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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.

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September 18, 2023

Recent Acquisition: Neil Armstrong Welcome Home Parade

By Daniel Willis, Audiovisual Archivist The Ohio History Connection recently acquired a new photograph collection documenting a moment in the life of Neil Armstrong. The collection, AV 362 Neil Armstrong Welcome Home Parade, features photographs taken of Armstrong and other participants in a “Welcome Home” parade held in Wapakoneta on September 6th, 1969,. This parade […]

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July 28, 2023

Birds of a Feather: The Smithsonian and OHC Natural History Collections

Join Dave Dyer, Natural History Curator, and Marie Swartz, Archaeology Curator, on a journey that intertwines ornithology, archaeology, and natural history, revealing the significance of collaborative research in unraveling the secrets of the past.   One of the basic tenets of a scientific collection is that the data associated with the specimens is as important […]

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July 5, 2023

When the “Swarm of Iron Bees” Came to Willoughby, Ohio

Manuscripts Curator Matthew Benz describes a recent acquisition: an 1860s handbill advertising a series of scientific lectures and demonstrations.

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May 30, 2023

Presidential Presents: Harding’s Voyage of Understanding 100 Years Later

In June 1923, President Warren G. Harding embarked on what he called a “Voyage of Understanding.” It consisted of a cross-country journey through the continental United States, along with stops in Canada and the Alaska Territory—the first official visits to those areas by a sitting U.S. President. He hoped the trip, intended to last about […]

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March 15, 2023

Natural History’s “Green” collections

In honor of the St. Patrick’s Day holiday we delved into our Natural History collections to showcase five of our green specimens and tell their stories!

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September 19, 2022

Depression-Era Recipes from an Inmate at the Ohio Penitentiary

Explore a unique cookbook that a prisoner at the Ohio Penitentiary created for the assistant warden's wife in 1931.

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August 5, 2022

New Acquisition of Kenyon Hayden Architecture Portfolio

By Lisa Wood, Audiovisual Curator The Ohio History Connection Archives & Library recently received the generous donation of a student portfolio by Kenyon Hayden. She studied architecture at The Ohio State University and became, if not the first, one of the earliest licensed female architects in Ohio. This portfolio complements the personal papers of Kenyon […]

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May 23, 2022

Microphones and Radios: How the Public Heard President Harding

As the first president to speak on the radio, Warren G. Harding introduced Americans to the idea of being able to hear their leaders.

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April 22, 2022

How to Find a Mastodon – The Story of the Williams Mastodon

By David Dyer, Natural History Curator, with Emily George Emily George was on a mission. She had heard about the Williams mastodon while growing up, and about how her grandfather Gus George had helped excavate the skeleton in Columbus in the mid-1950s. After talking with her family about the mastodon for a school genealogy project […]