As with many respectful Americans, I am saddened by the loss of this wonderful woman. For me, it is a bit of concern too about what will happen in the future. When a monumental change occurs like this, it affects us all on levels we can’t quite understand. Queen Elizabeth kept up traditions in her country and stood by strong values and duty to her country. I am not sure we understand what this really means here in the U.S. I can’t imagine a president seeing themselves as having a duty to uphold, in quite the same manner in which she did. Perhaps they see that they have a role but sometimes I am not so sure they have our countries best interests at heart. Of course this is a matter of an opinion, just as the same would go for a British subject or for those in the extended…
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Romans 12:2 NIV
Three years ago this month, I picked up a gun for the first time. I wanted to impress or get the attention of the man who taught me. I don’t have the man anymore but I still have the gun.
I was afraid of guns, prior to learning about them. I came from a holistic framework that if I had one, I would invite trouble toward me. I still believe this so I keep a conscious mindset in respect to owning a gun and how I will carry myself in the world.
There are two Youtube videos that I will be embedding here. It is an hour long talk given in 1963 for the Ladies Club of Minerva Park. The speaker is the previous Mayor Carlton Berry, speaking about the Minerva Amusement Park from 1895-1905. This is what Minerva Park originally was. When it closed down, the owners had opened another park in the center of Columbus called Olentangy Park Casino. The Mayor will go on to speak about the Minerva Park incorporation in 1940 and bringing the ladies up to date to 1963. These oral reports are so fascinating because he is providing so many details about life in those years. While these are Youtube videos, there is only one photograph for both of them. The first photo is the “Casino” of Minerva Amusement Park but it was not a gambling center but an opera house. Evidently, this is what they…
As we celebrate the 244th anniversary of our independence from Great Britain and our right to exist as free peoples without fear of the King’s rule. Here are the actual words and a photograph of the document itself. Also, a little known fact of women’s history.
Founders of the Columbus Jewish Historical Society
Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with Toby Brief, when she talked to the American Association of University Women, about the Columbus Jewish Historical Society and showed us around their little museum in Bexley.
The mission of the Columbus Jewish Historical Society is to collect, preserve, and publish materials on the history of the Jewish people of Columbus and central Ohio; to encourage projects, celebrations, and activities which spread authentic information concerning Columbus and central Ohio Jewish history; to create a Society concerned with the past, present, and future; and to enlighten the membership of the Society, the Jewish community and the general public on the achievements of our people and the growth of Jewish community life from the days of the early settlers.
They began this organization in 1981 but the work toward Jewish refugees began after the 1830’s when Jewish people first came to the Columbus area. Anti-Semitism was not as huge in Columbus as in other cities, so they were able to start businesses (such as the Lazarus Department Stores), rent and purchase homes without much issue.
This is my first interview, here on Ohio Women’s History Project and I am starting with Tracy Lawson, whom I met at the recent Ohio Local History Alliance Conference. Tracy is an Ohio based writer who is known for her most recent work “Pride of the Valley,” which is a historical account of her ancestors. Tracy won “Best Non-fiction History,” in 2012 from the Ohio Professional Writer’s Association. In 2013, she was selected to present at Ohioana Book Festival. She also holds a 5-star selection from Reader’s Favorite Book Reviews. Tracy has written in several genre’s which you can find on Amazon and by clicking the book photo above. The following is the Q&A format I submitted to her:
How long have you been a writer and what made you choose to go in this direction?
I always wanted to be a writer, from the time I learned how to read. But I finally found the time to try when my daughter was in high school. My first book was published in 2012, and since then I’ve published six more, and have two in progress.
What plans do you have for your next book?
My next book is historical fiction, based on events in the life of my 6x great grandparents. I’ve written nonfiction history books, and also thriller novels, so this is like the perfect mash-up of what I like to write—a thrilling tale of a woman thwarting a conspiracy that could have changed the course of the American Revolution.
What struggles did you face while working on your books?
I sometimes wrestle with writer’s block or, perhaps it’s better called writer’s insecurity. First drafts can be messy, and often the story doesn’t fully develop until it’s been through a few drafts. It can take a while for the story that’s in my head to emerge on the page.
What woman in history has inspired you and why?
When I was younger, I found the story of Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller’s teacher, fascinating. It showed just how vital it was to be able to communicate, read, and study to develop one’s mind. I’m also a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder, both as a pioneer and as an author.
What woman in your ancestry inspired you and why?
Anna Asbury Stone, the subject of my current work-in-progress, inspired me because she was willing to risk her safety—not only to come to the aid of her husband and brothers, but to deliver a dispatch to General Washington while she was being pursued!
What advice would you give young women about tackling their future?
Don’t be afraid of hard work and don’t expect to land in your dream job right away. Study something that will allow you to earn a living and support yourself. My daughter loved dance and theater—but she majored in economics in college, and is now in grad school and planning to be a college professor.
When you think of the upcoming 100th anniversary passing the 19th amendment, what sticks out in your mind?
Wow this is a tough one. I wonder what the women who fought for our right to vote would think if they could see the candidates we have to choose from. I think they’d be disappointed.
I want to be clear that this is just a sample of the names of women in Ohio History, it is not all of them. These are names that I could fit on a t-shirt and names of women I have begun to write about on this website, plus a few more. I made sure to get names of women that were “firsts” at something. I also tried to only get one name in different categories, and this is why all the first ladies from Ohio are not on here. If you haven’t bought your t-shirt yet, click on the link above and see the different items which are featured. Let’s educate others about Ohio Women’s History, ONE T-SHIRT AT A TIME!
Agnes May Driscoll – Coder/Mathmetician
Annie Oakley – Sharp shooter
Belle Sherwin – Activist
Berenice Abbott – Photographer
Bernice Pyke – First woman to be a delegate for the Democratic Nat’l Convention
Betsy Mix Cowles – Activist Abolition
Betty Zane – American Revolution Heroine
Charity Edna Earley – First AA woman to be an Army Officer
Dorothy Fuldheim – Journalist
Eliza Bryant – Humanitarian
Ella P. Stewart – First AA woman Pharmacist
Emma “Grandma” Gatewood – First woman to walk the Appalachian Trail
Erma Bombeck – Comedian
Evelyn Ryan – Prize winner of Defiance, Ohio (movie made about her life)
Florence Harding – First Lady
Florence Ellinwood Allen – First woman on the state Supreme Court
Florence Z. Melton – Shoe Manufacturer
Frances Jennings Casement – Suffragist
Frances Bolton – First woman to Congress/House of Rep.
Hallie Brown – Educator/Activist
Harriet Beecher Stowe – Writer
Henrietta Buckler Seiberling – Founder of AA/Oxford Group
Jane Scott – Journalist/Musicians
Jerrie Mock – First woman to fly solo around the world
Judith Resnik – Astronaut
Lillian Wald – Nurse
Lillian Gish – Silent film star
Lucy Stone – Suffragist
Lucy Webb Hayes – First Lady
Maude C. Waitt – One of the First women to the state Senate
Thank you to everyone who came out and supported Ohio Women’s History Project this year at the conference! If you wished to have a receipt, don’t forget to email me at ladyjatbay@gmail.com and let me know your name and how many shirts or prints that you paid for and I can send this back to you. If you still wanted to purchase a shirt, you can click on the store at the top of this page.
Ohio Local History Alliance held an amazing conference and I think we all learned a great deal from these presentations. We now have good ideas about how to take our museums, non-profits and new businesses forward in the years ahead. Below are some of the workshops I attended and information that I learned. I have included some links so that you might be able to research this more on your own.
The first workshop that I attended was given by Megan Woods, Cultural Resources
Megan Woods
Division Director at the Ohio History Connection. Her workshop was “Ohio Women’s Suffrage Centennial.” Megan discussed how to be included on their event page on the Ohio Suffrage Centennial website. The Ohio Suffrage Centennial Commission was passed on May 2019 by Governor Mike DeWine. There is currently a travelling exhibit of banners and a trading card project going on in Northwest Ohio by the Trumbull County Historical Society. There are also book discussion groups and you can get a list of books to read for your own groups through the Ohio League of Women Voters. In August of 2020 there will be a huge celebration that is in the planning stages at this time. Akron is working on a statue to honor Sojourner Truth. Case Western Reserve is hoping to get a play produced entitled the “Taming of the Anti.” All these and more can be found on their website above.
Harriet Taylor Upton
She spoke about three women in particular from Ohio, Harriett Taylor Upton who started in Ravenna and ended up in Warren. She brought the National Women’s Suffrage Association to Warren. She became the Vice Chairman of the Republican National Committee and was a part of the D.A.R. (Daughter’s of the American Revolution).
She also shared about Florence Allen who was the first female judge in Ohio but began her career first as a musician and journalist. She had left Ohio for New York to study law and then returned to eventually receive a nomination to the Ohio Supreme Court. Later she would be nominated by Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Federal Supreme Court. Florence also wrote several books about the law.
Haley Quinn Brown
The third woman was Haley Quinn Brown who was a black woman that eventually came to Wilberforce, Ohio. She was the Dean of Tuskeegee Institute, an International Public Speaker and the President of the Colored Women’s League. She was very involved in the temperance movement as well.
We listened to various people in the audience talk about their projects. One of which is that the Girl Scouts of Ohio are working on a badge to commemorate being a good citizen and learning about the voting process.
I then attended a Grant Management Basics workshop with Jennifer Souers-Chevraux who is the owner of Illumine Creative Solutions, LLC. Jennifer taught us about ways to be organized in a fashion that would help guarantee success with the grant already received. She also gave us several non-profit organizations to help with your business.
Tracy Lawson, the author of a historical book entitled “Pride of the Valley,” engaged
Savannah Homa, Tracy Lawson and Keilah Israel
with Mt. Healthy school in Springfield, to help kids become interested in their ancestry through family trees. Two young ladies came to report on their findings. These future female historians were Savannah Homa and Keilah Israel. There were a total of eight boys and girls involved in this project.
These young girls were very bright and had amazing insight into what they had discovered on this project. I was very impressed with their advanced level of thinking.
At lunch time, on Friday, we listened to Nekole Alligood from the Delaware Nation speak on re-patriating native American remains that might be found in a family member’s home. There is an organization called NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) which handles this type of service in a culturally appropriate way so as to bring peace to the departed. When such an event occurs it needs to be a sacred event with no press invited to the ceremony. Nekole also made us aware of the fact that there are 44 federally recognized tribes that stem from Ohio. I wondered how many there were that were not recognized. We also learned that native American’s were not recognized or given U.S. citizenship until 1924. Even today, the issue of young women kidnapped from reservations, (which are often isolated locations with people living far from others) for purposes of human trafficking. The issue of rape was brought up many years ago in an article written for Amnesty International that I recall reading. I believe this took place in Alaska. It is interesting to note that girls are kidnapped from reservations but not outside of the reservation (i.e., non-natives). This is a huge concern because the reservations are meant to be protected lands – so why are the people on them not protected?
Sue Plummer and Christine Anderson
Another workshop I attended was on the “Women of King Records.” King Records was a recording studio, manufacturer and shipping warehouse run by Syd Nathan between 1943-1971, in the Cincinnati area. Christine Anderson, a professor from Xavier University in Cincinnati and Sue Plummer an Ohio History Service Corps Alumni, have been conducting research to uncover the women who produced music during that time. They shared a spreadsheet with their findings which held 2,054 recordings of various genres including hillbilly, Doo-Wop, funk and soul. They gave us access to this spreadsheet which includes links to YouTube videos if they were available. I am not sure whether or not it is acceptable to share this link so I will keep that to myself. You can however access this website which appears to be linked to Xavier University.
As you can imagined I had a wonderful time at this conference but I feel safe in saying most people seemed to be having a good time. There were smiles on these eager faces, as they walked about and the people I talked with all agreed that they enjoyed attending.
Remember #olhaempowers to follow on Instagram or Twitter.
All over Ohio, we have Hungarian churches that once flourished and now are seeing a decline in membership – often closing doors (i.e., Cleveland several of them). However, the festivals, all over the state, still seem to see a rise in numbers coming out to share in their cultural identity. Here in Columbus we not only have Hungarian festivals in the summer but Italian, Irish, Greek, among the remaining European ethnicity. These festivals are put together by dedicated European/American women and men who tirelessly put in volunteer hours to share their passion with the public. This past weekend, braving 100 + degree temperatures, people flocked to St. Ladislaus Catholic Church where, once again, the Hungarian Cultural Association (HCA) put on their (50th? approximately) annual fete. It is important to keep the old ways alive through: stories, dances, folk songs, recipes, family so that the next generation won’t forget their history. Here are some photos taken by myself and Olga Kovacs both members of the HCA.
Reflections Inspired by A Course in Miracles, A Course of Love, The Way of Mastery, Choose Only Love, & The Way of the Marys. . .with Celia Hales - https://www.amazon.com/author/celiahales
Jeannine Vegh 