From the Collections Blog Archives - Page 5 of 130

February 14, 2024

Charles W. Follis: Changing the Game

By Valerie Boyer, School and Inclusive Community Programs Coordinator Charles W. Follis was born on February 3, 1879, to James Henry and Catherine Matilda Anderson Follis in Cloverdale, Virginia as the 3rd of 7 children. In 1885, the family moved to Wooster, Ohio. Follis entered Wooster College, in 1901, however, he chose to play football for the amateur Wooster […]

February 13, 2024

Fort Laurens Musket Ball Concentration: Evidence of a fight or fiasco?

Fort Laurens Musket Ball Concentration: Evidence of a fight or fiasco? In 2004, Ohio History Connection (OHC) archaeologists and dedicated volunteers moved 50,000 pounds of dirt during an excavation of a musket ball concentration at Ohio’s only Revolutionary War period fort site, Fort Laurens State Memorial in Bolivar, OH. The concentration was discovered through […]

January 30, 2024

2024 Newark Earthwork Open House Dates

Save the Dates! A few times a year, visitors are invited to fully experience all three segments of Newark’s Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks. Inscribed as an UNESCO World Heritage site in 2023, these massive artifacts of creative genius served social, ceremonial and astronomical functions for their builders. The 2024 Open House dates are: Sunday, April 14th […]

January 18, 2024

Yours Respectfully, Miss Elvira Johnson

By Wendy Korwin, Archives Services Manager Within large archival collections, certain names and voices stand out. From 2021-2023, archivists at the Ohio History Connection worked to catalog President Warren G. Harding’s papers and photographs. During this project, we identified thousands of correspondents (another blog post explores some of Harding's early letters). There were close, distant […]

December 4, 2023

Perry County’s Horseshoe Grave: Part III

Part I | Part II | Part III In Part II we examined the real lives of Mary Angle, James Henry, and Rachel Hodge and how research can help to determine fact from fiction in the tale of Perry County's horseshoe grave. In the final part to the saga we will give our […]

December 4, 2023

Discover Five Decades of Columbus Women Traveling the World

By Veda Faust, Professional Writing Intern This blog post was written by Veda Faust, an Ohio State University student conducting a professional writing internship at the Ohio History Connection. During her fall semester, she worked with the Archives Services department on an upcoming exhibit. The new exhibit features material from a recently acquired collection; AV […]

November 13, 2023

The World’s Smallest Carnivore – in Ohio!?

By David Dyer, Natural History Curator When we think of extremes in the animal kingdom we don’t tend to think of such species as being in Ohio. The largest, smallest, and heaviest animals we assume are in more exotic locales. Let’s test your knowledge; see if you can name the following species (answers are at […]

November 13, 2023

Perry County’s Horseshoe Grave: Part II

Part I | Part II | Part III In Part I, we left off wondering how much truth there is to the oft-repeated tale of Perry County's horseshoe grave. The only certain facts we have at hand is our documentary artifact - Mary Henry's gravestone - which reads: MARY HENRY Wife of James K. Henry […]

October 30, 2023

Perry County’s Horseshoe Grave: Part I

Part I | Part II | Part III Tis the season for campfires, apple cider, and ghost stories. For folks living in southeast Ohio, one story in particular has captivated generations. The unassuming Otterbein Cemetery is found nestled in the rolling hills of Reading Township, Perry County, Ohio. In many ways it is much like […]

October 10, 2023

Remembering Dolly Divine’s Annual Halloween Drag Ball

In 1964, David Zimmer and Orn Huntington started a Halloween tradition. The Berwick Ball celebrated and supported Central Ohio's LGBTQ+ community for three decades.