Description: This color map documents Franklin County's housing patterns, with information about the African American population distribution by census tract in 1970. On the reverse side of the map is the numerical 1970 census information indicating African American population in Franklin County by census tract. This map may have been useful to track any patterns of civil rights violations in Franklin County. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MSS785_B02F01_01_01
Subjects: Maps--Ohio; African Americans; Housing--Ohio--Columbus; Civil rights;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Employees of the C. W. Bryant Rigging & Moving Company moving the Linden School building along a set of tracks in Columbus, Ohio, September 1921. Charles William Bryant Jr. was born in Dayton in 1882, and from his start as a farmhand with a 3rd grade education would go on to become a prominent African American businessman, self-taught engineer, and owner of one of Columbus’ largest construction firms. The C. W. Bryant Rigging & Moving Co. was involved in major projects throughout Columbus, including the construction of a temporary Broad Street bridge following the 1913 flood, the removal of lighting arcs from High Street, and dismantling Hanford Village in 1962 for the construction of I-71. Bryant faced racial discrimination in his personal and professional life, including the refusal of local steelworkers’ unions to admit Bryant’s black employees, which forced Bryant Co. out of steel construction in the 1950s. He nonetheless expanded into other areas, including ownership of Bryco gas stations, a coal and oil company, the Litchford and Macon hotels, and the Ohio Malt Beverage Co.-the first African American distributor in Columbus. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04471
Subjects: Schools--Ohio; African Americans; Bryant, Charles William, Jr. (1882-1964); Business and labor; Construction industry--Ohio; Columbus (Ohio)--History--20th century;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Employees of the C. W. Bryant Rigging & Moving Company moving a building at the Buckeye Steel Castings Plant along a set of tracks in Columbus, Ohio, August 4, 1924. The building, which weighed 350 tons, was moved 280 feet in two directions in just 17 days. Charles William Bryant Jr. was born in Dayton in 1882, and from his start as a farmhand with a 3rd grade education would go on to become a prominent African American businessman, self-taught engineer, and owner of one of Columbus’ largest construction firms. The C. W. Bryant Rigging & Moving Co. was involved in major projects throughout Columbus, including the construction of a temporary Broad Street bridge following the 1913 flood, the removal of lighting arcs from High Street, and dismantling Hanford Village in 1962 for the construction of I-71. Bryant faced racial discrimination in his personal and professional life, including the refusal of local steelworkers’ unions to admit Bryant’s black employees, which forced Bryant Co. out of steel construction in the 1950s. He nonetheless expanded into other areas, including ownership of Bryco gas stations, a coal and oil company, the Litchford and Macon hotels, and the Ohio Malt Beverage Co.-the first African American distributor in Columbus. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04472
Subjects: Steel industry and trade--Ohio; African Americans; Bryant, Charles William, Jr. (1882-1964); Business and labor; Construction industry--Ohio; Columbus (Ohio)--History--20th century;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: "Keep Us Flying," a 1943 War Finance Division poster promoting financial support of the war effort through the purchase of government war bonds and stamps. The poster features a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the name given to the first group of African American military pilots in the U.S. Armed Forces. Beginning in World War II, the Airmen made up the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04808
Subjects: World War II; World War, 1939-1945--War work; Ohio History--Military Ohio; War posters--Ohio; African Americans; Soldiers
 

Description: Dated 1936, this photograph shows a students of a secondary education class which covered arithmetic, history, spelling, and reading, guided by teacher John R. Brown. Butler County Emergency School was located at 1230 Wallace Street in Hamilton, Ohio, and was a Works Progress Administration program. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a government office that hired unemployed Americans to work on various government projects from April 8, 1935 to June 30, 1943. In the first six months that the WPA existed, more than 173, 000 Ohioans, including both men and women, found employment through this program. More than 1, 500 unemployed teachers in Ohio found work through the WPA teaching illiterate adults how to read. In twelve separate counties, primarily in southeastern Ohio, more than twenty-five percent of families had at least one member working for the WPA during the late 1930s. By the end of 1938, these various workers had built or improved 12, 300 miles of roads and streets and constructed 636 public buildings, several hundred bridges, hundreds of athletic fields, and five fish hatcheries. WPA employees made improvements to thousands of more buildings, roads, and parks within Ohio. WPA artists also painted a number of murals in Ohio post offices. 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_B02F04_001_1
Subjects: Teachers; Education; Schools--Ohio; African Americans; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Hamilton (Ohio); Butler County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing a house that was once used as a station on the Underground Railroad. The description on the back of the photograph reads: "Another of the Winder stations in North Lewisburg." The Underground Railroad was a system of safe houses and hiding places that helped fugitive slaves escape to freedom in the northern United States or across the border in Canada. Thomas Winder, a Quaker, was an operator who helped escaped slaves in the North Lewisburg area of eastern Central Ohio, along with other members of his family. Quakers were strongly opposed to slavery and offered help to slaves seeking their freedom as early as the late 1700s. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC1338_003_001
Subjects: Underground Railroad--Ohio; Quakers; Abolitionists; African Americans--History; Houses; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century;
Places: North Lewisburg (Ohio); Champaign County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing Thomas L. Gray standing in front of his house that was once used as a station on the Underground Railroad. The handwritten caption at the bottom reads: "Thomas L. Gray and His House at Deavertown, Morgan County, Ohio, a station on the Underground Railroad." Born in 1815, Gray earned his living as a harness maker in Deavertown. Besides his economic pursuits, Gray was also active as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. It is believed that Gray helped as many as 500 fugitive slaves in gaining their freedom. His home served as a safe house for former slaves who had crossed the Ohio River between Marietta and Portsmouth. Upon leaving Gray's home, most fugitives then made their way to Zanesville. Gray remained an active conductor on the Underground Railroad until slavery's demise with the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865. During the American Civil War, Gray also warned his neighbors of General John Hunt Morgan's approach, giving his neighbors time to hide their horses and valuables. Gray died in 1899. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC1338_007_001
Subjects: Underground Railroad--Ohio; Abolitionists; African Americans--History; Houses; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century;
Places: Deavertown (Ohio); Morgan County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reproduction of a portrait of African American inventor Granville T. Woods. Woods was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1856. He and his brother formed the Woods Railway Telegraph Company in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1884. Woods received 35 patents for electrical and mechanical devices between 1884 and 1907. Most of his inventions were for the improvement of the railroad system, including telegraphony, which allowed telegraph stations to send both voice and telegraph messages over a single wire. Woods is often referred to as "the Black Thomas Edison." He died in New York City in 1910. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02705
Subjects: African Americans; Multicultural Ohio--African American Ohioans; Woods, Granville, 1856-1910; Railroads--Communication systems; Inventors; African American Ohioans
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Autographed photograph of Captain Charles Young, 9th United States Cavalry. Inscription reads, "For Paul L, Dunbar, from his devoted friend, Chas Young. Capt 9th Cavly U.S. Army, 1905." Young (1864-1922) was the third African American to graduate from West Point. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03379
Subjects: African Americans; Civil War 1861-1865; Multicultural Ohio--African American Ohioans; Dunbar, Paul Laurence, 1872-1906; Portrait photography
Places: San Francisco (California); San Francisco County (California)
 

Description: WVKO radio disc jockey James Edward "Eddie" Saunders cutting cake surrounded by a group of people, ca. 1955 - 1970. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00757
Subjects: African Americans; Multicultural Ohio--African American Ohioans
 

Description: Portrait of members of the Adams family, at the home of Henry and Willa Adams in Toledo, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05426
Subjects: African Americans; Multicultural Ohio--African American Ohioans
Places: Toledo (Ohio); Lucas County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows African Americans in an adult literacy class in Toledo, Ohio, provided by the Works Progress Administration. 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, which administered literacy and arts programs to help the unemployed learn new and valuable skills. One of the primary goals of the Federal Writers' Project 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_B11F03_01_001
Subjects: Freedmen--United States; Adult education--Ohio--Columbus; Literacy programs--Ohio--Columbus; African Americans; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Toledo (Ohio); Lucas County (Ohio)