library - Ohio History Connection in Columbus, Ohio

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate the Ohio History Center’s 50th anniversary by sharing their photos of our beautiful Brutalist building! Check out these great black and white shots from Lydia Horvath on Twitter!

This 1959 photo shows Cleveland's iconic Sterling Lindner department store Christmas tree. This store was famous for having the largest live Christmas tree display in the world. Its lighting signaled the beginning of the holiday shopping season and visiting became an important Christmas season tradition for many Ohio families. Often the live trees stood over 50 feet high and were decorated with 1500 yards of silver tinsel and over 2500 ornaments. Employees placed decorations on the boughs by standing on moveable stages suspended from the store’s skylight. The Sterling Lindner Christmas tree tradition began in the late 1920s and continued until 1967.

Happy Hanukkah! Hanukkah commemorates the story of the re-dedication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem around 165 BC, when a Jewish priest and his five sons led a successful revolt against the emperor Antiochus. The emperor had outlawed Judaism, erected a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the Jewish temple and ordered the halt of Jewish rituals and services. After two years of fighting, the revolutionaries, known as the Maccabees, liberated the temple and cleansed it. During th...is time of re-dedication, their limited amount of oil (enough for one day) miraculously burned for eight days and nights. The Festival of Lights tradition was established in honor of this event, along with various other traditions which recognize the victory of the Maccabees over their oppressors over 2,000 years ago. Hanukkah has many traditions, including the eating of fried foods like latke and doughnuts, the giving of real or chocolate coins called gelt to children, the spinning top game of dreidel, and the singing of traditional hymns. The most recognizable ritual is the lighting of the menorah candles each night, generally around sundown, so that the candles burn for at least half an hour after dark. After blessings are said over the candles, some families exchange gifts for one or all eight nights. This photo from 1957 shows student members of the B 'Nai B' Rith Hillel Foundation at Ohio State University making potato latkes. See more archival collections featuring Ohio’s Jewish communities here: http://ow.ly/VmEj50CHlDw

This 1950s photo shows shoppers at Toledo’s Tiedtke Brother’s Department store eagerly searching for that perfect holiday gift. You can support history across the state while giving the gift of learning and adventure! An Ohio History Connection membership makes a great gift. Members get access to creative virtual programming, our award-winning Echoes Magazine & 50+ sites around the state. Visit http://ow.ly/wamc50CIeHD today. Purchase by Dec. 15 to ensure delivery by Dec. 25.

On this day in 1972, Cincinnati’s Union Terminal was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. An icon of Art Deco architecture, Union Terminal helped centralize and organize Cincinnati’s railroad system. It was a hub for train travel during World War II. Today it’s home to the Cincinnati Museum Center. https://bit.ly/2BiNTaq

Tyromancy is the ancient art of divining the future through cheese, and has been used by various cultures around the world for centuries. By the 19th century, tyromancers would offer visitors a platter of different cheeses and determine their path based on which piece they were drawn to.

This 1960s or 70s photo shows Terex earthmovers decorated as reindeer for Christmas. Terex, an American worldwide manufacturer of lifting and material-handling, often celebrated the holidays with unique heavy equipment displays. The Terex and Euclid Divisions of the General Motors Corporation in Hudson, Ohio manufactured scrapers, pans, dozers, crawlers, loaders and other earth-moving equipment between 1958 and the mid-1980s. Terex products were used for mining, logging, landfill, excavation and heavy construction. The company employed several thousands of people in skilled positions and gave Hudson an industrial tax base from which suburban growth became inevitable.

Tomorrow's Halloween! Photo shows Rick's Child Guidance Center students dressed up for Halloween. Founded in Columbus, Ohio in the 1950s, the school for African American children was established by Elminie Holland Rickman. Rick's is the oldest African American school and the second oldest kindergarten in Columbus. Learn more: http://ow.ly/pcQG50C6z0w

It’s the first night of Hanukkah. In this 1944 photo from our collection, Rabbi Nathan Zelizer leads a celebration for soldiers at Stark General Hospital in S.C. while serving as a chaplain with the U.S. Army. Rabbi Nathan Zelizer was the rabbi for Tifereth Israel in Columbus, Ohio from 1931-1973 See more items from our collection: http://ow.ly/MUPC50CHkOu

On this day in 1998, Ohioan John Glenn became the oldest man in space. He was 77 years old. Glenn served as a member of the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery STS-95, and focused on researching the effects of the space environment on aging. His experiments explored balance, immune system response, bone and muscle density, metabolism, blood flow and sleep. The nine-day mission concluded with a safe landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Photo: NASA)

In Scotland and Ireland, where a lot of our Halloween traditions come from, young people took part in a tradition called guising, dressing up in costume and accepting offerings from various households. They would sing, recite a poem, or perform another sort of trick before collecting their treats, which typically consisted of fruit, nuts or coins. The practice of trick or treating in America began during the 1920s and 1930s. Around that time, Halloween mischief was rampant and resulted in extensive vandalism. It’s thought that it was the excessive pranks on Halloween that led to the widespread adoption of an organized, community-based trick-or-treating tradition.

This textile fragment (A 957/002155) is from a very large canopy that covered the top portion of an early stage of Seip Mound in Ross County, OH. Kathryn Jakes and students at The Ohio State University did extensive research on the canopy which provided information on this seldom preserved technology. In addition, creating textiles was very likely to have been women’s work and demonstrates women’s contributions to the ceremonies at Hopewell sites.

The Fate Lady is a fortune telling game that comes from the Girls Own Book in 1833. You simply need to spin the doll and see where she points, and your fortune will be revealed. Find more content like this here: ow.ly/l6gp50C3g0B

Welcome to the final week of Archaeology Month! There's still time to sign up for ‘Ask the Archaeologist’ today. This is geared to 5-9th grade levels, but all are invited. It's free but you do need to register here: http://ow.ly/Ggqr50C2VJh. You can also enjoy new coloring pages and puzzles. As we wrap up with our final week of events for Archaeology Month, we want to thank you, our sponsors and the archaeology community for helping make this program successful!

Today we celebrate Reverend James Preston Poindexter’s birthday. Opened in 1940, Poindexter Village was the second public housing complex created by the federal government to address the issue of affordable housing. As one of President Roosevelt’s signature initiatives, the complex opened to great fanfare including a visit from Roosevelt to mark the occasion. The complex was named after Rev. James Preston Poindexter. Rev. Poindexter was an exceptional leader in the community.... He was an abolitionist who built a progressive legacy in Columbus including being: the first black City Councilman (1880), first black School Board member (1884), Pastor-Second Baptist Church 40 years (1858-1898), Wilberforce University Trustee, Entrepreneur-Barber to all from Presidents to Pullman Porters. The James Preston Poindexter Foundation, in partnership with the Ohio History Connection, is working to preserve the history and create an appreciation for the lifestyle and material culture of the African-American community in Poindexter Village and the Near East Side in the 20th century and to leave a legacy for future generations. You can learn more about the Foundation and the Poindexter Village Museum here: http://ow.ly/FDtj50C2D7v.

Spooky season is upon us! Whether you stockpile candy corn, or it scares you more than goblins and ghouls, there is undoubtedly something fun for everyone. This 1960 advertisement from the Geauga Record for Rexall Drugs in Chardon, Ohio, features Halloween treats, and supplies for tricks that we still enjoy today. Tell us what’s on your shopping list! http://ow.ly/HB2k50C19xN

Curious about archaeology and buried history? Join archaeologists from the Ohio History Connection to learn about what an archaeologist does, what their daily life is like, recent discoveries, and the coolest things they’ve ever found! Mon., Oct. 26 3-3:30 pm This event is free, but advanced registration is required. http://ow.ly/ST7X50C1a59

This campaign poster from our collections was used during one of the many reelection campaigns of Gertrude Donahey for State Treasurer. First elected to her position in 1970 after a career of public service, Donahey became the first woman elected to a statewide executive office in Ohio. She served as State Treasurer until 1983. You can learn more about Donahey, and other trailblazing Ohio women, in this month’s edition of our suffrage anniversary blog. For our final guest entry, the Matriots have outlined the steps to electing more women candidates. Step one is to understand our past. Learn more here: http://ow.ly/CLds50C18Za

This photograph from the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library shows farmers lined up outside the Overmyer Cider Mill in Fremont, Ohio in 1917. In the fall, farmers from throughout Sandusky County brought barrels of apples to be pressed into cider. The charge was a penny per gallon of cider produced. The mill pressed 65,000 to 70,000 gallons of cider per season. The mill was moved in the 1950s when the land where it sat was developed as Potter Village Shopping Center.

This enormous spear point (A 283/00322c) from Hopewell Mound Group, Mound 25, is one of many made from obsidian originally quarried at Obsidian Cliffs in Yellowstone Park, which is the furthest extent of the Hopewell Interaction Sphere. A microwear study funded by the Seneca Nation of Indians established these giant bifaces were never actually used as tools and so represent ceremonial regalia.