Ft. Recovery: “Civil War at the Fort”

Join us at the first annual “Civil War at the Fort” at the Ambassador Park in Fort Recovery, Ohio! There will be living history and reenactments that have skirmishing and battles on all three days with Friday a school day. Live artillery demonstration, night fire, military ball, payroll, parlor games, ladies tea and a Saturday baseball game.

September 11 – 12

Bellevue: Pioneer Days at Historic Lyme Village

Pioneer Days is the event of the year where the village comes alive with reenactors covering the 19th century. Come see lots of vendors and reenactors from various periods, including the Civil War. All the buildings are staffed and plenty of food is available for the event.

September 16

Cincinnati: Cincinnati Civil War Round Table Lecture

“Bombproof Officers” or Backbone of the Army? A Look at Staff Officers in the Army of Northern Virginia.

September 18-19

Gallipolis: 147th Annual Emancipation Celebration

Celebrating the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 which declared slaves “thenceforth and forever more free”.  Activities and games, guest speakers, Bands, singing groups, historic re-enactments, civil war soldiers, history booth, arts and crafts, food vendors and health screenings. Free admission, free parking.

Toledo: Civil War Encampment

Step back in time to the period of the American Civil War! Stroll through the encampment and visit with soldiers to experience life during the war and hear from the families who awaited their return.

September 19

Mentor: Commemoration of President Garfield’s Death

President Garfield died of assassin-inflicted wounds on September 19^th, 1881. Mark the 129^th anniversary of his death with special programming at James A. Garfield NHS.

September 21

Fairview Park: Johnson’s Island POW Camp, Ohio CW150 Speaker Corps Lecture

Dr. David Bush, Professor of Anthropology at Heidelberg University and member of the Ohio Civil War 150 Speakers Corps, will talk about his archaeological research on Johnson’s Island and its Civil War Military Prison.

William J. Knight served in the Civil War as a private in the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company E. Before the war he was an engineer for the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad. In April 1862 Knight was one of two dozen soldiers, almost all from Ohio, who volunteered for a secret mission now famously known as Andrews’ Raid or the Great Locomotive Chase.

Knight Panorama, Andrews Raid Map, Ohio Historical Society

Raiders Seized Confederate Locomotive
The plan, devised and led by secret agent James J. Andrews, was for the raiders to cross Confederate lines and travel to Marietta, Ga. In Marietta, they boarded a northbound train. At a stop a few miles north of town they uncoupled the passenger cars and took control of the locomotive, called The General, and three freight cars.

Knight was one of two soldiers who served as the engineer running the locomotive. They traveled more than 100 miles, cutting telegraph wires and destroying track as they went. Soon they were pursued by the Confederate Army. The raiders abandoned the train to give each soldier a chance to escape. However, all of the raiders were captured. Andrews and seven others were hung, while eight of the soldiers were exchanged with the Union Army for Confederate prisoners. Knight was among a group of eight soldiers who escaped Confederate prison and made the dangerous journey to Union lines.

Knight Panorama, Captured Raiders Being Sent to the Chattanooga Jail, Ohio Historical Society

Awarded Medal of Honor
Knight and 17 others were awarded the Medal of Honor for their bravery. Their story captured the imaginations of people during and after the Civil War. Around 1878, Knight began giving public lectures describing his role in Andrews’ Raid and continued making presentations for 18 years. Accompanying Knight at his lectures was a panorama of 17 scenes painted on canvas or muslin panels that illustrated the raiders’ mission, capture and escape. The panels were stitched together and cranked past a square stage window while Knight spoke.

Panorama Tells Raiders’ Story, Offers Glimpse of 19th-Century Entertainment
Panoramas were a common entertainment medium in the 19th century, however, few exist today. Knight’s Panorama, painted by Albert Kruger, tells a thrilling tale of the Civil War and also gives us a rare glimpse of 19th-century popular entertainment. Knight’s Panorama is currently on display at the Ohio Historical Center at I-71 and 17th Avenue in Columbus, where you can see one of Kruger’s large handpainted scenes plus photographs of 16 others in the continuous roll that Knight used to tell the story of the Great Locomotive Chase, along with the original stage window and rolling apparatus plus copies of advertising for Knight’s lectures.

(COLUMBUS, OHIO)─ With revitalized neighborhoods and thriving businesses to point to as success stories, preserving and promoting history does increase economic development on state and local levels. Because of this, the Ohio Historical Society is committed to support and lead the effort to put Ohio’s history to work through historic preservation and heritage tourism for the benefit of its citizens and communities at a time when local economies are struggling to recover from the deep recession.

“History has a vital role in the economic development of our state’s cities and towns,” said Burt Logan, OHS executive director and CEO.  “Naturally being the entry point for all things related to Ohio history, the Ohio Historical Society is leading several statewide initiatives that will contribute to local development. These efforts will benefit from trained volunteers working directly in Ohio communities.”

About The Ohio History Service Corps Program
Thanks to a $260,000 grant from the Ohio Community Service Council, one of only three new AmeriCorps grants, the Ohio Historical Society has created the Ohio History Service Corps, a program that will engage AmeriCorps volunteers to educate Ohioans on why history is relevant and how it can be used as an effective economic development tool. Partnering with local history organizations, the Ohio Historical Society will be placing 20 AmeriCorps service members in communities across the state for the next year.

The AmeriCorps volunteers will focus on the continued preservation and promotion of the state’s historic resources to stimulate tourism and economic growth. AmeriCorps members will serve in teams to promote, raise awareness and preserve Ohio’s strong history through educational experiences for community members.

The Ohio History Service Corps program will have three components: Civil War 150 Leadership Corps, Ohio History Tech Corps and Ohio Historic Preservation Corps. Each of these AmeriCorps volunteer groups will help local organizations put history to work in their community.

Preparing for Civil War 150
With the sesquicentennial of the Civil War being observed from 2011-2015, the Ohio Historical Society, in conjunction with the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums, will have the Civil War 150 Leadership Corps assist communities in preparing for the upcoming commemoration. Working with staff of the partner organization, corps members will assist in Civil War-related educational and public programming, special events, regional initiatives and basic collections care.

Participating partners in the CW150 Leadership Corps include: Wood County Historical Center in Bowling Green; Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont; Oberlin Heritage Center in Oberlin; Youngstown State University in Youngstown; Dennison Depot Railroad Museum in Dennison; Ohio Historical Center in Columbus; Piqua Public Library in Piqua; National Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati; Quaker Heritage Center in Wilmington; Athens County Convention & Visitors Bureau and Athens County Historical Society in Athens.

Building Technological Capacity
The goal of the Ohio History Tech Corps is to build capacity for history organizations to develop long-term digitization projects, the process of converting information into a digital format, such as historic photographs, newspapers, maps and even objects, to provide access to users who may never be able to visit a history organization. The program will use the infrastructure created by Ohio Memory, a collaborative digital library that includes 353 historical organizations, libraries and museums. Partner organizations include: Wood County Historical Center; Youngstown State University; Cincinnati Public Library; Ohio Historical Center; Southeast Regional Library System in Wellston; and the Garnet A. Wilson Public Library of Pike County in Waverly.

Preserving Historic Resources
The Ohio Historic Preservation Corps will be used to pursue three historic preservation projects in four Ohio communities: Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Mansfield. Five AmeriCorps members will identify and record historic buildings in the Ohio Historic Inventory, develop and implement a model neighborhood preservation program and help with capacity building, promotion and economic restructuring in conjunction with historic downtown revitalization programs and the Ohio Main Street program. Heritage Ohio, Preservation Ohio, city of Cleveland, city of Columbus and the city of Cincinnati will be participating partners in the program.

Eighteen Partners
Eighteen organizations and government entities will be partnering with the Ohio Historical Society on the Ohio History Service Corps program for the next year. Each will contribute a $1,500 match in addition to providing in-kind operational support for service members.

According to Logan, the Ohio History Service Corps program is built upon partnership and volunteerism. For Ohio’s public history community, AmeriCorps members will provide much-needed organizational and community capacity building, which will help long-term development efforts. The intention is to continue the program for an additional two years dependant on further AmeriCorps grant funding.

“Ohio History Service Corps will place a new generation of community organizers, public servants and public historians across the state to build community and infuse our work with a wonderful influx of new ideas,” Logan said. “In the future, we’ll be able to point to success stories from this program that history really does work for Ohio.”

The Ohio Historical Society is looking for members to fill the 20 full-time positions. The term of service runs from Oct. 1, 2010 to Aug. 31, 2011.  A service member will receive a stipend of $11,800, health insurance and an educational award of $5,350 that can be used for college or to pay off existing school loans. Contact 614.297.2392 or visit https://my.americorps.gov for more information and to complete the required online application.  The application deadline is Sept. 20, 2010.

About Ohio Community Service Council, Ohio Historical Society
The Ohio Community Service Council’s mission is to strengthen Ohio communities through service and volunteerism.  Established by state statue in 1994, the Council administers programs and initiatives aimed at increasing the number of Ohioans engaged in national service and volunteer activities.

Established in 1885, the Ohio Historical Society is a nonprofit organization that serves as the state’s partner in preserving and interpreting Ohio’s history, archaeology, natural history and architecture.  For more information about programs and events, call 614.297.2300/800.686.6124 or go online at www.ohiohistory.org.

On July 24th the 14th OVI/3rd Arkansas Civil War Reenactors and the Friends and Descendants of Johnson’s Island Civil War Prison (FDJI) hosted the 5th Annual ‘Great Golf Escape’ at Birch Run Golf Club in North Baltimore, OH. Proceeds from the event assist FDJI in their efforts to pay off 17.1 acres of the original Civil War Prison site at Johnson’s Island, OH. The prison, which is on Lake Erie near Sandusky, housed Confederate Officers during the Civil War.  The original mortgage of $356,000 is down to about $20,000 as of this writing!! FDJI hopes to have the mortgage paid off in time for the start of the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War cycle of events in 2011.

One of the teams wearing the Ohio Civil War 150 t-shirts.

Heavy rain moved through over night, but the weather Gods smiled on Saturday as it cleared into a pleasant, breezy day for the 19 participating teams of four, the largest outing yet! Events included a hole in one contest, putting contest, long drives, closest to the pin and more on the course. The hosts also conducted a 50-50 and raffle during lunch. An excellent lunch of steak, salads and pie greeted the hungry golfers as a thank you for their participation. The highlight of the day was a hole in one by Jeffery Konrad of North Baltimore on the Par 3, 8th hole. Sadly for Jeffery the hole in one contest was on the 13th hole!

First, second and third place teams won gift cards to local restaurants. The last place team won gift cards for Happy Meals. Each team also received a generous bag of prizes including movie tickets, gift cards, golf & sports items and the like. Bob Minton, one of the event coordinators says, “The sponsors and prize donors were very generous this year and we would like to thank them. We could not have done it without their help.”  This year’s outing profited $3,618 for FDJI,  bringing the five year total to over $16,300 raised.

Both the 14th OVI and FDJI are registered non-profit groups. For more information, visit www.14thovi-3rdark.com and www.johnsonsisland.com.

Plans are already underway for the 6th annual event in 2011. Hope to see you there!

FDJI

Learn more about Johnson’s Island: www.johnsonsisland.org/ or http://johnsonsisland.heidelberg.edu/

Ohio (Mentor): Re-enactors Bring Civil War to Life in Mentor

Tennessee: State’s Civil War Commemoration Praised As Model

North Carolina: Civil War and…Art?

Illinois: Lincoln Library Obtains Key Collection

Maine: Museum Recognizes 150^th Anniversary of Hamlin’s Election

Our first unidentified soldiers:

Unidentified soldiers (Ohio Historical Society Collection)

In this picture, one of the soldiers was identified as J.M. Southard but the other is just listed as “companion”.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t say which is which. This came from a photo album that belonged to Jane Swan Parsons, the wife of Columbus’ first millionaire, George McClelland Parsons.

We welcome your comments and questions below.

Do you have a photograph of an unidentified soldier or civilian from the war? Are you unsure if your photo dates back to the Civil War? Send it in to kkuehling@ohiohistory.org and we’ll post it on the website for public feedback!

In 1861, Camp Chase was established in Columbus, Ohio, to replace Camp Jackson. Governor William Dennison had ordered Camp Jackson’s creation as a meeting place for Ohio volunteers during the American Civil War. In April 1861, President Abraham Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand volunteers to end the South’s rebellion. Governor Dennison encouraged Ohio communities to form and to send militia companies to the state capital at Columbus for the governor’s use. Camp Jackson served as the training ground for these forces. Military authorities also reorganized these individual companies into larger military units at the camp.

A reproduction of a photograph depicting Union Civil War prison, Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio ca. 1860-1865. (Ohio Historical Society Collection)

While the state militia system had deteriorated throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, numerous communities had maintained units. These units existed primarily to march in parades and to provide young men with something to do in their spare time. Among these units was the Lancaster Guards. This company quickly answered the governor’s call and was the first militia unit to arrive in Columbus at Camp Jackson in 1861. It served as part of the first two Ohio infantry regiments organized for the war. Governor Dennison dispatched these regiments to Washington, DC, to protect the nation’s capital, on April 19, 1861. This was just four days after President Lincoln’s call for volunteers. Ohio’s governor sent other units to Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati, to help defend Ohio’s southern border from a Confederate invasion. The soldiers at Camp Jackson usually remained at the camp for only a short time. After receiving a little training, military officials sent the men off to the war.

In 1861, the federal government authorized the creation of Camp Chase. Organized in Columbus, it eventually replaced Camp Jackson as a recruitment and training center for the Union Army. Camp Chase also served as a prison camp. Civilians loyal to the Confederacy and Southern soldiers were held inside the prison stockade. During 1861 and early 1862, most of the prisoners were from Kentucky and western Virginia and were arrested for their disloyal political sentiments. Following the Battles of Fort Henry and Donelson in February 1862, Union authorities detained numerous Confederate officers and enlisted men as prisoners of war at Camp Chase. During 1863, the number of prisoners housed at Camp Chase at one time was more than eight thousand men. Following the completion of a new prisoner of war camp at Johnson’s Island in Lake Erie, Union officials sent most of the Confederate officers at Camp Chase to this new location.

This image shows an aerial depiction of Camp Chase, a Civil War camp in Columbus, Ohio. (Ohio Historical Society Collection)

Living conditions at Camp Chase prison camp were harsh. While Union authorities never intentionally starved the prisoners, the primary goal of Northern officials was to feed and equip the men serving in their own army. This commonly resulted in shortages for the prisoners. The large number of men in close quarters also led to outbreaks of disease. During the winter of 1863-1864, hundreds of prisoners died in a smallpox epidemic. In November 1864, Union and Confederate authorities agreed upon a prisoner exchange hoping to alleviate the suffering of sick prisoners held by both sides. A total of ten thousand prisoners were exchanged.

During the course of the Civil War, over two thousand Confederate prisoners died at Camp Chase. Originally, prison officials buried the prisoners in a Columbus city cemetery. In 1863, the prison established its own cemetery, and the bodies already buried in the Columbus cemetery were re-interred in the prison cemetery. Following the war, thirty-one Confederate bodies from Camp Dennison near Cincinnati were moved to the Camp Chase cemetery. this brought the total number of Confederate burials to approximately 2,260.

The monument memoralizing Camp Chase in Columbus. (Ohio Historical Society Collection)

The Union military closed Camp Chase at the end of the Civil War. Most of what remains of the site today is two acres of land, consisting primarily of the Confederate cemetery. In 1896, William Knauss, a former officer in the Northern army, organized a memorial service for the dead Confederates. On June 7, 1902, a monument to the Confederate dead was erected at the cemetery. Memorial services have been held at the cemetery every year since 1896.

Virginia: Sesquicentennial commemoration of First Manassas just one year away

Virginia: Historic Occoquan to host Civil War sesquicentennial event on July 31

Virginia: Podcast of Civil War battle offered

West Virginia: Teachers study Civil War history in Harpers Ferry

Mississippi: Students get a taste of Civil War encampments

Texas:  Brazos Museum of Natural History hosts “Lee and Grant” exhibit through August 11

Blog: Use Google Earth to tour battlefield

E.L. Hayes sword donated to the Fulton County Historical Society.

Among the collection is a presentation sword, commissioned by the town of Wauseon in the summer of 1862 from Tiffany & Company in New York City. The sword was presented by Mayor Jewell to then, Major E.L. Hayes, who was leaving his post as city councilman and his downtown business to recruit Fulton County men to form the 100th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The 100th fought throughout the south, and were even held as prisoners of war at one point during the war.

The collection will be part of the Fulton County Museum’s special exhibit, “Hell & Homefront: Civil War Through Fulton County Eyes”, opening in the spring of 2011 as part of the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the United States Civil War. This five year project will contain exhibits, educational programs, and a publication on the      history of Fulton County from the underground railroad movement in the 1830s through the reconstruction era. The project will not be a glorification of war, or particular battles, but show visitors the viewpoints of Fulton County citizens, both on the battle field, and those left behind at home. The museum’s extensive collection of Civil War era artifacts will be the centerpiece of this commemoration.

The Fulton County Museum features 14 rooms showcasing permanent exhibits and changing displays dating from about 1820-1960.  The museum and archives research room is located at 229 Monroe Street in downtown Wauseon, OH, 2 blocks west of N. Fulton St. on State Route 2 (Elm St), then one half block north on Monroe. Through Labor Day, the museum is open on Tuesdays from 1 – 7pm, Wednesday through Friday from 10am – 4pm, and on Saturdays from 10am – 2pm. For more information, call (419)337-7922 or visit the museum web site, at www.fultoncountyhs.org.

(Newark, OH): Members of the Licking County Historical Alliance unveiled several events for the 2011 commemoration of the Civil War’s sesquicentennial. Businesses and organizations have united to plan year-long commemoration activities beginning in January 2011 and continuing through December 2011. In the fall of 2010, a complete schedule of 2011 Civil War commemoration events will be released in a free Guide Booklet publication available at numerous sites around Licking County. The schedule of events will also be posted on the official Licking County 150th Anniversary Civil War Commemoration web site at www.escapetolickingcounty.com/civilwar.

The following events and dates have been confirmed for 2011:

· Ohio’s Role in the Civil War Exhibit: January 15-22 (Licking County Library)

· Civil War Lecture Series: January 16 (The Works)

· Civil War Lecture Series: February 20 (The Works)

· Civil War Lecture Series: March 20 (The Works)

· Civil War Dinner Theater: March 26 (Davis Shai)

· Civil War Themed National Library Week: April 10-16 (Licking County Library)

· Civil War Commemoration Kickoff: Sunday, April 17 (Licking County Historical Society)

· Mr. Lincoln’s Camera Man: May 5 (Licking County Library)

· Civil War Encampment: June 10-12 (Licking County Earthworks)

· Cedar Hill Cemetery Walk: September 9 (Licking County Historical Society)

· Human Interest Stories of Gettysburg Campaign: September 11 (Licking County Library)

· Civil War Harvest: October 15 (The Works)

· Civil War Lecture Series: October 16 (The Works)

· Music & Dance of the Civil War: October 16 (Licking County Library)

· Book Discussion: Mrs. Lincoln: A Life: November 2 (Licking County Library)

· “The Art of War” Art Exhibit: November 4, 2011 – January 30 (The Works)

· Civil War Lecture Series: November 13 (The Works)

· Sites & Sounds: December 1 (Newark Churches)

· Civil War Lecture Series: December 11 (The Works)

Additional Civil War commemoration events and activities are in the planning stages and will be confirmed at a later date. These include a traveling speakers bureau of Civil War historians speaking on various topics, a children’s essay contest sponsored by The Advocate, battle flag and period costume displays, theatrical productions and Civil War curriculum and resources for educators.

The Licking County 150th Anniversary Civil War Commemoration Committee invites anyone interested in becoming a part of the 2011 planning process to attend the next meeting scheduled for Friday, August 6 at 9:00 a.m. at The Works. 

Ohio: Civil War Memories Live On in Morgan

Tennessee: 37th Tennessee Regiment at Chickamauga

Iowa: Historians Make Plans for Civil War Sesquicentennial

Appalachia (all): ARC Seeking Stories About Civil War in Appalachia

The theme for the symposium is “Scared Oaths and Shallow Graves: Illinois and the Civil War, Part I.” Scholarly papers, panels, PowerPoint presentations, education workshops for teachers, and multi-media  programs will be considered, as well as non-traditional presentations. Professional and amateur historians, as well as graduate students, teachers, and independent researchers are encouraged to submit one-page proposals along with a curriculum vitae no later than August 30, 2010. Proposals on all aspects of Illinois history will be considered, though preference will be given to those with specific ties to the symposium theme. All proposals will be reviewed by the 2011 Illinois History Symposium Committee; presenters will be notified of their acceptance by November 1.

For more information call the Illinois State Historical Society office at 217-525-2781, or visit the Society website at www.historyillinois.org.

* The Ohio Historical Society is not affiliated with this project so please make sure to direct all entries and questions to the Illinois State Historical Society. Thank you!

Mary Ann (Ball) Bickerdyke was a nurse and health care provider to the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Bickerdyke was born on July 19, 1817, near Mount Vernon, Ohio. She enrolled at Oberlin College, one of the few institutions of higher education open to women at this time in the United States, but she did not graduate. Upon leaving Oberlin, Bickerdyke became a nurse. She assisted doctors in Cincinnati, Ohio, during the cholera epidemic of 1837. Ten years later, she married Robert Bickerdyke. The couple moved to Galesburg, Illinois in 1856. Robert Bickerdyke died two years later. Mary Bickerdyke continued to work as a nurse to support her two young sons.

Mary Bickerdyke was known as "Mother" Bickerdyke, due to her nursing of soldiers during the Civil War.

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, residents of Galesburg purchased medical supplies worth five hundred dollars for soldiers serving at Cairo, Illinois. The townspeople trusted Bickerdyke to deliver these supplies. Upon arriving in Cairo, Bickerdyke used the supplies to establish a hospital for the Northern soldiers. Bickerdyke spent the remainder of the war traveling with various Union armies, establishing more than three hundred field hospitals to assist sick and wounded soldiers. During battles, Bickerdyke commonly risked her own life by searching for wounded soldiers. Once darkness fell, she would carry a lantern into the disputed area between the two competing armies and retrieve wounded soldiers. She was present at the Battle of Shiloh, the Atlanta Campaign, and many other engagements.

Both Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman admired Bickerdyke for her bravery and for her deep concern for the soldiers. She also earned a reputation for denouncing officers who failed to provide for their men. To assist the soldiers, Bickerdyke gave numerous speeches across the North, describing the difficult conditions that soldiers experienced. She also solicited contributions from the civilian population. The soldiers nicknamed Bickerdyke “Mother Bickerdyke” because of her continuing concern for them. General Sherman asked Bickerdyke to participate in the grand review in the nation’s capital following the Civil War. She led an entire corps down Pennsylvania Avenue. Sherman offered Bickerdyke a seat on the reviewing stand as the parade passed by, but Bickerdyke refused. She preferred to pass out water to the soldiers after the parade.

With the Civil War’s conclusion, Bickerdyke continued to assist Northern veterans. She provided legal assistance to veterans seeking pensions from the federal government. She also helped secure pensions for more than three hundred women nurses. Bickerdyke, herself, did not receive a pension until the 1880s. It was only twenty-five dollars per month. Bickerdyke moved to Kansas following the war, where she helped veterans to settle and begin new lives. She secured a ten thousand dollar donation from Jonathan Burr, a banker, to help the veterans obtain land, tools, and supplies. She also convinced the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad to provide free transportation for veterans hoping to settle in Kansas. Due to Bickerdyke’s efforts, General Sherman authorized the settlers to use government wagons and teams to transport the belongings of the veterans to their new homes.

Bickerdyke remained in Kansas for most of the rest of her life. She settled in Salina, Kansas, where she opened a hotel. She continued to fight for the rights of veterans. She moved briefly to New York, before returning to Kansas with her two sons. Bickerdyke moved later to California, hoping that a change of climate would restore her declining health. She settled in San Francisco, where she accepted a position at the United States Mint. Bickerdyke eventually returned to Kansas, where she died on November 8, 1901. She was buried in Galesburg, Illinois.

References and Suggested Reading

* Baker, Nina Brown. Cyclone in Calico: The Story of Mary Ann Bickerdyke. Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1952.
* De Leeuw, Adèle. Civil War Nurse, Mary Ann Bickerdyke. New York, NY: J. Messner, 1973. – Available from Amazon.com
* Dee, Christine, ed. Ohio’s War: The Civil War in Documents. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2007.   – Available from Amazon.com
* McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1988.   – Available from Amazon.com
* Reid, Whitelaw. Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Generals and Soldiers. Cincinnati, OH: Clarke, 1895.
* Roseboom, Eugene H. The Civil War Era: 1850-1873. Columbus: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1944.
* Schultz, Jane. Women at the Front: Hospital Workers in Civil War America. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2007. – Available from Amazon.com

Our new hours are:
Thursday, 10 AM to 7 PM
Friday, 10 AM to 5 PM
Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM

Some new features in the Archives/Library reading room are research guides to help you get started and a comparative collections display of Civil War photographs and objects.

We have a new display of Civil War belt buckles in the reading room.

COMING SOON: More Civil War displays will be featured throughout the museum!

Illinois: Norris Cultural Arts Center Commemorates the Civil War Anniversary

Illinois: Lake County Discovery Museum Rolls Out the Big Gun for Civil War Exhibit

Arkansas: Civil War Reenactment Scheduled

Indiana: Wayne County Soldiers Fought at Gettysburg

New York: City Seeks Help to Restore Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Monument

Tennessee: Battlefield Group Zeroes in On Next Targets

Pennsylvania: VIDEO: Sacred Nature of Gettysburg Threatened

Missouri: Carthage Marks Date of Civil War Battle

Virginia: Wheels in Motion: Reenactment of Jackson’s Great Train Raid

Berea: This summer the Berea Historical Society will be offering something new for school age children in the community! Time Travelers is a week-long history experience focusing on a particular time period in American history. The time period for this summer is the Civil War era. Participants will be able to immerse  themselves in the era through various fun activities including research, interactive games and field trips. The fun begins on Monday, August 9th and runs through Friday, August 13th from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. each day. Time Travelers is open to boys and girls ages 10-14 and the cost for the week’s adventure is $5.00 per participant. Registration is limited to 20 participants. For more information, call the Berea Historical Society office at (440) 243-2541. Visit www.bereahistoricalsociety.org.

Exhibit

Peninsula: The Peninsula Valley Historic & Educational Foundation proudly presents Abraham Lincoln: Self-made in America. This is a free exhibit from July 3-28, 2010 at G.A.R. Hall Museum (1785 Main St, Peninsula, OH 44264). The exhibit is open to the public Wednesdays 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., Thursdays through Sunday 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Also available for special groups and events! Call (330)-657-2528 for more information or visit www.peninsulahistory.org.

Ceremony

Buffington Island: Join the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War to commemorate the Battle of Buffington Island. The battle occurred on July 19, 1863 between the Confederate General John Hunt Morgan and the Ohio Militias, U.S. Army and U.S. Navy gunboats. Participating in the battle were three future Presidents of the United States: Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield and William McKinley all Ohio natives. Ceremony begins at 11:00 a.m on July 17, 2010 at 56890 State Route 124  Portland, Ohio 45770. Sponsored by the  Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War specifically the Ohio Department, Benjamin Fearing Camp #2 Washington County, Cadot-Blessing camp #126 Meigs County and McCook Circle 104 Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Performance

Columbus: Listen as a Civil War surgeon talks about the casualties of war in terms of more than just fatalities. The Ohio Historical Society’s Echoes in Time Theatre presentations are half-hour performances showcasing characters from history most Saturday afternoons at 1 and 3 p.m.  The Ohio Historical Center is located at I-71 and 17^th Avenue in Columbus. Free with museum admission: $8/adults, $7/seniors, $4/youths and free for Ohio Historical Society members and children 5 years of age and under.  Upcoming dates are July 3 and July 10. For more information, call 800.686.6124 or visit www.ohiohistory.org/calendar.

University of Tennessee Wins Grant to Digitize Civil War-era Newspapers

Missouri Civil War Museum Receives National Trust Grant

Va. Uses 150^th Anniversary of Civil War to Promote Tourism

Civil War Anniversary Chance For Promotion

Perryville, KY Battlefield Historic Site Grows by 54 Acres

W. Va. Seeks Art for State, Civil War Anniversaries

Reclaiming History in Charleston

PA: Blairsville Service Will Honor Civil War’s Black Veterans

Tennessee Residents Share Civil War History, Participate in Statewide Digitization Project

Manassas Contributes Money to Help With Civil War Anniversary

Two More Civil War Markers Dedicated in Arkansas

A Wartime Murder in Williamsburg, Va.

Cell Towers Put Georgia Battlefield “at risk”

Civil War Diary Tells Horrors of Confederate Prison Camps

For more links, check out the Civil War Sesquicentennial Network on Facebook.

Use the comment box below to start a discussion or add your own links.

Ohio Historical Society Receives Funding from AEP for Civil War Commemoration: Burt Logan (center left), executive director of the Ohio Historical Society, along with Carl English (center right), chief operating officer of American Electric Power, tour the Ohio in the Civil War exhibit at the Ohio Historical Center. Both were escorted by Civil War Ohio Volunteer Infantry re-enactors and Ohio Historical Society employees, Mark Holbrook (far left) and Fred Previts (far right). AEP recently gave $25,000 to the Ohio Historical Society for the Ohio Civil War 150, the statewide initiative to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Ohio’s role in the Civil War.

Ohio’s leadership before, during and after the Civil War had a profound influence on American history. At the directive of Gov. Ted Strickland, the Ohio Historical Society is leading the effort to commemorate the state’s role in the Civil War (2011-2015). The intent of the initiative is to make Ohio’s Civil War history more accessible to the public and allow hundreds of community organizations to provide educational programming in their own regions.

“It is important to commemorate the significance of the Civil War as well as to celebrate the role that Ohio played in achieving victory,” Logan said. “The funding generously provided by the Ohio Humanities Council, American Electric Power and Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation will help do just that by increasing awareness of the state’s important contributions during one of the most divisive and defining conflicts our nation has known.”

The Ohio Humanities Council has provided more than $35,000 in grants for traveling exhibits and for historical research and interpretation using scholars and educators around the state. In addition, the Council and Ohio Historical Society have collaborated to offer a speakers’ bureau of Civil War historians and interpreters for the 150th anniversary observance. Community organizations around Ohio are seeking such programs to contribute to their own efforts to commemorate the anniversary.

American Electric Power has donated $25,000 for outreach programs to assist Ohio’s commemoration of the Civil War. Funds will be used to support the development of the traveling exhibits and educational initiatives in communities around the state.  It will also aid in the continued creation of new content for the program’s website, www.ohiocivilwar150.org, where Ohioans and others can look up historic photos, documents, and items related to Ohio’s Civil War history, share their own communities’ stories and more.

The Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation, the hockey team’s grant-giving organization, has provided $7,350 for development of an online educational curriculum intended to engage Ohio students in the study of the state’s significant role in the Civil War and to honor the Blue Jackets’ team name and its Civil War heritage. By working with the Foundation’s educational publisher to highlight the program within the Blue Jackets @ School online program, the Ohio Historical Society will help to create teacher lesson plans and classroom activities that will be informative, engaging and tailored to the Ohio Social Studies Academic Content Standards for fourth, fifth and eighth grades.

In addition, the Ohio Historical Society has partnered with various Ohio organizations to provide online resources and educational programming. Partners include the Cleveland State University Center for Public History and Digital Humanities, State Library of Ohio and eTech Ohio.

For more information about the Ohio Civil War 150 initiative, visit www.ohiocivilwar150.org.

SUPPORT THE OHIO CIVIL WAR 150

Please join the Ohio Historical Society in commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in Ohio.  Your tax deductible gift will be used to support educational outreach and programming as the Ohio Historical Society works with local communities to remind Ohioans of the war’s importance in our history and to reflect upon its enduring legacy in our lives. Through the Civil War sesquicentennial, the Ohio Historical Society will create resources, programs, and networks that will continue long after the anniversary is over.

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October 14, 2010 – August 15, 2011

SPRINGFIELD, IL – U.S. Senator Salmon P. Chase of Ohio believed he should be President.  Instead, he ended up working for the man who had surprised everyone and secured the 1860 Republican nomination.  As the nation prepares to observe the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, a new exhibit opening October 14 at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois will use original artifacts from Chase, other Cabinet members and Fort Sumter to bring to life one of the darkest and most uncertain periods in United States history.

Titled Team of Rivals:Lincoln’s Cabinet at the Crossroads of War after the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and renowned presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, the exhibit will feature many original artifacts that will be publicly displayed for the first time.  It will also use innovative video components and creative productions to immerse visitors in the tumultuous days leading up to the Civil War.  Goodwin will act as the personal tour guide throughout the exhibit with recorded videos that narrate each section.  She will also be on hand to open the exhibit and deliver a public program October 14 – for ticket information, visit www.presidentlincoln.org.

Original Chase artifacts that will be part of the Team of Rivals exhibit include:  A cane made for Chase with a handle in the shape of a cannon, made from the metal of the famous Confederate ironclad ship the CSS Virginia (known as the Merrimac in the Union); the Chase family coverlet, reportedly used to protect family valuables in Mill Creek, Virginia from Confederate soldiers; a broadside advocating the candidacy of Chase for President and Jefferson Davis for Vice President in 1856; and period currency circulated during his term as Secretary of the Treasury.    Many of the items will be on loan specifically for the exhibit by the Ohio Historical Society.

Another Ohioan, Edwin M. Stanton, who served as Lincoln’s Secretary of War starting in 1862, will also be featured in the Team of Rivals exhibit.  Although he was not in Lincoln’s initial Cabinet, he played a key role in the Civil War and the apprehension and prosecution of those involved in Lincoln’s assassination.

The Team of Rivals will also feature original artifacts from Fort Sumter, including personal items relating to the two commanders, Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard and U.S. Major Robert Anderson; a section of wall, a mortar shell and friction primer, all from the Battle of Fort Sumter; and other remnants of the action that began the Civil War.

Original Abraham Lincoln items in the exhibit include the original desk and inkwell Lincoln used to draft his First Inaugural Address, as well as the galley proofs of the speech; and a Lincoln signed original April 19, 1861 authorization to blockade Southern ports, a document many feel was the first official declaration of war by the Union.  Also included is a letter Lincoln wrote to New York school boy George Patten in March 1861, as the entire nation was plunging toward war, to confirm for George’s skeptical schoolmates that he had indeed met the President-elect.

Team of Rivals will tell Chase’s story and offer insights into the man and his contributions to American history.  Salmon Portland Chase was born January 13, 1808 in New Hampshire and moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1830.  He was a U.S. Senator from Ohio and the 23rd Governor of Ohio, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in his long and distinguished career, but the top prize that eluded him, that of the Presidency, was snatched away from him by Lincoln at the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago.  Still, Chase’s contribution to American history is such that he is pictured on the current U.S. $10,000 bill.

Tall and dignified, Chase “looked as you would wish a statesman to look.”  He had six children, but burying three wives by his 44th birthday left the humorless and intensely ambitious Chase emotionally depleted, and he never married again.  He coped by intensifying his religiosity (he recited psalms while bathing and dressing) and doting on his two surviving daughters.  Blessed with a keen intellect and administrative capacity, he was cursed with a nervous temperament and an inflated sense of self-importance.  Lincoln described Chase as “about one hundred and fifty to any other man’s hundred.”  Chase did not make friends easily and his extreme near-sightedness and preoccupied air were liabilities in social settings.

Chase’s Herculean achievement was financing the northern war effort.  He also used his Treasury connections for a back-stabbing attempt to replace Lincoln as the Republican nominee in 1864.  For months Lincoln looked the other way, but finally he fired Chase, writing that they had “reached a point of mutual embarrassment” in their official relations.  Several months later he appointed Chase as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and in that capacity Chase presided over the 1868 impeachment trial of Lincoln’s successor, President Andrew Johnson.  Despite his position on the High Court, Lincoln predicted that Chase would never give up his dream to be President.   Lincoln was right.  Chase flip-flopped between political parties trying to be nominated, but died unsatisfied in 1873.

Chase agreed with Lincoln about provisioning South Carolina’s Fort Sumter after numerous federal installations had been seized by the seceding Southern states.  When asked by the President to express his opinion, Chase wrote:  “If the attempt will so inflame civil war as to involve an immediate necessity for the enlistment of armies…I cannot advise it…But it seems to me highly improbable that the attempt…will produce such consequences…I return, therefore, an affirmative answer to the question.”

The Team of Rivals exhibit will first demonstrate how Lincoln chose his initial Presidential cabinet, composing it of men with differing viewpoints, some of whom were his opponents for the 1860 Republican Presidential nomination.  They include William H. Seward of New York, Secretary of State; Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury; Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War; Gideon Welles of Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy; Caleb B. Smith of Indiana, Secretary of the Interior; Edward Bates of Missouri, Attorney General; and Montgomery Blair of Maryland, Postmaster General.  Seward, Chase, Cameron and Bates all vied with Lincoln for the Republican nomination.

Visitors entering Team of Rivals will then learn about Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address, then see a digital map that notes the Federal installations taken over by the Southern states before and during Secession.  A corridor will follow the military and political path toward war as some of Lincoln’s own Cabinet members work behind his back to undermine his authority.  Fort Sumter will be examined before, during and after the battle that started the Civil War.  The final section will feature in-depth information about Lincoln’s Cabinet members along with displays of some of their personal possessions.

Team of Rivals will open October 14, 2010, just prior to the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s election as President in November 2010, his Farewell Address to Springfield as President-elect in February 2011, and the start of the Civil War in April 2011.

For more information about Team of Rivals or other programs and exhibits at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, visit www.presidentlincoln.org.

To learn more about the show, visit www.history.com/shows/america-the-story-of-us.

For video clips and pictures, visit this page. For articles on various Civil War topics, go here.

Tell us what you think of this episode. Love it? Hate it? Find horrendous historical errors? Let us know!

To honor the importance of Licking County’s role in the Civil War, several businesses and organizations have united to form a committee commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War through a series of events set to commence in January 2011 and continue through December 2011. Each month, these businesses and organizations located throughout Licking County will host various events at their locations to showcase different aspects of the Civil War. These events are a compilation of art, theater, education, lecture and historic genres.

In the fall of 2010, a yearlong schedule of 2011 Licking County Civil War Commemoration events will be released in a free Guide Booklet publication distributed at numerous sites around Licking County. The schedule of events will also be posted on the official Licking County 150th Anniversary Civil War Commemoration website at www.escapetolickingcounty.com/civilwar.

The committee invites anyone interested in becoming a part of the 2011 planning process to attend the next meeting scheduled for Friday, July 9 at 9:00 a.m. at The Works.

We are excited to announce that the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus will be offering increased hours and free parking beginning July 1! Now you have more time to check out our Civil War collections!

“We did this for you guys,” said Burt Logan, OHS executive director and CEO. “We knew our Civil War 150 fans wanted more opportunities to see our really rad Civil War collections.” Please note that our Director did not say this…but we know he was thinking it.

The Center’s interior is also going to be changing soon. There is an ongoing initiative to change focus of the museum and archives/library into a collections learning center. What does this mean, you ask? This means that over the next several months, you’ll be able to see more collections on view than ever before.

Studies have shown that the public wants easier access to our collections, more opportunities for hands-on experiences, and more online history. As planning continues for the collections learning center project, the new hours will allow for increased public input into exhibit and educational concepts being considered. Testing with visitors will begin later in the summer and results will have a significant role in shaping what people can see and do at the Ohio Historical Center in the future. Read the full press release to learn more.

The new hours will be:

Thursdays from 10 a.m.–7 p.m.

Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. –5 p.m.

Museum admission will remain the same: $8 for adults, $7 for seniors (60+), $4 for youths (6-12) and free for children (5 and under) and Ohio Historical Society members. There is no admission fee to the archives/library and historic preservation office.

Did You Know? The Ohio Historical Center has tons of exciting Civil War artifacts!

On display:

• Ohio regiment battle flags.
• A drum used by Frank M. Bayless, 15 year old drummer boy of the 74th OVVI, Company D.
• Sewing kit or “Housewife” carried by Private Benjamin Kahler, 76th OVI, Company K.
• A Ketchum hand grenade.  These grenades were the most common hand grenade used by the Union armies.  Grenades were used the most during siege campaigns like those at Vicksburg, Mississippi and Petersburg, Virginia.
• Battle log from the Chickamauga, Georgia, battlefield.
• A ring  made from a piece of Sgt. Peter Heckert’s left leg bone. He was wounded at Jackson, Mississippi on July 11, 1863 while serving with the 120th OVI Company F.
• And more!

Archives/Library:

• Newly acquired Ohio Civil War muster and pay rolls. Staff are currently working on adding the names to our public databases.
• Photographs and letters from Camp Chase and Johnson’s Island.
• Letters from prisoners in Camp Chase, Johnson’s Island and Andersonville.
• Journal from surgeon at Camp Chase hospital.
• Grant and Sherman papers.
• Maps from Battlefield Commission Reports including Shiloh and Chickamauga.
• Books containing Ohio regiment history and individual records.
• And much more!

What’s your favorite Civil War artifact at the Ohio Historical Center?

President Abraham Lincoln, after years of slave-owner and industrialist opposition, signed the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862. The law, which was to take effect on January 1, 1863, permitted adult citizens, and those immigrants who declared their intention to seek naturalization, to apply for grants of one hundred sixty acres of federal land. The many hardships of frontier life, as well as problems associated with implementation of the law, did not prevent the emigration of hopeful pioneers to the expansive plains west of the Mississippi River. Republicans, who envisioned a virgin land of opportunity for free white men in the West, wanted to populate the territories with self-sufficient Northern farmers who would strengthen the U.S. social and economic systems and assist the Union war effort through formation of a bulwark against enlargement of the Confederacy.

Americans had debated the allotment of government lands since independence, but demands for reform of federal land-use policies gained momentum after economic changes in the 1830s and 1840s adversely affected small farmers. Sympathetic legislators modified sections of the Land Ordinance of 1785, which set burdensome requirements for purchase of government land. Congress enacted a reduction in purchase prices and offered bonuses in 1854 to encourage settlement of Oregon Territory, but western homesteading remained a financial impossibility for most interested Americans.

Congressional allies of Northern small farmers had attempted, since the 1850s, to authorize distribution of federal land grants on more favorable terms to potential homesteaders. Powerful interest groups, however, exerted enough pressure to defeat homestead legislation. Northern capitalists perceived such legislation as a government incentive for low-paid workers to abandon factory labor for the economic independence of the farm. Southern slaveholders in general and wealthy planters in particular viewed homestead legislation as a threat to the extension of slavery to the western territories.

President James Buchanan, a Pennsylvania Democrat who sympathized with the economic concerns of the slave-owning class, vetoed the 1860 homestead bill. The secession crisis that exploded during the final year of Buchanan’s presidency, however, enabled the passage of a federal homestead law as the Union broke apart. After the Southern states withdrew their congressional delegations, the antislavery supporters of Western settlement succeeded in sending the Homestead Act to President Lincoln, which he signed into law.

The creation of more economic opportunities for the ambitious and restless was not the only reason the president approved the bill. With the outcome of the Civil War far from decided, antislavery Unionists saw the Homestead Act as an instrument to promote colonization of federal territories by free white settlers. Northern farmers, in this view, would organize pro-Union territorial governments and petition Congress for admission as free states, blocking the expansion of slavery and checking the growth of the Confederate States.

The Homestead Act provided that any citizen or intended citizen who was at least twenty-one years old, who was head of a family, and who had never fought against the U.S. government, could file a claim for one hundred sixty acres of public land. As long as the settler lived on and farmed the allotment for five years, he could request a deed for the land upon payment of a small registration fee. The law also provided a second option, in which the homesteader could earn title to the land after only six month residence if he paid $1.25 per acre. Union military personnel, after the war, could have a portion of their residency requirements forgiven, corresponding to their length of service.

The Homestead Act influenced colonization of the West long after the war’s end. Passage of the Pacific Railway Act in July 1862 allowed the government to grant public land and issue bonds to aid construction of a transcontinental railway, which further opened the wetern half of the country to development. Critics emphasized, over the next few decades, the manipulation of the Homestead Act by land speculators and railroads. Commercial and financial interests tended to profit far more than average farmers due to legal loopholes and lax enforcement of the Homestead Act’s requirements.

Despite all the failures and disappointments associated with homesteading, the federal government processed over 1.6 million applications under the Act by 1934, and in 1936 Congress created Homestead National Monument in Beatrice, Nebraska to commemorate the achievements of the pioneers and their breaking of the plains. The Monument’s museum maintains a collection of historical records and artifacts including documents relating to Daniel Freeman, one of the first homesteaders in Nebraska Territory under the Act. Freeman, a Union Army scout and native of Preble County, Ohio, lived in several states after attending medical school in Cincinnati.
SOURCE:

Homestead National Monument of America. “History and Culture.” National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/index.htm

The Library of Congress, Virtual Programs and Services. “Web Guides: Primary Documents in American History: Homestead Act.” http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Homestead.html

The National Archives. “Teaching With Documents: The Homestead Act of 1862.” The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/homestead

Footnote is an online records service and has accumulated over 30 million documents with the help of the U.S. National Archives. Records include Union and Confederate soldier service records, soldiers’ and widows’ pension files, amnesty papers, Southern Claims Commission records, emancipation documents and slave documents, the Lincoln assassination investigation and trial papers, as well as tons of photos and maps.

To access the site, visit http://go.footnote.com/civilwar_records/.

*The Ohio Historical Society is not affiliated with Footnote.com. For free access to Ancestry.com at any time, please visit the Ohio Historical Center’s library in Columbus, OH.

Read the article in the Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune .

Hulu.com: NBC\’s \”Who Do You Think You Are?\” Featuring Matthew Broderick

Did you know?: Broderick played Colonel Robert Gould Shaw in the movie Glory (1989). Shaw led the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, an African-American regiment with soldiers from Ohio, at the Battle of Antietam and the attack on Fort Wagner in South Carolina.

Learn more about the show: http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/about/

What do you guys think about the new TV series?

Beginning this Saturday you can cast your vote for the person who will replace former Governor William Allen as Ohio’s second statue in Statuary Hall on Capitol Hill.  Unlike regular elections, there is no age limit on who can participate and no registration is necessary. The polling places include the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus, the Cincinnati Museum Center in Cincinnati, Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland and 36 sites around the state.  The voting will run through June 12. The 10 finalists are:

* James M. Ashley
* Thomas Edison
* Ulysses S. Grant
* William McCulloch
* Jesse Owens
* Judith Resnick
* Albert Sabin
* Harriet Beecher Stowe
* Harriet Taylor Upton
* Orville and Wilbur Wright ( Wright Brothers counted as one)

Let your voice be heard! Don’t forget to vote!

For more information visit http://www.legacyforohio.org/.

May 29: Mentor, James A. Garfield NHS Kids’ Tour
The staff of James A. Garfield NHS invites kids of all ages to the site for a special kids’ tour of the Garfield home every Saturday. Kids 15 and under are free; parents/guardians/older siblings subject to regular $5.00/person entry fee. Tour starts at noon and lasts approximately 45 minutes. For more information visit our calendar or call (440) 255-8722.

May 29: Oberlin, Oberlin Heritage Center: Freedom’s Friends History Walk
Hear stories about Oberlin’s most famous freedom seekers and people known to have helped them make their way to freedom. This guided history walk is approximately an hour and fifteen minutes  This tour is most likely to be enjoyed by adults and children 9 years of age and up. For more information visit www.oberlinheritage.org/eventsnews.

May 29-30: Burton, Geauga County Historical Society Hosts Civil War Reenactment at Century Village Museum. Please visit the event website for more information.

May 30: Xenia, Greene County Civil War Monument Dedication
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War representatives and community leaders will dedicate Greene County’s new memorial honoring soldiers and sailors of the 1861-65 American Civil War at 11 a.m. The free and open to the public ceremony takes place outside the Greene County Courthouse, East Market and Greene Streets, Xenia, Ohio. Please visit our calendar for details.

May 30: Cleveland, Memorial Day at the Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Monument
The Cuyahoga County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument Commission & Support Groups invite to to join them at they observe Memorial Day at the monument with a special program at noon. Visit the website for more details, www.soldiersandsailors.com.

May 31: Cincinnati, Annual Memorial Day Service at Spring Grove Cemetery
The General William H Lytle Camp #10, SUVCW, Dept of Ohio will be honoring those who have given their lives for our country at the annual Memorial Day Service at Spring Grove Cemetery in conjunction with the 6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, a progressive living history and Civil War reenactment group. Visit our calendar for more details.

One more event that may interest you:

May 30-31: Perrysburg, First Siege 1813 and Memorial Day Commemoration
The British are coming! United States and British soldiers, as well as Woodland Indians, recreate the first siege for Fort Meigs. See the battles, musket and artillery demonstrations, and camp life demonstrations. Watch a cooking demonstration using the fort’s period bake oven and learn more about the food that soldiers and camp followers ate in 1813. Join us Memorial Day at 2 p.m. for a ceremony honoring our nation’s fallen soldiers. Musket and cannon firing demonstrations and hands-on activities will be offered throughout the weekend. For details visit the Discover Ohio website.

We’re sorry if your event is missing; next time add it to our online calendar!

Have a great holiday weekend!

Read the full article in The Plain Dealer.

May 29-30: Civil War Reenactment at Century Village Museum. 10am-5pm. Visit www.geaugahistorical.org for more information and admission prices.

May 30-31: The Oberlin Heritage Center is hosting a “Freedom’s Friends History Walk.” This tour showcases Oberlin’s important role in the history of abolition and the Underground Railroad. Visit www.oberlinheritage.org to buy tickets or call 440-774-1700.

Excavation at Rankin House, May 2010

See a video of the excavation

Although there were many stations throughout Ohio, the Rankin House in Ripley, east of Cincinnati is considered to be one of the most notable. Located on a small hill (now called Liberty Hill) overlooking the Ohio River, the Rankins, along with other compassionate neighbors, sheltered more than 2,000 runaway slaves from 1825 to as late as 1865.

Stairs to freedom and view of Ohio River

John Rankin, a Presbyterian minister/educator, and his wife Jean, dedicated their lives to the antislavery movement. Rankin, published his book, “Letters on American Slavery” in 1826 and in 1834 he founded the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society in Zanesville, Ohio. Slave owners offered rewards of as much as $2,500 for the abduction or assassination of Rankin and other underground railroad conductors.

This facility was made a National Historic Landmark in September, 1997.