Description: This image shows the monument to the Wright Brothers in Dayton, Ohio. Wilbur and Orville attended the local public schools in Dayton, but neither graduated from high school or attended college. Nevertheless, they grew up in an environment that encouraged creative and intellectual development. Their household included a large family library from which the brothers read extensively. While not necessarily well schooled, the brothers were well educated. On December 14, 1903, the Wright brothers were ready to test an aircraft they had built. With Wilbur at the controls, the experiment failed and the plane sustained minor damage. After repairing the aircraft, they tried again on December 17. This time, with Orville piloting, the plane stayed in the air for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. The length and duration of the flight were not much by today's standards, but the Wright brothers had demonstrated that sustained flight in a heavier-than-air craft was possible. The brothers tested their aircraft three more times that day with increasing levels of success. The final flight of the day carried Wilbur 852 feet in 59 seconds. The brothers are buried in the family plot at Woodland Cemetery in Dayton. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06524
Subjects: Monuments; Wright, Orville, 1871-1948; Wright, Wilbur, 1867-1912
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph from the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus is of John Thomas, age 34. His formal attire suggests that the photograph was taken during his trial or sentencing. Thomas, who murdered two Ohio Penitentiary guards, was the 264th individual to be executed via the electric chair in Ohio. The caption at the bottom reads: “No. 264, John Thomas of Franklin County, Legally Electrocuted February 4, 1949 for the Murder of Walter Zimmer and Samuel Chesshir” 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: AL08316
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)
 

Description: Tintype portrait and accompanying newspaper article of Joseph Fissell from Darbyville, Ohio, who was the youngest Civil War soldier from Ohio to serve in the Union Army. He is pictured in uniform holding his drum. Portrait is presented in an oval shaped brass mat behind protective glass. Joseph Fissell was born in Circleville on September 1, 1851. He was nearly eleven years old when he enlisted as a musician in Company A of the 45th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (O.V.I.) on August 1, 1862, for three years service. With his company, Joseph was present at the Battle of Marietta, the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, the Siege of Atlanta, and more. Fissell mustered out with the company on June 12, 1865. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AP1480_01
Subjects: Fissell, Joseph, 1851-1922; Children; Soldiers--Ohio--Photographs; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; United States. Army. Ohio Infantry Regiment, 45th (1862-1865)
Places: Darbyville (Ohio); Pickaway County (Ohio)
 

Description: The photograph shows Harry Kinley's sister, Villa Kinley Neidhart, standing inside. She wears a long dark coat and a light colored hat with large dark feathers. Photograph by Harry Evan Kinley (1882-1969), a native of Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Kinley was active in local events and organizations, and spent his professional career as a clerk at his father's store, and later as a traveling salesman for the Marion Paper & Supply Company (1934-1962). Kinley was also an avid lifelong photographer, and the bulk of the Harry Kinley Collection is comprised of glass plate negatives documenting the Kinley family, the city of Upper Sandusky and Wyandot County and surrounding areas. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV30_B03F02_14
Subjects: Families; Women--Ohio; Portrait photography
Places: Upper Sandusky (Ohio); Wyandot County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph is part of a series of photographs taken by the Ohio Department of Agriculture documenting farms in Ohio. This photograph shows the Allen family home and farm buildings on the Allen farm, owned by F.L. Allen near Kinsman, Ohio. On his 250 acres, Allen grew potatoes, apples, and peaches. He also owned a ditching machine and had 22 miles of ditching on his farm. Later, Allen became state director of Ohio Farmers' Institutes under the State Board of Agriculture. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA726AV_B01F08_005_1
Subjects: Agriculture; Farmhouses; Rural Life; Barns
Places: Trumbull County (Ohio); Kinsman (Ohio);
 

Description: Women marching during a Labor Day parade in Columbus, Ohio, September 5, 1983. They carry a banner for the Coalition of Labor Union Women--Central Ohio Chapter. The CLUW is a non-profit organization for women in trade unions, associated with the AFL-CIO. This photograph was taken by photographer Allen Zak for publication in the Columbus Free Press newspaper. 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_B04F11_10
Subjects: Ohio women; Social issues; Labor Day; Labor unions -- Ohio;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Annie Glenn feeds her husband, John Glenn, food at the Ohio State Fair in August, 1987. Other attendees, vendors and the chair lift can be seen in the background. The John and Annie Glenn collection is comprised of photographs, slides, books and ephemera documenting the career of John Glenn as an astronaut and U.S. Senator. The collection also documents his life with his wife Annie Glenn née Castor, family and friends, such as Robert and Ethel Kennedy and fellow astronauts. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV329_B10F03_01A
Subjects: Glenn, John, 1921-2016; Glenn, Annie, 1920-2020; Ohio State Fair;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio);
 

Description: Print of Major General George B. McClellan from a portrait taken in 1862. McClellan was a prominent 19th century American military and political leader, born December 3, 1826, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1842, McClellan received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1846, ranking second in his class. McClellan resigned his army commission in 1857 to become involved in the railroad industry, and using his training in engineering from West Point, he served as an engineer for the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad and the Illinois Central Railroad. During this time, he lived primarily in Cincinnati, Ohio. With the beginning of the American Civil War in April 1861, McClellan reenlisted in the United States Army and played an important role in Ohio's early defense. Early in the war, General McClellan enhanced his reputation as a skillful military leader and was appointed as commander of the Army of the Potomac by President Abraham Lincoln. But after his unsuccessful assault on Richmond, Virginia, and his failure to defeat General Lee’s forces in the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln removed McClellan from his command in November 1862. McClellan never received another military command and later became one of Lincoln’s chief critics. In 1864, the Democratic Party selected McClellan as its presidential candidate to oppose Lincoln’s reelection, but Lincoln won the election by an overwhelming margin. McClellan resigned his commission in the United States Army and later became the governor of New Jersey from 1878 to 1881. He died on October 29, 1885. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC3535_02
Subjects: McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Generals; Military officers
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated 1943, this photograph shows Governor John Bricker seated with two women at a State War Bond Drive. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00131
Subjects: Columbus (Ohio); Multicultural Ohio--Ohio Women
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: A group of male and female students gathered on the campus of Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio, July 1908. The image is a photographic postcard that was mailed by a student pictured in the group to his mother. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00915
Subjects: Ohio Northern University; Education
Places: Ada (Ohio); Hardin County (Ohio)
 

Description: caption reads: "WPA rebuilding Decker St." 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. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B05F08_034_1
Subjects: United States--Works Progress Administration of Ohio
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows an aerial view of Cincinnati, Ohio, looking from the south bank of the Ohio River to the business section and edge of the Basin region beyond. 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_B04F01_043_1
Subjects: Aerial photography; Cincinnati (Ohio); Buildings--Cincinnati (Ohio); Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)