Description: Caption: "W.P.A. Physical Education Class. Toledo, Ohio." The WPA health projects in Toledo included preventative care for the unemployed and tuberculosis and diphtheria immunizations, as well as the construction of health clinics, municipal pools, recreational parks, and school gymnasiums. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F12_008_001
Subjects: Physical education and training--Ohio; Gymnasiums; Sports and recreation facilities; Exercise for women; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Toledo (Ohio); Lucas County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads: "Greene County - Wilberforce University, Oct. 20, 1936. Gymnasium. Near Xenia, Ohio. Also shows a portion of tennis court." Wilberforce University is located on US 42, three miles from Xenia, Ohio on land that at one time occupied the Tawawa Springs summer resort. In 1856, the Methodist Episcopal Church established Wilberforce University near Xenia, Ohio, to provide African American access to a college education. The university was the first private black college in the United States. Its founders named the institution after William Wilberforce, a prominent eighteenth-century abolitionist. A number of African-American Ohioans attended the school during its early years. During the American Civil War, attendance declined as many students enlisted in the Union army. Wilberforce University closed in 1862. In 1863, the African Methodist Episcopal Church acquired ownership of the university. Under the direction of Daniel Payne, a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, John Mitchell, the principal of a school in Cincinnati, and James Shorter, an African Methodist Episcopal pastor from Zanesville, Ohio, Wilberforce reopened its doors. The institution operated as a private university serving the African-American community for the next twenty-four years. In 1887, the State of Ohio began to provide Wilberforce with funds to help finance the institution, brought to an end the university's exclusively private status. The state also helped the university create a Normal and Industrial Department that eventually evolved into Central State University. Wilberforce University has experienced steady growth throughout the twentieth century. During the last decades of the twentieth century, the institution built a new residence hall, a student health center, a recreation and sports facility, and an administrative center. The university offers more than twenty degree programs and has exchange programs with universities around the world. In 2003, enrollment was more than 1,200 students. Arson fire damaged some of the buildings in 1865 and tornado in destroyed much of the campus 1974. Below is a partial list of buildings that have been or are on campus: Galloway Hall - Built in 1905, as an impressive administration building and auditorium. It was destroyed by a tornado in 1974 and was rebuilt as part of the Central State University campus. The new building name is Galloway Alumni Tower. Bundy Hall (recitation building) – built 1917 Arnett Hall (girls dormitory and classrooms) - built 1901 Kenzia Emery Hall (girls dormitory) - built 1913 Shorter Hall (boys dormitory, classrooms and administration) – built 1867 (fire caused remodeling 1922) – survived 1974 tornado - demolished 1999 Carnegie Library - built 1907 (1909?) – survived 1974 tornado - National Register of Historic Places 2004 J.G. Mitchell Hall (boys dormitory and classrooms) - built 1891 S.T. Mitchell Hall (girls dormitory – Model home for senior girls) - built 1912 - Samuel T. Mitchell, President 1884-1900. Mitchell Hall, which once stood where Central State University's Hallie Q. Brown Library and Education Building stands today, was named for President Mitchell. O’Neill Hall (boys dormitory and classrooms – first of the state funded buildings) - built 1890 Model School - built 1889 Howell’s Hall - built 1900 Light, Heat and Power Plant – built 1904 Poindexter Hall (built for the printing and drawing departments) - built 1904 Mechanic Arts (built to house carpentry, blacksmithing and machine shops) – built 1914 Tawawa Hospital – built 1916 Beacom Gymnasium – built 1918 Charles Leander Hill Gymnasium – built 1958 - survived 1974 tornado Margaret Ireland Hall (girls dormitory) – built 1963 – destroyed 1974 Central State University In 1887, the Ohio General Assembly established a separate institution to be housed on the Wilberforce campus known as the Combined Normal and Industrial Department. The state-supported school was to focus on training blacks for work in industrial trades and as school teachers. Although the Combined Normal and Industrial Department imposed no restrictions on the race or sex of its students, it was understood that the Department was intended primarily to serve Ohio's African American community. For six decades the Department was administered as part of Wilberforce University. It was set apart, however, by having its own board of trustees which was responsible for administering the state funding of its activities. In 1941, the Department became the College of Education and established a four year program. In 1947 it was declared legally separate from Wilberforce. Although still sharing its campus with Wilberforce, the institution was now the College of Education and Industrial Arts at Wilberforce. In 1951 the Ohio State Legislature added a liberal arts program and renamed the institution Central State College. Former Wilberforce president Charles H. Wesley served as the first president of Central State from 1947 until 1965. Central State became a university in 1965. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B05F02_020_1
Subjects: Architecture--Ohio--Pictorial works.; Education; Universities and colleges; Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio; Central State University (Wilberforce, Ohio); Gymnasiums--United States
Places: Wilberforce (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated ca. 1930-1939, this photograph shows young boys playing a ball game in gym class at Ashland Grade School in Ashland Ohio. 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_B01F13_001_001
Subjects: Education; Gymnasiums; Sports; Ashland (Ohio)--History; Physical education and training--Ohio
Places: Ashland (Ohio); Ashland County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads: "Garber's YMCA Basket Ball Game." In June 1844, twelve men in London, England, established the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). Its principal organizer was Sir George Williams, an English nobleman. In 1851, YMCA chapters opened in North America, including in Boston and Montreal. In 1857, the Young Men's Society of Religious Inquiry, based in Cincinnati, officially united with the YMCA, establishing the first YMCA chapter in Ohio. The YMCA originally tried to instill and continues to seek the development of Christian principles and values in young men. The organization originally confined membership to only men, but since World War II, it has accepted women as members. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F02_027_001
Subjects: Sports; Basketball; Basketball players; YMCA; Sports and recreation facilities; Gymnasiums
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph, from a yearbook dated from 1940, shows five high school boys on the Brilliant High School basketball team. From left to right, the numbers on the boys' uniforms are 6, 10, 11, 8, and 12. Brilliant High School was located at 2nd Street in Brilliant, Ohio, in Jefferson County, Ohio. In 1952, a new building was opened at 1004 3rd Street. In 1972, Brilliant High School merged with Smithfield High School, to become Buckeye North High School. Finally, in 1990, the three schools in the district merged together to form the Buckeye Local High School in Rayland, Ohio. 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_B13F01_022_001
Subjects: Basketball teams; Athletics; Athletes; Gymnasiums -- Ohio;
Places: Brilliant (Ohio); Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: Women students exercising inside the gymnasium of the old armory at Ohio State University, ca. 1890-1899. The armory was demolished in 1959 after it was damaged in a fire in June 1958. Where the armory was once located on Fifteenth Avenue and High Street is now the Wexner Center for the Arts. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00191
Subjects: Gymnasiums -- Ohio; History of the Ohio State University; Ohio women; Universities and colleges; Students
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Students began raising money in 1913 to build a gymnasium for the college, and it opened in 1920. It included a lobby, swimming pool, stage, and also two bowling lanes. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B05F03_025_1
Subjects: Education; Architecture--Ohio--Pictorial works.; Sports and recreation facilities; Gymnasiums; Universities and colleges; Lake Erie College
Places: Painesville (Ohio); Lake County (Ohio)
 

Description: Inmates of Girls' Industrial School exercising in gym class, ca. 1910-1919. The purpose of the school was "the reformation of exposed, helpless, evil disposed, and vicious girls." In 1878, the term "incorrigible" was added. A five-member board of trustees purchased a piece of property known as the Ohio White Sulphur Springs Resort, eighteen miles north of Columbus. The first six girls were admitted to the school in October 1869. The inmates spent their mornings performing domestic chores. They also learned various vocational trades, including basket-making, music, sewing, and stenography. In the afternoons, the girls attended school, where they studied, reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, geography, literature, and United States history among other topics. The girls remained at the school until they reached seventeen years of age or completed their sentence. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00209
Subjects: Gymnasiums--Ohio; Multicultural Ohio--Ohio Women; Delaware (Ohio); Women--Education - Ohio; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections
Places: Delaware (Ohio); Delaware County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Akron area YMCA was founded in 1896. The Akron YMCA Building was built in the 1920s to house the organization. As a Christian organization, the YMCA building was used to provide a place to stay, eat, and worship for those in need. Depicted in the photograph is the gym of the YMCA building. A caption on the back of the photograph reads, "Stow High." Most likely, this photograph is of a Stow High School event, such as a dance. Stow, Ohio is a city northeast of Akron. The Akron YMCA building is still in use by the organization and includes exercise and sports facilities. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F02_032
Subjects: YMCA; Akron (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works; Gymnasiums; Teenagers; Proms; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)