Description: This appears to be the south end of Mirror Lake at Eden Park. Located between Gilbert Avenue and Columbia Parkway (U.S.) and comprised of about 185 acres in the Mount Adams community of Cincinnati, Ohio, Eden Park was assembled by a series of purchases beginning in 1859. The name came, naturally, from the Garden of Eden and was given by Nicholas Longworth who owned a large tract which constitutes the main portion of the park. Eden Park is the home of the Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati Art Academy, the Navigation Monument, the Capitoline Wolf Statue, and the Irwin M. Krohn (Eden Park) Conservatory. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B10F06_020_001
Subjects: Parks--Ohio--Cincinnati; Parks--Cincinnati (Ohio); Lakes; Landscapes; Geography and Natural Resources; Cincinnati (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works;
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated ca. 1930-1939, this photograph shows the Ohio River Trail at the entrance of Alms Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, in Hamilton County. The sign reads "Ohio River Trail Nature trails have been established for the purpose of giving all an opportunity to become acquainted with the out of doors to make possible a greater degree of companionship between man and nature and to promote health. May the guiding signs help to lead you to a fuller enjoyment of life. We are taking you through a part of nature's laboratory. Your materials are the trees, the flowers, the insects, the wind and the hills. What to look for - [see the map of trails, with points of interest] Where to Go The trail begins here, encircles the hill overlooking the Ohio river and the Lunken airport, it ends at the rock ledges near the wine cellar. Cincinnati Board Park Commissioners." The Frederick H. Alms Memorial Park is located at 710 Tusculum Avenue on Mount Tusculum, in Cincinnati, Ohio, overlooking the Ohio River. The park was given to the Park Board by Frederick Alms' wife in 1916. Alms was born in Cincinnati on February 26, 1839 and died July 25, 1898. A former solider and successful businessman, Alms is best remembered as an extraordinarily generous philanthropist. He married Eleanora C. Unzicker on November 9, 1870. 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_B03F08_023_1
Subjects: Cincinnati (Ohio); Parks; Alms, Fred H.; Geography and Natural Resources; Hiking trails; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: A sketchbook titled "Plant Descriptions and Field-Notes. Season of '87," arranged by William Werthner of Central High School in Dayton, Ohio, and kept by Paul Laurence Dunbar. The volume contains forms for recording and sketching buds, trees, flowers, and field notes including experiments, distribution of seed, color and fragrance, cross-fertilization, etc. An introductory "Suggestions" section offers recommendations of how and why to study botany, and many pages include poems and quotes from notable figures about the value and beauty of nature. Notes are presumed to have been written by Dunbar while he was a high school student at Central High School. This item was part of Paul Laurence Dunbar's personal library at the time of his death in 1906. Paul Laurence Dunbar, the son of formerly enslaved parents, was one of the first African Americans in the United States to gain prominence as a poet. He was a prolific writer of dialect poems, standard English poems, short stories, novels, librettos, plays, songs and essays. A native of Dayton, Dunbar attended high school with Wilbur and Orville Wright. His early literary work won the praise of notable literary and cultural figures such as James Whitcomb Riley, Frederick Douglass, and William Dean Howells. Dunbar travelled in the United States and to Europe to give readings of his work, but a worsening case of tuberculosis eventually limited his travels. He spent his last years living with his mother in Dayton, where he died in 1906 at the age of 33. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: H89725_001
Subjects: Dunbar, Paul Laurence, 1872-1906; Botany; Plants; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Students -- Ohio;
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: William Starling Sullivant (1803-1873) was a famous botanist who studied and cataloged the plant life of central Ohio. In 1840, he published his findings in "A Catalogue of Plants, Native and Naturalized, in the Vicinity of Columbus, Ohio." At the time of his death, he was recognized as the foremost bryologist, an expert on mosses, in the United States. He was posthumously elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1872, and has a moss, “Sullivantia Ohioensis,” named in his honor. He was also the son of Lucas Sullivant, a surveyor, soldier and settler in central Ohio in the years after the American Revolution. Lucas Sullivant originally laid out the town of Franklinton, which is now part of Columbus. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04186
Subjects: Scientists; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Plants and Animals; Columbus (Ohio); Ohio History--Settlement and Early Statehood;
Places: Franklinton (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This reproduction shows a portrait of William Starling Sullivant (1803-1873), a famous botanist who studied and cataloged the plant life of central Ohio. In 1840, he published his findings in "A Catalogue of Plants, Native and Naturalized, in the Vicinity of Columbus, Ohio." At the time of his death, he was recognized as the foremost bryologist, an expert on mosses, in the United States. He was posthumously elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1872, and has a moss, “Sullivantia Ohioensis,” named in his honor. He was also the son of Lucas Sullivant, a surveyor, soldier and settler in central Ohio in the years after the American Revolution. Lucas Sullivant originally laid out the town of Franklinton, which is now part of Columbus. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04187
Subjects: Scientists; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Plants and Animals; Columbus (Ohio); Ohio History--Settlement and Early Statehood;
Places: Franklinton (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is an aerial view of damage caused to the town of Xenia, Ohio, after a tornado struck on April 4, 1974. The Xenia tornado was part of a tornado super-outbreak that occurred across the country from April 3-4. The Xenia tornado killed 32 people, and destroyed half the buildings in the city and 300 homes. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03878
Subjects: Tornado damage; Natural disasters--United States; Tornadoes--Ohio--Xenia; Aerial photographs
Places: Xenia (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows the Lawrence County Courthouse in Ironton, Ohio, during the 1937 Ohio River flood, also referred to as the Great Flood. In January and February of 1937, weeks of heavy rainfall caused the Ohio River to flood parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, causing $500 million in property damages, and displacing and killing hundreds. By the end of January, the Ohio River measured 80 feet deep in Cincinnati, one of the areas most affected. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. 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_B15F04_003_012_009
Subjects: Floods; Natural disasters; Ohio River; Courthouses; Works Progress Administration
Places: Ironton (Ohio); Lawrence County (Ohio)
 

Description: Original description reads: "Preparing for citizenship by learning to read and write in a WPA literacy class in the South Side Settlement House, Columbus, Ohio." On April 8, 1935, the United States Congress passed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, which was hoped would allow Americans to cope with the Great Depression. Creation of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was the most important accomplishment of this Act. This government office hired unemployed Americans to work on various government projects. During its existence, the WPA constructed more than 600,000 miles of roads and built or repaired more than 124,000 bridges, 125,000 public buildings, 8,000 parks, and 850 airport runways. The WPA also included programs to support education and the arts, providing employment opportunities for out of work educators and artists of all varieties. Although the United States Congress reduced funding for the program in 1939, the WPA remained in operation until June 30, 1943. South Side Settlement House, one of the oldest settlements in Columbus, Ohio, was founded in 1899 to help people deal with problems in their daily lives and to help them achieve their aspirations for a better future. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F08_044_001
Subjects: Literacy programs--Ohio--Columbus; Naturalization--United States; United States. Works Progress Administration
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is an aerial photograph of the aftermath of the Xenia, Ohio, tornado, 1974. It is what is known as a Super Outbreak of tornadoes. It remains one of the most destructive weather episodes on record in the United States. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03679
Subjects: Xenia (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Natural disasters--United States; Aerial photographs; Tornado damage
Places: Xenia (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "Works Progress Administration in Ohio Federal Writers Project 1 902 Municipal Building Akron, Ohio Sept 8 1937 Activity: Foot paths along lake of 27 acres being built by C.C.C. men of Camp Jefferson (Colored) Picture shows part of lake with wooded section where trees are being planted by C.C.C. men. Foot path on left shows type of work done by the boys and extends for several miles into wild game preserve. CCC Camps" This photograph is believed to show Jefferson Lake State Park in Richmond, Ohio. The lake and other park facilities were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. The dam was constructed in 1934, while the lake was filled by 1946. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F11_038_001
Subjects: Civilian Conservation Corps (U.S.); Dams; Foot paths; Landscapes; Geography and Natural Resources; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Richmond (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads: "New road in Hills and Dales. The lake is hidden by trees near center." Hills and Dales Park was originally a 297-acre gift from John Patterson, the founder of the National Cash Register Company. It was designed between 1906 and 1918 by the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm, who also worked on Central Park in New York City. Today it is owned by the city of Dayton, though its actual location is in Kettering. In 1999, 63 acres of the wooded land was leased to the Five Rivers MetroParks, and promptly named Hills and Dales MetroPark. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B05F09_050_1
Subjects: Parks--Ohio; Dirt Roads; Landscapes; Nature; Trees; Dayton (Ohio). Division of Recreation and Parks; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: Roofs dot the landscape as floodwaters rise. 1937 remains the wettest month ever recorded in Ohio. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, one million were left homeless, with 385 dead and property losses reaching $500 million. The disaster struck during the Great Depression and just a few years after the Dust Bowl. By the second day of the flood as many as 18,000 WPA workers were on hand to aid families. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F04_003_012_008
Subjects: Floods; Natural disasters; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Ohio