Description: This photograph from the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus is of Ralph Brown, a 32-year-old shipyard worker. His formal attire suggests that the photograph was taken during his trial or sentencing. Brown was convicted of murdering his girlfriend, Helen Katonak, and became the 248th individual to be executed via the electric chair in Ohio. The caption at the bottom reads: “No. 248, Ralph Brown of Lorain County, Legally Electrocuted February 9, 1946, for the Murder of Helen Katonak.” Brown was one of two men to be executed on February 9th; the other being Frank Naiberg. In 1885 the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, became the location for all executions, which previously took place in the various county seats. In 1896 the Ohio General Assembly mandated that electrocution replace hanging as the form of capital punishment. The Ohio Penitentiary regularly offered tours as well as souvenir photographs and postcards of the building and prisoners on death row. A total of 315 prisoners, both men and women, were executed in the electric chair known as “Old Sparky” between 1897 and 1963. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08302
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Capital punishment; Death row; Electrocution; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Lorain (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio)
 

Description: This aerial photograph depicts a steel mill set along a river. The area around the steel mill is somewhat undeveloped. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0140_B01F06_004
Subjects: Aerial views; Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company; Steel industry; Aerial photography--History
 

Description: This photograph shows the Andrews Institute in Willoughby, Ohio. The Andrews School for Girls was founded by Margaret St. John Andrews and her husband Wallace C. Andrews to provide girls with the opportunity for an affordable secondary vocational education. It first opened in 1910 at the home of Dr. O.S. St. John, but later moved to its present location with the Willoughby School of Fine Arts in 1923. 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_003_1
Subjects: Architecture; Education; Education, Secondary; Girls' schools; Andrews School for Girls (Willoughby, Ohio)
Places: Willoughby (Ohio); Lake County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is a photograph of Warren N. Walter, who served with Company G of the 36th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (O.V.I.). Company G was recruited from Washington County, Ohio, and Columbiana County, Ohio, and was also known as the "Salem Light Guard." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV200_b01_16
Subjects: Ohio--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Pictorial works; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Photographs; United States. Army. Ohio Infantry Regiment, 36th (1861-1865) Company G
Places: Washington County (Ohio); Columbiana County (Ohio)
 

Description: Daguerreotype portrait of an unidentified man, ca. 1845-1850. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03695
Subjects: Men--Ohio; Ohio History; Portraits
 

Description: This aerial photograph shows the main (also called West) campus of the University of Cincinnati as it was in the 1930s. It appears to have been taken in the later half of the decade, as the stadium renovations performed in 1935-1936 are complete, with greatly increased seating capacity and a press box (visible on the upper left of the stadium). 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_B03F13_024_1
Subjects: College campuses--Ohio; Aerial photography; University of Cincinnati; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Original description reads: "The Crib at St. Mary's church, Xenia Ave., Dayton, Ohio. Picture taken at Christmas, 1935. (The human figures range from 24" to 42." The total height from the floor of the crib to the angel is 60 feet.)" View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B09F08_039_1
Subjects: Crèches (Nativity scenes); Christmas decorations--Ohio--Dayton
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Republic Steel Corporation Collection (MSS 192) consists of 13,000 black and white photographic negatives, 2,000 color photographic negatives, and many 35 mm slides which document Republic Steel Corporation’s main production facilities and its subsidiaries, 1941-1975. This collection also includes images of social events such as company picnics, award banquets, and dances. Founded in 1899, Republic Iron and Steel Company was a steel production company based in Youngstown, Ohio, and the result of a consolidation of 34 steel mills across the United States including the Mahoning Valley’s Brown Bonnell Iron Company, Andrews Brothers and Company, and Mahoning Iron Company. From 1927-1937, Republic Iron and Steel Company expanded its reach by acquiring a number of other companies such as Trumbull Steel Company in Warren, Ohio, and Central Alloy Steel Corporation in Canton, Ohio. With its expansion, Republic Iron and Steel Company became the third largest steel producer in the United States behind United States Steel Corporation and Bethlehem Steel Company, and changed its name to Republic Steel Corporation to reflect its new status. After the outbreak of World War II in 1941, the Corporation’s production increased by 33%. This increased production continued into the 1950s and 1960s as the company continued to be one of the leading developers of steel production technology. Due to a myriad of factors including decreased demand for steel from automobile manufacturers and imported foreign steel, steel sales declined and in 1984 the Republic Steel Corporation was purchased by LTV Corporation, which led to the closure of the Youngstown plant. LTV filed for bankruptcy in December 2000. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: YHC_MSS192_B03F382_002.tiff
Subjects: Republic Steel Corporation; Steel industry; Youngstown (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads "The Grant Memorial Bridge, dedicated by President Harding in 1926, carries U.S. Route #52 over Big Indian Creek, at Point Pleasant, Ohio. Four Civil War howitzers, mounted on pillars, mark approaches to the bridge and a plaque on the west end reproduces Grant's likeness; while a similar one on the east has a memorial inscription." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F18_020_001
Subjects: War memorials Ohio; Bridges Ohio; Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson); Memorials--Ohio; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Point Pleasant (Ohio); Clermont County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph depicts conduit labeled "THE YOUNGSTOWN SHEET AND TUBE CO. - YOUNGSTOWN-BUCKEYE - YOUNGSTOWN, O." and "UNDERWRITERS' LABORATORIES - INSPECTED CONDUIT". View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0140_B05F76_012
Subjects: Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company; Steel industry
 

Description: A black and white photograph on card stock features the Emancipation Memorial located at the Park Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts. The statue, sculpted by Thomas Ball, depicts a standing Abraham Lincoln with his left hand outstretch over a male African American slave. The shirtless slave is depicted as partly kneeled with broken chains on his hands and feet. Abraham Lincoln’s right hand is placed over a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. The statue represents Abraham Lincoln freeing black slaves due to his Emancipation Proclamation. The inscription of the memorial reads “A race set free and the country at place, Lincoln rests from his labors.” View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV83_B01F05_005
Subjects: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Pictorial works; Statues--Massachusetts--Boston
Places: Boston (Massachusetts); Suffolk County (Massachusetts)
 

Description: Caption reads "Cincinnati's Fountain Square - 1941 - a bottleneck in all traffic downtown today as in horse and buggy days". This large old fountain is perhaps the best known landmark of Cincinnati. It is situated in the center of the esplanade of Fountain Square, at East Fifth and Vine Streets, in the heart of the downtown business district of the city. The Tyler Davidson Fountain was cast in the Royal Foundry of Bavaria, of bronze from condemned Danish cannon. It stands forty-three feet high, and the bronze work alone weighs twenty-four tons. The sculpturing represents the Genius of Water giving her benediction to other figures symbolical of the varied uses of water. The fountain, which cost $200,000, was presented to the City of Cincinnati in 1871 by Henry Probasco, a prominent local hardware merchant, in memory of his deceased business partner, Tyler Davidson. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B03F02_009_001
Subjects: Cincinnati (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc; Probasco, Henry, 1820-1902; Fountains--Ohio--Cincinnati--1860-1890; National Register of Historic Places
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)