Center for Archival Collections News » Local History

Preserving Our Cultural Heritage

lmclair — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:08:29 +0000

What: A Preservation Workshop
When: December 9, 2009, 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Where: Pallister Conference Room, Jerome Library, BGSU

Presented by the Ohio Preservation Council and Intermuseum Conservation Association, this workshop is for anyone who cares for collections of libraries, museums, government agencies, churches, or non-profit organizations.

Learn about the difference between preservation and conservation, how to prepare for a disaster, what resources are available on the internet, and much other useful information.

RSVP by December 7, 2009 to ensure plenty of information packets.

In Memoriam – Betty Neidecker (1920-2009)

lmclair — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:35:04 +0000

Betty Neidecker, 89, retired BGSU faculty member, died October 26, 2009 in Bowling Green. A native of Port Clinton, her teaching focused on the training of speech and hearing specialists for work in schools. A textbook she co-wrote School Programs in Speech-Language Pathology: Organization and Service Delivery remains important in the field.

Retiring from teaching in 1982, Betty joined the staff of the Center for Archival Collections, researching topics in northwest Ohio history. She wrote The Marblehead Lighthouse: Lake Erie’s Eternal Flame, published in 1996, and was responsible for encouraging the donation of a number of manuscript collections to the CAC, including those of the Canal Society of Ohio.

Archival Chronicle: Tax Records, Great Depression

lmclair — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:05:31 +0000

Which came first, the government or the taxes? We can’t answer that question, but but we can explain and describe county tax records. Useful for both the social historian and the genealogist, tax records often hold surprising information about regional and personal finances.

Gallery Feature: Alphabet Soup. The New Deal paved the way for government investment in the economy. An explosion of federal agencies and programs, all identified by their initials caused confusion, amusement and hope in the Depression-weary public. Often referred to as Roosevelt’s “alphabet soup,” the agencies were intended to gather, distribute, and regulate the supply of money. Our gallery features several pictorial explanations of how the system was intended to work.

Happy Birthday, Bowling Green!

lmclair — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:01:12 +0000

2008 marked a year of celebration for the City of Bowling Green: 175 years ago, Elisha Martindale made his home on the site that would someday grow to be the home of nearly 30,000 residents.

The December 2008 Archival Chronicle looks back at BG history with a brief essay and photo album.

Happy Terquasquicentennial!

Exciting Program to Feature African American Resources

framos — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:20:37 +0000

Seminar: Researching Historical Records for African American Studies Scholarship and Genealogy
When: Friday, September 12, 2008, 1:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Where: Bowen-Thompson Student Union, Multipurpose Room
Who: Reginald Washington, Archivist/Genealogy Specialist, National Archives & Records Administration

Federal documents are a rich resource for the study of African American history, whether the goal is gaining a better understanding of the growth and development of our nation or learning more about a family’s past. Speaker Reginald Washington brings years of experience with these documents to northwest Ohio as he leads a fall seminar “Researching Historical Records for African American Studies Scholarship and Genealogy. The author of many articles and books helping researchers locate and make use of information stored in these intriguing records, Mr. Washington will share helpful approaches to research in federal documents. Every researcher who uses federal documents will find useful information here.

Sponsored by the Center for Archival Collections and the Department of Africana Studies at Bowling Green State University, the seminar is open to students, scholars, and the general public. The seminar is free, but seating is limited. Please RSVP by September 5, 2008 to:

Center for Archival Collections
Email: Lee McLaird at lmclair@bgsu.edu
Phone: 419-372-2411

Interurban Railways featured in Archival Chronicle

framos — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:16:51 +0000

From the 1890s to the early decades of the 20th Century, electric railroads provided fast, efficient inter-city transportation throughout much of Ohio. The Archival Chronicle features information and photographs about this gone-but-not-forgotten aspect of travel.

Anniversaries: Blizzard of ‘78

framos — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:28:20 +0000

January 2008 marks the 30th anniversary of the Blizzard of ‘78. Sixty mile per hour winds and an accumulation of a foot of snow cut electrical power to much of northwest Ohio. The National Guard was called up to help with the disaster response.

CAC staff member Ann Bowers documented the event in The Blizzard of ‘78 (A Photo Album) and our collections include the photographs used in this publication, as well as many others taken at the time. The December 2002 Archival Chronicle Gallery highlights this and other weather disasters. Still more information about the blizzard can be seen in WBGU-TV’s documentary, presented this month on PBS.

Wartime memories preserved

framos — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:32:31 +0000

Thanks to Ken Burns’ documentary The War, seen this month on PBS, Americans are taking a greater interest in the experiences of servicemen and the homefront during the Second World War.

The Center for Archival Collections takes pride in our collection of wartime correspondence, diaries, and memoirs, many of which have been transcribed and are available online. Visit our bibliography, The U.S. in Wartime to see descriptions of these collections.

The CAC welcomes the donation of correspondence, diaries, photographs, and other records of individuals and organizations that preserve the record of our nation during those turbulent times. For more information about donating records like these, please contact Marilyn Levinson, Curator of Manuscripts, or telephone the CAC at (419) 372-2411.

Lorain County Civil War Newspapers

framos — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:25:31 +0000

Letters from Civil War soldiers published in two Lorain County newspapers have been added to the CAC’s Civil War Newspaper Index. As with our other Civil War newspaper indexes, letters can be found by date of publication, or by unit, or by individual soldier’s name.

A brief biography of most of the correspondents (along with available photographs) can be found on our webiste under Northwest Ohio in the Civil War. Check it out!

‘Way Off Broadway: Live Theater in NW Ohio

framos — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 19:38:03 +0000

The August 2007 issue of the Archival Chronicle is now online. Drawing from the CAC’s manuscript and photograph holdings, it features some of the resources available to researchers interested in the rich history of live theater in this part of the state.

The Gallery features photographs, posters, playbills, and other memorabilia from a variety of CAC collections relating to theater.