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Media contacts: Kim Schuette: 614.297.2314 or kschuette@ohiohistory.org
For Immediate Release
Colonial heritage organization preserves, rededicates local Indian Mound
Shrum Adena Mound one of few remaining structures in Franklin County
(COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 29, 2008) – Members of a the National Society Colonial Dames of the Seventeenth Century, together with other local dignitaries, will gather for a historic marking and rededication of the Shrum Mound, a prehistoric Adena American Indian Burial mound located in Columbus. The rededication ceremony takes place at 2 p.m. Saturday, August 9, at the entrance to the mound located at Campbell Memorial Park in Columbus.
The Shrum Adena Mound is located in Campbell Park, five miles northwest of downtown Columbus on the west side of McKinley Ave., about .5 miles south of the intersection with Trabue Road. It is adjacent to the Marble Cliff Quarry. This historic site was first dedicated in 1929 by the Ohio Historical Society, and was later designated on the National Register of Historic Places.
The mound is one of the last remaining conical Adena prehistoric Indian burial mounds in Ohio. Minnie Shrum, a teacher in the Columbus Public Schools, deeded the mound to the Ohio Historical Society in 1928. Carolyn Jones, state president of the Ohio Society of the CDXVIIC, is her descendent.
"It is important to preserve our Ohio history," Jones said, adding that the Adena people were Ohio's first farmers. "There were once 140 mounds such as this in Franklin County alone, and 95 percent are gone, and this one was in disrepair." She noted that the mound area was fixed up in 1929 and, other than routine mowing, very little had been done to the upkeep of the area.
This dedication is the culmination of two years of research and collaboration between The CDXVIIC and the Ohio Historical Society, among other community partners and businesses. The City of Columbus repaired the crumbling wall and flower beds were spruced up. Neighboring Marble Cliff Quarry donated a two-ton limestone rock, upon which a bronze marker has been mounted by the Lang Stone Company. The inscription on the marker reads:
Shrum Mound
One of the last remaining earthen mounds in this area of Ohio. Built by the Native American people of the Adena culture (800 BC – 100 AD). The land was deeded to the Ohio Historical Society in 1928 by the Shrum family. Dedicated August 9, 2008 by the Ohio Society of the National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century.
The Ohio Society of the CDXVIIC also acquired two additional plaques, which will be mounted on pillars marking the entrance to the mound. These plaques are inscribed as following:
James E. Campbell Memorial Park
Made a permanent Park by Jessie Campbell Coons in memory of her father former Governor of Ohio and late president of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society 1929.
The Shrum Prehistoric Mound preserved as a memorial to those first Ohioans the Mound Builders whose bones rest in this ancient tomb.
Participants in the dedication ceremony Juanita Gex, president general of the National Society CDXVIIC; Paul and Barbara Birmellin, Native Americans; and Boy Scout Troop #117 of Dublin, Ohio. Representatives from the Ohio Historical Society also will be present, including Dr. William K. Laidlaw, executive director. Other local officials also have been invited.
The CDXVIIC is a patriotic, genealogical and heraldry society founded in 1915. It is a national society with chapters in 46 states. This organization supports a library and museum home in Washington D.C that specializes in 17th Century American data. This national historical group specializes in the preservation of the records and historic sites of our country. The CDXVIIC also maintains the largest collection of heraldry in the United States, preserving the lineage and coats-of-arms of armorial ancestors. Additional information about CDXVIIC can be found at http://www.colonialdames17c.org.
A designated fund for the Shrum Adena Mound has been established for future preservation efforts and is being administered by the Ohio Historical Society. To contribute, please contact Kathy Wyatt, development officer, The Ohio Historical Society, at 614-297-2308; or email kwyatt@ohiohistory.org.
Web sites with additional information including photos of the Shrum Adena Mound:
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