Description: This photograph of John Rankin and his wife Jane (identified in some later records as Jean) Lowry Rankin was taken on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary. John Rankin (1793-1886) was a Presbyterian minister and educator who devoted much of his life to the antislavery movement. His house in Ripley, Ohio, was a stop on the Underground Railroad, and Rankin, along with his family and neighbors, is credited with helping 2,000 fugitive slaves escape to freedom. The house is situated at the top of a hill overlooking the Ohio River. Escaping slaves climbed the 100-step "Freedom Stairway" from the river to reach the house, which has several secret rooms in which slaves were hidden. A light was placed in the window of the house to indicaten when it was safe for slaves to approach. The John Rankin House is now a museum, part of the Ohio History Connection's statewide network of historic sites. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1277_781136_122
Subjects: Rankin, John, 1793-1886; Abolitionists -- Ohio; Civil Liberties; Underground Railroad; Religion in Ohio; Rankin House
Places: Ripley (Ohio); Brown County (Ohio)
 

Description: Stereograph image of the 27th United States Colored Troops, made up of African American soldiers from Ohio, camped outside of Petersburg, Virginia, ca. 1863-1865 View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03374
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Photographs; African American soldiers; United States Colored Troops; Military life
Places: Petersburg (Virginia)
 

Description: Photograph showing construction taking place on the underground parking garage at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, ca. 1963. Several onlookers watch the progress from the edge of the Statehouse foundation. This photograph was taken for publication in the Columbus Citizen-Journal newspaper. The three-level parking garage beneath the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse was constructed between 1963 and 1964, at a cost of over $6 million. It opened to the public on November 16, 1964. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P339_B03F01_08_01
Subjects: Ohio Statehouse (Columbus, Ohio); Construction; Excavation; Civil engineering;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Historical photograph of Columbus waterworks employees ca. 1900, photographed by Perry Okey and included in the Columbus Citizen-Journal Photograph Collection. Some of the men are identified in a typed caption on the back as follows. Front row, seated left to right: John Bauer, boilermaker; Tom Neishan, fireman; and Charley Lyons, blacksmith's helper. Standing in the front left, with a black bow tie and beard, is a Civil War veteran named "Carr," who was a carpenter. The man in light clothes at center is Marvin Custer, the morning engineer and a nephew of General George Armstrong Custer. To his left is Captain Carter, a river patrolman, and at the far right wearing a derby hat is Uncle John Kilroy, chief engineer. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P339_B11F03_04_01
Subjects: Columbus (Ohio)--History; Waterworks; City employees; Civil engineering;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Stereoview of seven African American army teamsters in Cobb Hill, Virginia. This stereoview is No. 2594 of the "War Views" section of the series entitled "Photographic History-The War for the Union" published by E. & H. T. Anthony & Co., American and Foreign Stereoscopic Emporium, of New York. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC5227_04_01
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Photographs; African American soldiers; United States Colored Troops; Military life
Places: Cobb Hill (Virginia)
 

Description: Carte de visite portrait of Ohio geologist Charles Whittlesey pictured in his Civil War uniform. Whittlesey, born in 1808, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served in the U.S. Army during the Black Hawk War in 1832. He resigned his commission, studied law, and became an attorney in Cleveland, Ohio. While at West Point, Whittlesey had studied geology; he became an assistant geologist of Ohio in 1837 and participated in the geological survey of the state conducted in the late 1830s. With the outbreak of the Civil War, he immediately enlisted in the Union Army, and in April 1861, he became the assistant quartermaster-general for Ohio troops. He also participated in the western Virginia campaign of 1861, serving as the chief engineer for Ohio's military units. Following this campaign, Whittlesey helped design the defenses of Cincinnati, and he became the colonel in command of the 20th Ohio Infantry. He participated in the Battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh. Ill health caused him to resign from the military in April 1862. In 1867, he helped establish the Western Reserve Historical Society and served as the organization's president until his death on October 18, 1886. Whittlesey authored approximately 200 books and articles, mostly about geology and early Ohio early history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC4190_Whittlesey
Subjects: Ohio--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Military officers; Portrait photography; Geology -- Ohio; Authors
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: A crowd watches three speakers or performers at the annual Gay Pride Parade (identified on the reverse as the "Lesbian/Gay Freedom Parade") at the Riverfront Amphitheater in downtown Columbus, Ohio, June 29, 1986. Stonewall Union, a gay rights group formed in 1981, organized the city's first gay pride parade in 1982. It's now an annual event in support of the LGBTQ community. This photograph was taken by a photographer 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_B03F09_01
Subjects: Gay rights--United States--History--20th century; LGBTQ Community; Parades & processions; Activists
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This 5.5 by 7.4-inch (13.97 by 18.80 cm) engraving by Thomas Nast shows the 1863 Civil War battle at Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina. Although not a strategically important battle, it is significant because it demonstrated the courage of the 54th Massachusetts, a regiment composed of African Americans. Massachusetts was one of the first states to allow black men to enlist to fight in the Civil War, and so drew volunteers from several states. More than 150 men from Ohio joined the regiment. Company K was composed of 75 men from Xenia. More than half of the men in the 54th died in the battle, including its commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, son of a prominent abolitionist family. Eighteen Ohioans were among the casualties. The 1989 movie Glory dramatizes the history of the regiment. Thomas Nast (1840-1902) was born in Landau, Germany. He emigrated to the United States and became a successful caricaturist, illustrator, and painter. He is best known for his political cartoons and illustrations of Santa Claus. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om872_806480_001
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Military Ohio; African American Soldiers; Civil War; Campaigns & battles
Places: Xenia (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio); Charleston (South Carolina)
 

Description: This 4.25 by 5.75-inch (10.79 by 14.61 cm) engraving of Benjamin William Arnett is a reproduction of a photograph taken by L. Hunster. It appeared in Harper's Weekly on May 18, 1878, together with an article on the International Sunday School Convention in Atlanta. Arnett traveled to Georgia to represent Ohio at the convention, which was attended by delegates from Protestant denominations in every state. Its purpose was to discuss religious education for children. Arnett was refused admission to the convention because of his race. Arnett (1836-1906) was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. A teacher and bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Arnett moved to Ohio in 1867. He served as pastor and teacher at churches in Cincinnati, Toledo, Urbana, and Columbus. In 1886, as Republican representative from Greene County in the Ohio General Assembly, Arnett introduced legislation to repeal the state's "Black Laws." First enacted in 1803, Ohio's "Black Laws" limited the freedom and rights of African American residents. Arnett was particularly concerned that state law did not ensure that black children had the same educational opportunities as white children. In 1887, statues regarding education were changed; the state was thereafter required to provide equal opportunities to all children regardless of race. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om871_806451_001
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Ohio Government; Education; Civil Liberties; Religion in Ohio; Segregation--Laws and legislation;
Places: Wilberforce (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio)