Description: Photograph showing ComFest vendors at a booth set up along the street, likely in June 1980, taken for the Columbus Free Press. Their sign reads "Middle Earth Terrariums." ComFest, short for "Community Festival," is an annual volunteer-run event in Columbus, Ohio, first organized in 1972. The festival was originally put on by a group of local progressive organizations including the Columbus Free Press, the Columbus Community Food Co-op, the Open Door Clinic, and others; it is now an independent non-profit. The Columbus Free Press began as a bi-weekly publication in Columbus, Ohio, in 1970. An underground newspaper, it replaced the Ohio State University publication The People, Yes. The earliest known issue of the newspaper appeared on January 4, 1971. The newspaper underwent a series of name changes over the decades, with titles including the Columbus Free Press & Cowtown Times (1972-1976), the Columbus Freepress (1976-1992) and The Free Press (1992-1995). The paper, which covered many liberal and progressive causes, was an alternative to mainstream news sources in central Ohio with the slogan “The Other Side of the News.” In 1995, the paper ceased publication briefly before reemerging as a website in early 1996, and returning as a print publication under the Free Press title in the form of a quarterly journal in 1998. Published under various frequencies during the first part of the 21st century, the Free Press again became a nonprofit monthly publication in 2017 with both a print and web presence, published by the Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism and operated by a volunteer staff and board. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MSS1301AV_B02F10_02
Subjects: Festivals; Civic organizations; Social services--Ohio; Columbus (Ohio)--History;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is the fourth Licking County Courthouse and is an example of Second Empire architecture. An iron balustrade surrounds the flagpole on top of the clock tower. The interior includes religious murals, portraits, busts, and stained glass windows of local and national jurists, heroes and presidents. This image shows a building stone that indicates the year construction on the facility began. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F04_269
Subjects: Courthouses; National Register of Historic Places; pediments; mansard roofs; Second Empire
Places: Newark (Ohio); Licking County (Ohio); Courthouse Square
 

Description: This is a carte de visite of Civil War officer William G. Jones. Jones, a native of Cincinnati, served as Colonel of the 36th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was killed in action in the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19, 1863. During the American Civil War, the State of Ohio provided the United States government with three types of military units: artillery units, cavalry units, and infantry units. Ohio supplied the federal government with more than 260 regiments of men, not counting several companies that formed the basis of regiments in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Massachusetts. A total of 310,654 Ohioans served in the Northern army for varying lengths of time. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV200_b03_f32_01
Subjects: Ohio--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Pictorial works; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Photographs; Grant, Ulysses S., 1822-1885; Military Ohio; United States. Army. Ohio Infantry Regiment, 36th (1861-1865)
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Type A-6 special wagon loader made by the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company of Columbus, Ohio. It is loading coal into a Federal truck. On the front of the truck is an American flag in a display of World War I patriotism. The loader was owned by the Big Four Coal Company, Toledo, Ohio, 1917. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL01370
Subjects: Trucks; Ohio Economy--Economy--Business
Places: Toledo (Ohio)
 

Description: This is a photograph of a steel barge in the locks at Steubenville, Ohio at Dam # 10.L Lock and Dam 10, completed in 1915, was part of a slack-water navigation system built for the Ohio River. The site included a brick powerhouse and two lockkeeper houses. The lock and dam was replaced when Pike Island Dam was completed in 1965. The buildings were demolished in 1975. Remnants include two sets of steps, a 600-foot ramp, the lock esplanade and wall, and a recess at the east end where the lock gate once retracted. The first part of this system was the Davis Island Dam near Pittsburgh, completed in 1885. By 1929, a nine-foot pool had been completed along the entire length of the Ohio, culminating with Lock and Dam 53 at Grand Chain, Illinois. Built by the Pittsburgh District of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, this system resulted in a more navigable Ohio River with increased depth and diminished current. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F08_006_001
Subjects: Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project; Barges; Ohio River; Steubenville (Ohio)
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph of the Ohio State School for the Blind was taken from behind the school in the 600th block of Bryden Alley. The school stood at 240 Parsons Avenue and was built in 1839 as the nation's first public school for the visually impaired. After the school moved to its current location at 5220 N. High St, the Ohio State Highway Patrol was stationed at the building. Currently the facility is the location of the Columbus Health Department. The Ohio State Institution for the Education of the Blind was established in April of 1837 and by July of 1837 began instruction in rented rooms. The first school building was built in 1839, and could accommodate sixty students.This photograph, ca. 1935-1943 shows the four story sandstone structure in the Second Roman style of architeture with a Mansard roof. It is located on the corner of Parsons Avenue, and East Main Street in Columbus, Ohio and first opened it's doors on May 21, 1874. The building has undergone several renovations, and once had a central tower reached an additional three stories, and pointed spires on the north and south ends. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F10_014
Subjects: Ohio State School for the Blind; Historic buildings--Ohio--Columbus--Pictorial works.
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated 1935-1939, this photograph shows College Hall at Bluffton University, in Bluffton, Ohio. In 1899, Mennonites established Central Mennonite College, the predecessor of Bluffton University, but as the number of Mennonite students enrolled declined, the institution became known as Bluffton University. 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_B05F02_017_1
Subjects: Bluffton University (Bluffton, Ohio); Education; Universities and colleges; College campuses; Architecture
Places: Bluffton (Ohio); Allen County (Ohio)
 

Description: 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, 28 feet over flood stage and nine feet above the 1884 record. As flood waters rose, gas tanks exploded and oil fires erupted on the river. Parts of Cincinnati remained under water for nineteen days, and electricity and fresh water were in short supply. More than 50,000 were homeless, 10% of the city was inundated, water supply was cut, and streetcar service curtailed. President Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. This photograph shows a Cincinnati neighborhood covered by flood water. 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_B03F09_004_1
Subjects: Cincinnati (Ohio)--History; Floods; Natural disasters; Ohio River; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: A group of men outside the Mayfield Inn, located on Mayfield Road in Cleveland, Ohio. The first poster on the left is announcing the annual Civic Association Picnic on July 31, 1938. The next poster is for the 45th Annual Picnic of the Aurelius Club on Sunday, July 10. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B04F11_09_01
Subjects: Cleveland (Ohio)
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: 3" x 4" photograph of Monticello replica from a collection of models for the Ohio State School for the Blind. The home of Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, stands on top of a "little mountain," 600 feet high. Jefferson designed Monticello, meaning "hillock" or "little mountain" in Italian, that took more than 40 years to build. Monticello is an example of neoclassical design; a fine example of Roman neoclassicism. The first design rendered 14 rooms total on three floors; now 33 rooms on four floors. The site of Monticello, located on a large plantation of 5,000 acres, had been in the family since 1735. The Virginia State Capitol and the University of Virginia were also designed by Thomas Jefferson. The model is length 36", width 41", height 16.5". Photographs and descriptions of models were included in the book "Models for the Blind," compiled by workers of the Ohio Writers' Program. The book was meant as a guide, to be used in the building and study of models, and as documentation of the achievements at the Ohio State School for the Blind. The models were a result of research, design and construction by employees of the Works Projects Administration. Models were made of durable materials to withstand regular usage. The average cost of labor for larger models was $45. A special room was built to store the models where teachers could borrow them to be used in classroom instruction. In 1837, the Ohio government established the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind. This institution was the predecessor of the Ohio State School for the Blind. It was the first public school for the blind in the United States. It was the first in the nation to be created and maintained entirely by the State government. The school opened its doors in 1839, and it was located in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Any blind children residing in Ohio could attend the institution. Eleven students enrolled at the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind this first year. The school initially had a maximum capacity of sixty students, but upon moving to a new building in 1874, more than three hundred students could attend at one time. Between 1839 and 1901, 2,058 students enrolled at the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind, with 339 attending in 1901 alone. In the early 1900s, the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind became known as the Ohio State School for the Blind, and the Ohio Department of Education assumed control of the school. In 1953, the school moved ten miles north of its original location to its present home. In 2005, 126 students enrolled in the Ohio State School for the Blind. Students as young as three and as old as twenty-one years of age attended the school. Students could receive their entire education (kindergarten through high school) at the institution. In addition, the Ohio State School for the Blind offered vocational training for its students. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B11F02_043_001
Subjects: United States. Work Projects Administration; Blind--Education--Ohio; Ohio State School for the Blind; Monticello (Va.)
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: 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. Taken January 26, 1937, this photograph shows people standing under the Market Street Bridge on Water Street in front of the flooded Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad tracks in Steubenville, Ohio. 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_B08F06_011_001
Subjects: Steubenville (Ohio)--History--Pictorial works; Floods; Natural disasters; Ohio River; Central business districts; Storefronts--United States--Pictorial works; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: The caption reads: "2 mile West Dundee." The photograph shows a snowy hillside in the winter. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B14F03_018_001
Subjects: Tuscarawas County (Ohio);
Places: Dundee (Ohio); Tuscarawas County (Ohio)