From the Collections Blog Archives - Ohio History Connection

August 18, 2025

Collections Spotlight: Lustron Corporation records

The Lustron Corporation was founded in the mid-1940s by Carl G. Strandlund, an engineer and vice-president of the Chicago Vitreous Enamel Products Company. In 1946, He went before a federal control board in Washington D.C. to request an allotment of steel to build prefabricated gas stations. He was denied by the board for fears they […]

August 11, 2025

Can Artificial Intelligence (AI) Benefit Natural History Collections?

Or: How a Comment About iNaturalist Led Me Down an AI Rabbithole Rather than an exhaustive report, this blog is intended to give a brief overview of the topic and jumping off points for further investigation. This blog was written without the assistance of AI writing tools. While identifying a butterfly on a social media […]

July 28, 2025

Mary Ann Martin Burkhart: Writer, Poet and Model

The archive of Ohio artist Emerson Burkhart provides an additional opportunity to consider the talents of his wife, Mary Ann Martin Burkhart.

July 21, 2025

A Brief History of the Golden-winged Warbler: Part II

Author’s Note: Be sure to catch up with A Brief History of the Golden-winged Warbler Part I, here. The Golden-winged Warbler was seemingly never common in Ohio. It had been variously described as a "transitory visitor" by Jared Kirtland in 1838; a "rare summer resident" by John Wheaton in 1879; and "irregular in distribution" by […]

July 14, 2025

Behind the Scenes: The Archaeology Exhibit Case at Adena Mansion & Gardens

Have you been to the Adena Mansion lately? Check out this behind-the-scenes look with members of our collections and exhibits teams cleaning the Archaeology case in the museum at Adena Mansion & Gardens, the 19th century home of Ohio's sixth governor, Thomas Worthington. Staff wiped down the case interior and exterior, carefully dusted objects, and […]

July 11, 2025

Welcome to Our Summer Interns!

Meet Grayson and Grace—two of our outstanding summer interns at the Ohio History Connection!

June 30, 2025

#GoAllOut: Gay Games 9

By Benjamin Baughman, History Curator Founded in 1982, the Gay Games was created by Olympic decathlete Tom Waddell to provide LGBTQ+ athletes a chance to compete in sports without discrimination and to foster a sense of community with athletes worldwide. The first Gay Games, held in San Francisco, attracted over 1,200 athletes from a dozen […]

June 27, 2025

Wandering the Stacks and What We Found There

Part 1 of a series that delves into interesting texts found in the Ohio History Connection's Archives & Library

June 16, 2025

4-H Collections: Raising Animals

The Ohio History Connection seeks to shine a spotlight on 4-H and the hard work of Ohio young people by highlighting 4-H collections.

June 9, 2025

Collections Spotlight: Ohio’s Covered Bridges

By David A. Simmons Throughout the 19th century, covered bridges existed largely on a practical level. Designed and erected as utilitarian structures in a larger highway system, they had none of the romanticized imagery that have today come to be associated with them. But even with the passage of time, they exist on multiple levels, […]