Description: Original description reads: "Painters working at Federal Art Project, WPA, Cleveland." The Federal Art Project (FAP) was the visual arts arm of the Great Depression-era Works Progress Administration. 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. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F09_013_001
Subjects: Painting--Ohio--Cincinnati; Painters--Ohio--Cincinnati; Federal Art Project; United States. Works Progress Administration
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: An unidentified woman sitting in a chair apparently giving testimony at the Ohio Pen Investigation, January 1935. The investigation of the Ohio Penitentiary Fire that broke out the evening of April 21, 1930, killed 322 inmates and is regarded as the worst disaster in American prison history. Official investigation into the penitentiary tragedy was started the following morning by the attorney general's office. Governor Myers Y. Cooper and E.C. Snively, assistant attorney general, headed the board of inquiry. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05672
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Fires; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Ohio National Guard Armory in Marietta. The early 19th Century saw the creation of what was then the Ohio Militia, this would be the predecessor to what is today the Ohio National Guard. Militias were quite common in this era, and served a purpose much like the National Guard does today, though militias were more localized and served only their own state rather than being a national organization able to be sent abroad. Militias were essential during this time period with the ever looming threat of being attacked by the native people of the region, and the possibility of a rebellion. In the aftermath of the War of 1812, in which Ohioans participated, the militia was not nearly as needed as it once was. The resistance of the native people had been broken in Ohio, and for a time things were quiet in the United States as a whole except for the war with Mexico during the 1840s. The militia had been in disuse for some time until the American Civil War plunged a now divided nation into chaos and war. Suddenly there was now a need for great numbers of men to serve as combatants and defend their country. Despite the waning effectiveness of the militia over the years, they were once again organized and fought against the southern rebellion. Once again, things became relatively quiet for Ohioans and there was little need to have a trained force of men ready at any given time to defend their state, as little threat existed to Ohio. Things changed when the 20th century came around, the National Guard was formed to replace the state militias, once again in a state of disrepair. With the creation of the National Guard, what was once simply meant to protect the state was now able to be sent throughout the country or even overseas if need be. Today many Ohioans proudly serve in the National Guard and continue the tradition of the Ohio militia. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06737
Subjects: Ohio. National Guard--Facilities; Ohio. National Guard; Ohio. Militia; Ohio. Militia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Places: Marietta (Ohio); Washington County (Ohio); Ohio
 

Description: Front of certificate reads "Lincoln Dioramic Association, Certificate of Admission, This Certificate entitles the Holder to one admission to the Diorama of the Funeral Obsequies of Abraham Lincoln, and a photographic view of some one of the remarkable scenes represented by the Diorama, also to a share in the Award of Diorama, Farms & othe Premiums, Columbus, Ohio." Ticket number: 58464. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV83_B01F03_007
Subjects: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Pictorial works; Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Funeral
 

Description: Neil Armstrong coming back to his hometown in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Received at Lima, Ohio airport by Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes and Wapakoneta mayor Don Wittwer View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV_203B2F1_021
Subjects: Armstrong, Neil, 1930-2012; Wapakoneta (Ohio)--History--Pictorial works
Places: Wapakoneta (Ohio); Auglaize County (Ohio)
 

Description: National colors of the 89th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Rectangular flag measures 158 cm high by 257 cm wide. Text on flag reads: 89th Regt. O.V.I. USA Captured Sept. 20th 1863 at the battle of Chickamauga, Tenn. And after a long and diligent search through the North and South found and obtained possession of June 30, 1880 by W. M. Barnes Co. C., Williamsburg, Clermont Co., O. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02050
Subjects: Flags--Ohio; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
 

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_B05F1042_001
Subjects: Republic Steel Corporation; Steel industry; Youngstown (Ohio)
 

Description: Section of a panorama painted by Albert Ruger in the 1880's depicting an event known as the "Great Locomotive Chase" or "Andrews' Raid." In 1862, Secret Service Agent James J. Andrews led volunteer Union soldiers, mostly Ohioans, on a mission to steal a Confederate locomotive and drive from the south to the north, destroying the rail lines along the way. The mission failed shortly after it was begun and several of the captured men were hung while others were later exchanged and some escaped. This scene depicts raiders overpowering guards to escape. William J. Knight was a private in the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company E, who participated in the raid. Knight escaped and in 1878 he began touring and giving lectures describing the raid. Ruger's panorama accompanied him for more than eighteen years. The panorama is now part of the museum collections of the Ohio Historical Society. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02949
Subjects: Chattanooga Railroad Expedition, 1862; Ohio--History, Military--19th century; Ruger, A.; Andrews, James J., 1829-1862; Chattanooga Railroad Expedition (1862)
 

Description: Frederick Douglass (1817?-1895) was a famous passenger on the Underground Railroad. This cabinet card is from J.H. Kent Photographer, and the photograph was taken on August 25, 1893, in the Haytian Building at the World's Columbian Exhibition. The image was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03091
Subjects: Underground Railroad--New York; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights
Places: Monroe County (New York)
 

Description: The United States Industrial Reformatory in Chillicothe, Ohio opened to inmates in January, 1926 after being authorized in 1923. Until 1929 when Congress approved $3,000,000 in funding for permanent buildings, inmates were housed in the repurposed buildings of Camp Sherman, a World War I military training camp. The Camp Sherman quarters included the brick superintendent’s house and a wooden chapel, as well as temporary buildings made up of six dormitories, dining room, kitchen, and auditorium. Prisoner activities consisted of four hours of school daily, viewing movies three times a week, and access to a library and 50 bed hospital. Construction of the new reformatory facilities began in 1928 and was completed in 1936. The new reformatory facilities were to include a receiving building, one inside cell house, two outside cell houses and eight dormitories, as well as a hospital building, mess hall, warehouse, six shops, and a school building and auditorium. In the mid-1930’s a foundry and brick plant opened at the reformatory as part of the Federal Prison Industries (FPI). Items manufactured at the reformatory were sold to the Federal Government. The reformatory is now known as the Chillicothe Correctional Institution. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F11_009_1
Subjects: Chillicothe (Ross County, Ohio)--History; Chillicothe Correctional Institution (Chillicothe, Ohio); Reformatories--Ohio; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Chillicothe (Ohio); Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows several sailboats on the Ohio River near Cincinnati, Ohio. During the warmer months, many Ohioans can be seen flocking to lakes and rivers for picnicking, sunbathing, sailing and swimming. The Ohio River is the largest tributary of the Mississippi River and is about 981 miles long. It begins at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in Point State Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It forms the border between Ohio and West Virginia, as well as Ohio and Kentucky, Indiana and Kentucky and Illinois and Kentucky. It joins the Mississippi near Cairo, Illinois. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F04_009_001
Subjects: Ohio River--History; Sailing; Sailboats; Recreation; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project.
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing Loramie wasteway, which is a channel that diverts excess water. The caption beneath the photograph reads: "Loramie Waste-way, July 1916." The attached description located on the back of the page reads: "PHOTOGRAPH No. 24.| LORAMIE WASTE WAY| Loramie Wasteway at Loramie reservoir controls the height of water in said reservoir. Spanning the top of this structure is a 3 ft. concrete walk which gives access to the control of flood gates. At this point during the winter season ice accumulates on said walk and passage to and from said gates is very dangerous, especially if a heavy wind exists. The department recommends the construction of a pipe hang rail across the same." TThis photograph is part of a series taken by the Board of the Ohio Department of Public Works to document the disrepair of the infrastructure of the Ohio and Erie Canal and Miami-Erie Canal systems in 1916, showing the physical condition of each structure. The Ohio Department of Public Works is one of the oldest departments of state government in continuous existence. Among its other duties, this department was charged with maintenance and administration of the Ohio & Erie and Miami-Erie Canals. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA936AV_B01_024
Subjects: Waterworks; Bridges; Canals; Rivers; Lakes & ponds; Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development
Places: Fort Loramie (Ohio); Shelby County (Ohio)