 1797. Over the next several years, Kirker, a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, actively campaigned for Ohio statehood, to the consternation of St. Clair, a Federalist Party member. Kirker represented Adams County at Ohio's first Constitutional Convention in 1802 and also as a member of the General Assembly (1803-1815, 1816-1817, and 1821-1825). He was speaker of the Ohio Senate for seven terms between 1804 and 1815 and as Speaker of the Ohio House from 1816 to 1817. In 1807, he became governor of Ohio after Governor Edward Tiffin resigned to take a seat in the U.S. Senate. Kirker was defeated in the next election, but the winner, Return J. Meigs, was disqualified because he had not lived in Ohio the required numbers of years to become governor. Instead, Kirker remained as acting governor for the duration of the 1807-1808 term. As governor, Kirker dealt with Ohio citizens' concerns about American Indian threats in western Ohio. He sent Thomas Worthington and Duncan McArthur to Fort Greene Ville in late 1807 to investigate, but the two men found no evidence to support the settlers' concerns. Because of Worthington's and McArthur's report, military conflict with the American Indians did not materialize during Kirker's administration. In 1808, Kirker ran against fellow Democratic-Republicans Thomas Worthington and Samuel Huntington for the governorship. Both Kirker and Worthington held similar political beliefs, arguing that the state legislature was supreme in creating law, while Huntington believed that ultimate authority to determine constitutionality of law rested with the Ohio Supreme Court. Kirker and Worthington split the vote among those sharing their view, allowing Huntington to gain the majority and become the state's next governor. Kirker returned to the state legislature, where he continued to represent Adams County until he retired from public service. He died on his Adams County farm in 1837. He was buried in the Kirker Cemetery, sometimes known as the Kirker Family Cemetery, in Adams County. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06960
Subjects: Adams County (Ohio); Legislators; Politicians; Governors--Ohio; Tombstones (sepulchral monuments);
Places: West Union (Ohio); Adams County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated ca. 1935-1965, this photograph shows inmates at the Ohio Reformatory for Women dressed up in patriotic costumes such as Uncle Sam, Lady Liberty, and a woman in colonial garb with a flag draped over her lap. In 1911, the Ohio General Assembly authorized the establishment of a separate women’s penal institution. On September 1, 1916, the Ohio Reformatory for Women opened in Marysville, Ohio, with a population of 34 inmates. When Marguerite Reilley was appointed superintendent of the Reformatory in 1935, she found dirty and unkempt inmates with excessively restricted living habits. She instituted the “human being” program which provided recreation, entertainment, jobs, and vocational training for the inmates. State Archived Series 1679 AV consists of 234 photographs which illustrate daily life in the Ohio Reformatory for Women, as well as photographs of the buildings and grounds, superintendents Marguerite Reilley and Martha Wheeler, and notorious inmate Velma West. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1679AV_B01_F02_004
Subjects: Photography--Ohio; Ohio Reformatory for Women; Prisons; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Entertainment; Costumes
Places: Marysville (Ohio); Union County (Ohio)
 

Description: Taken by traveling photographer Albert J. Ewing, ca. 1896-1912, this photograph shows two men standing in front of a sawmill. By the door a sign reads "Liberty Bell," which may have been the name of the mill. Like most of Ewing's work, it was likely taken in southeastern Ohio or central West Virginia. Born in 1870 in Washington County, Ohio, near Marietta, Ewing most likely began his photography career in the 1890s. The 1910 US Census and a 1912-1913 directory list him as a photographer. A negative signed "Ewing Brothers" and a picture with his younger brother, Frank, indicate that Frank may have joined the business. After 1916, directories list Albert as a salesman. He died in 1934. The Ewing Collection consists of 5,055 glass plate negatives, each individually housed and numbered. Additionally, the collection includes approximately 450 modern contact prints made from the glass plate negatives. Subjects include infants and young children, elderly people, families, school and religious groups, animals and rural scenes. In 1982, the Ohio Historical Society received the collection, still housed in the original dry plate negative boxes purchased by Albert J. Ewing. A selection of the original glass plate negatives were exhibited for the first time in 2013 at the Ohio Historical Center. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV71_b11_f646
Subjects: Ewing, Albert J. (1870-1934); Portrait photography--United States--History; Sawmills; Sawmill workers
Places: Ohio; West Virginia
 

Description: Photograph looking west at Edwin Harness Mound prior to its excavation, 1903-1905. The Edwin Harness Mound was located south of Chillicothe in Liberty Township, Ross County, Ohio. It was the largest of the 14 mounds associated with the nearly 100-acre Liberty Earthworks, a complex dating to late in the Hopewell Period (post-A.D 300). In their 1840s survey, Squier and Davis described the mound as egg-shaped in plan (about 100 x 180 feet) with the larger end toward the north. It was measured at 20 feet high at the north end, sloping to 11 feet at the south end. Like many large Hopewell burial mounds in Ohio, the Harness Mound was repeatedly investigated throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, leading to the recovery of numerous burials and the a variety of related artifacts. The last fieldwork at the site took place in the 1970s in advance of the area being reclaimed for agricultural purposes. Archaeologists dug below the base level of the mound and discovered it had been constructed over the remains of two very large conjoined post structures, most likely ceremonial houses or perhaps a single great house. The houses each measured about 30 x 40 feet connected by a 10 x 10 foot passageway, reminiscent of how Hopewell earthworks in general were laid out. Additionally, numerous artifacts diagnostic of the Hopewell culture were recovered and radiocarbon dates ranging between A.D. 330 and A.D. 470 place the Edwin Harness Mound near the extreme end of the Hopewell sequence. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV17_B02F04_E5_03
Subjects: Edwin Harness Mound (Ohio); Earthworks (Archaeology); Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Mounds (Burials)
Places: Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph looking west at Edwin Harness Mound prior to its excavation, 1903-1905. The Edwin Harness Mound was located south of Chillicothe in Liberty Township, Ross County, Ohio. It was the largest of the 14 mounds associated with the nearly 100-acre Liberty Earthworks, a complex dating to late in the Hopewell Period (post-A.D 300). In their 1840s survey, Squier and Davis described the mound as egg-shaped in plan (about 100 x 180 feet) with the larger end toward the north. It was measured at 20 feet high at the north end, sloping to 11 feet at the south end. Like many large Hopewell burial mounds in Ohio, the Harness Mound was repeatedly investigated throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, leading to the recovery of numerous burials and the a variety of related artifacts. The last fieldwork at the site took place in the 1970s in advance of the area being reclaimed for agricultural purposes. Archaeologists dug below the base level of the mound and discovered it had been constructed over the remains of two very large conjoined post structures, most likely ceremonial houses or perhaps a single great house. The houses each measured about 30 x 40 feet connected by a 10 x 10 foot passageway, reminiscent of how Hopewell earthworks in general were laid out. Additionally, numerous artifacts diagnostic of the Hopewell culture were recovered and radiocarbon dates ranging between A.D. 330 and A.D. 470 place the Edwin Harness Mound near the extreme end of the Hopewell sequence. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV17_B02F04_E5_04
Subjects: Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); Edwin Harness Mound (Ohio); Earthworks (Archaeology); Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Mounds (Burials)
Places: Ross County (Ohio)