Description: Robert Wilson (1799-1871) was an Underground Railroad operator at Savannah, Ashland County, Ohio. Commencing in 1850, Wilson provided shelter as well as transportation to fugitive slaves in Ashland County. Despite suffering community ostracism for his participation in the Underground Railroad, Wilson continued his abolition work until slavery was abolished. This carte de visite is from G.W. Buttorff. 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: AL03102
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Antislavery movements--Ohio--History--19th century; Abolitionists;
Places: Loudonville (Ohio); Ashland County (Ohio)
 

Description: Seven stereoviews show the 8th Ohio Infantry Regiment, U.S. Volunteers prior to their departure for Cuba during the Spanish American War. They measure 3.54 by 7.09 inches (9 by 18 cm). Stereoviews, also called stereographs, contain side-by-side images captured simultaneously from two slightly different perspectives. Looking at the card through a stereoscope, a viewer sees a single three-dimensional image. The first two images are of training exercises at Camp Alger. The third and fourth images show men of the unit at Camp Alger. Images five and six capture regimental commander Colonel Curtis V. Hard of Wooster and Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. H. Dick with other officers in New York. In the final image, men are seen boarding the St. Paul, which transported the regiment to Cuba. The 8th Ohio Infantry Regiment was an Ohio National Guard (O.N.G.) regiment organized in July 1876 and mustered into federal service in May 1898 at Camp Bushnell in Columbus. Prior to the Spanish American War, the regiment maintained peace during civil disturbances and labor strikes throughout the state. Men in the regiment were from northern Ohio, predominantly Ashland, Holmes, Medina, Richland, Wayne, and Stark counties. The 8th Ohio was nicknamed "McKinley's Own" or "The President's Own" because three companies were from President William McKinley's hometown of Canton. The 8th Ohio assembled in Akron, Ohio on April 26th, 1898, just three days after the call for troops. On July 4th, 1898, following several months of training at Camp Bushnell and Camp Alger, Virginia, the 8th Ohio received orders to move to New York, where they would set sail for Cuba. The regiment disembarked at Siboney, Cuba on July 11. Although the unit never participated in combat, it was plagued by disease. The soldiers that did not perish from illness left Cuba on August 17 aboard the S.S. Mohawk. The Spanish American War was the shortest war in United States history, lasting less than four months. It inspired tremendous patriotism, since it was the first war the U.S. fought as a unified nation after the Civil War. American sympathies for Cuban independence from Spain and a "yellow press" interpretation of the sinking of the battleship Maine led to the Spanish American War. (The term "yellow press" refers to a style of journalism that sensationalizes news events.) More than 15,000 Ohioans served in the militia and the volunteer army. Of those, few were involved in major action, although 230 died of disease. The Treaty of Paris, negotiated in part by Ohioan Whitelaw Reid, formally ended the war on December 10, 1898. Spain relinquished to the United States control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. Cuba became independent in 1902. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1331_1664684_001
Subjects: Military Ohio; Spanish American War; Soldiers; Military officers; Boats; 8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (O.V.I.)
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Ashland County (Ohio); Holmes County (Ohio); Medina County (Ohio); Richland County (Ohio); Wayne County (Ohio); Canton (Ohio); Stark County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of a Bicentennial flag made of paper chains hanging in a classroom during a "Spirit of '76" community-school Bicentennial event in Perrysburg, Ohio, February 21, 1976. The image was submitted by photographer Karen McCready of Ashland, Ohio, in the Amateur category of the Spirit of Ohio Bicentennial Photo Contest. She titled the photograph "One Nation Indivisible." In August 1976, the Ohio American Revolution Bicentennial Advisory Committee (OARBAC) began the Spirit of Ohio Bicentennial Photo Contest as part of a larger effort in Ohio to celebrate the 1976 American Bicentennial. The contest was meant to document "the spirit and character of the people and places which represent Ohio during [the] bicentennial year," and to create a permanent photographic archive of the year's festivity for use by future researchers. Both professional and amateur photographers submitted over 500 photographs for consideration, all taken within the state between January 1 and December 31, 1976. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA2734AV_B02F111_01_01
Subjects: American Revolution Bicentennial (1976); Flags; Classrooms; Arts and crafts
Places: Perrysville (Ohio); Ashland County (Ohio)
 

Description: Clear Creek, Loudonville, Ashland County, ca. 1940-1949. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00309
Subjects: Rivers--Ohio; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio
Places: Loudonville (Ohio); Ashland County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated ca. 1930-1939, this photograph shows, as identified by the photograph's caption, "Afternoon vista in Ashland County." The county is largely rural, with over half of the land used for farming, and was established in 1846. 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_B01F13_004_001
Subjects: Agriculture; Farming; Landscapes--Ohio--Pictorial works; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Ashland County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads: "Mr. & Mrs. Curtice Powell and two of their nine children perished in the fire which destroyed their home and possessions, on June 7th. Neighbors in the vicinity of Maple Grove Church, on the Ashland - Richland county line sheltered the children and began a drive for cash and materials to erect a new home for the seven orphans. Donations poured in from both counties, and workmen have generously offered their services. The new home will be ready for occupancy before Christmas. Ashland Times - Gazette." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F13_007_001
Subjects: Architecture--Ohio--Pictorial works.; Architecture, Domestic--Ohio--Pictorial works.; Orpanages; Construction; Fires
Places: Ashland County (Ohio); Richland County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Bicentennial barn-painting program was an inexpensive, grassroots marketing campaign that painted the official logo of the Ohio Bicentennial on a highly visible historic barn in each of Ohio's 88 counties. Over 2,000 farmers and landowners submitted their barn descriptions to the committee for consideration. Beginning in 1998, artist Scott Hagan spent five years painting the logos, tailored to every barn's unique character. Typically, the barn owners hosted a celebration at the completion of their barn painting. This photograph is an exterior view of an unnumbered barn, the second painted in Ashland County, located on Route 58/60. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08627
Subjects: Centennial celebrations; Ohio History--State and Local Government; Barns; Ohio Bicentennial, 2003
Places: Ashland County (Ohio)
 

Description: Taken by photographer Ihna Thayer Frary in 1924, this photograph shows the doorway to an unidentified house south of Sullivan, Ohio. The doorway has circular columns on either side with a post and lintel frame. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1873, Ihna Thayer Frary was a prominent American art and architecture scholar, whose primary interest was the architectural heritage of the region of northeastern Ohio known as the Western Reserve. In addition to serving as publicity and membership secretary of the Cleveland Museum of Art, he was a professor of Ohio and American architecture at the Cleveland Institute of Art and Western Reserve University’s School of Architecture. Over the course of his career, Frary was a design consultant for private clients and designed furniture, and was an active member of several prominent arts councils in the Cleveland area. In 1963, Frary and his two sons donated his entire photographic collection to the Ohio Historical Society (now the Ohio History Connection). The Ihna Thayer Frary Collection consists of 4,000 5 x 7 photographs of private residences, churches, taverns, and public buildings, as well as select rural buildings, bridges, archaeological sites, and public monuments. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P112_B54A_2211_01
Subjects: Frary, I. T. (Ihna Thayer); Photography--Ohio; Western Reserve; Domestic architecture; Doors & doorways
Places: Sullivan (Ohio); Ashland County (Ohio)
 

Description: Original description reads: "Charles Mill Dam. Located three miles above the village of Coulter. (Ashland Co.)" Charles Mill Dam was constructed in 1935-36 and is primarily for flood control but also for recreation and fish and wildlife management. It is a rolled earth fill dam with an impervious, water resistent, clay core. The dam, is 48 feet high, 1,390 feet long and 20 feet wide. This flood reduction system also includes two dikes and one levee. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B11F11_003_001
Subjects: Dams--Ohio; Geography and Natural Resources; Dams; Flood control; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Ashland County (Ohio)
 

Description: Original description reads: "Pleasant Hill Dam, is located on the Clear Fork of the Mohican River, 5 miles west of Loudenville and 2 miles south of Perrysville, in Ashland County." Completed in 1936, Pleasant Hill Dam was constructed for flood reduction, recreation, and fish and wildlife management. The dam is made up of rolled earth fill with an impervious, water proof, core of clay. It is 113 feet high, 775 feet long, with a top width of 30 feet, and a base width of 550 feet. A unique feature of this flood control structure is the 'Morning Glory Spillway', one of only two dams built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with this type spillway. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B11F11_006_001
Subjects: Dams--Ohio
Places: Perrysville (Ohio); Ashland County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reproduction of an illustration depicting John Chapman, known as Johnny Appleseed, published in "A History of the Pioneer and Modern Times of Ashland County From the Earliest to the Present Date" by H. S. Knapp, 1863. Johnny Appleseed started nurseries in Mansfield, Lucas, Perrysville, and Loudonville in North-Central Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02697
Subjects: Ashland County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Appleseed, Johnny, 1774-1845; Apples
Places: Ashland County (Ohio)
 

Description: Campaign poster for Democratic congressional candidate Ed Witmer, ca. 1962. Witmer ran for representative of the 16th congressional district of Ohio but lost to incumbent Republican Frank T. Bow. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: OVS_5117
Subjects: Ohio Government; Presidents and Politics; United States. Congress. House; Elections
Places: Stark County (Ohio); Wayne County (Ohio); Ashland County (Ohio); Medina County (Ohio)