Category Archives: Advocacy and Outreach

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Celebrating 150th Anniversary

by Collette McDonough, Advocacy and Outreach Committee member.

This year, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden are celebrating their 150th anniversary.  Since June is National Zoo and Aquarium Month, it seems the perfect time to shine a light on the history of this amazing zoo in our state. They were created in 1873, but the zoo itself did not open until September 1875.  It started with only a handful of animals including, two grizzly bears, three deer, six raccoons, two elk, a buffalo, a tiger, an elephant, eight monkeys plus a few other animals. In this 150-year period, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has risen to be one of the top-rated zoos in the country.

Historical poster promoting the Cincinnati Zoological Garden. A lion with a large mane is featured in the center with small images of various animals around it.

Cincinnati Zoological Garden poster. Courtesy of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

The Cincinnati Zoo was first known as the Cincinnati Zoological Garden and was founded by German immigrants that longed for the beauty of the gardens in their homeland.  The main person behind the creation of the zoo was Andrew Erkenbrecher, whose family moved to the Cincinnati area in the 1830s. He then went on to become a wealthy merchant. Mr. Erkenbrecher and other well-off German families wanted to have a zoological park like they had in Germany that would be like the zoos of Berlin and Cologne.

According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, the zoo opened in September 1875 to enormous crowds that caused the omnibuses and streetcars to groan under their human freight. The article numbered the attendance as around ten thousand people. Like many grand openings, there were a few struggles. The paper reported that a leopard escaped its enclosure, and an elephant broke its chain. Thanks to a brave keeper, they were able to contain the former circus elephant.  The article notes, however, that, as of the time of writing, the leopard was still at large, which might mean that Governor Noyes, a Republican whom the Enquirer did not support, would not desire to give any speeches in the Cincinnati area for some time (The Cincinnati Enquirer, Mon, Sep 27, 1875, page 4).  Even before the zoo project was finished, the Enquirer declared it to rival those of Europe and to be better than zoos in larger cities (The Cincinnati Enquirer, Tue, Nov 03, 1874, page 4).

Historical photograph of three elk in the snow. A cabin and fence are in the background.

Elk in the snow, 1900s. Courtesy of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

By the early 1900s, the “Cincinnati Zoological Garden was a leader in the naturalized look going so far as to give rise to barless exhibits.” The original intent was for a botanical garden to be developed nearby, but this concept was abandoned due to a lack of funds.  Instead, the gardens were incorporated into the design.  “During the turn of the century, Cincinnati’s Zoological Gardens included Victorian era gardenesque strolling gardens often found on wealthy private estates. But these were accessible to everyone in Cincinnati. These gardens showed off formal flower “cushion” or “carpet” beds popular at the time.” Quotes from the 150th anniversary website.

Historical photograph of the entrance of the zoo. A large sidewalk leads to a wooden gate building.

The zoo entrance, 1920s. Courtesy of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

There have been numerous significant moments at the Cincinnati Zoo in the past 150 years. The last passenger pigeon, Martha, died at the zoo in 1914.  Passenger pigeons once flew in huge flocks across North America but were hunted to extinction in the wild in Ohio by 1900. A more recent notable event was the birth of Fiona the hippo, who was born six weeks prematurely in 2017.  Fiona weighed only 29 pounds at birth and was too small to be nursed by her mother so was cared for by the staff. The public was fascinated by her story, which was regularly updated on the zoo’s website and Facebook page. There are now Fiona children’s books, ornaments, and t-shirts. She is likely the most famous resident of Cincinnati.

A photograph of a hippopotamus in the water and reaching its head up to eat a watermelon.

Fiona’s 8th birthday. Courtesy of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

Over the years the Cincinnati Zoo has expanded its role from a local place to enjoy beautiful animals and plants to a major leader of the conservation movement in the United States through its program called the Coexistence Coalition. Some of the goals of the program are to build up positive approaches to wildlife within local communities and to “design interventions to enhance coexistence that are ecologically suitable, economically viable, and socially acceptable.”

The Cincinnati Zoo has resources available such as Plant for Pollinators that list the types of plants that are best for pollinators in the Midwest.  In the spring and fall, the zoo hosts a native plant sale at the Bowyer Farm in Mason, OH. The spring dates have passed but be sure to check in August when the fall dates are announced.  Please note that this is an event that requires registration.

Photograph of a sidewalk with red and yellow flowers on the left. A large white building with a dark red roof is in the background.

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Courtesy of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

In May, SOA was able to chat with Thane Maynard, Director of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

SOA: What does the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden have planned for the 150th anniversary?

Maynard: Well, it is going to be a year-long celebration.  We have planned new habitat openings, two of which opened in the spring.  The next ones, Sea Otter Coast and Bear Ridge, will open in the fall.  We also launched a fun pin-trading program with exclusive pins that will no doubt become collectors’ items.  September will be the most festive, since that is that actual anniversary month.

SOA: How have zoos changed in the past 150 years?

Maynard: In the 1800s, zoos were mostly a form of entertainment and were often just menageries. Now we are focused much more on conservation and education.  Our daily working motto is that the zoo is here to inspire every visitor with wildlife every day.  We are very committed to being the greenest zoo in America. The water in Fiona’s pool is from rainwater.  The new elephant habitat sits on top of a giant reservoir for that rainwater.  We have been able to drastically cut our water usage thanks to these measures. We also utilize solar energy.  You can’t miss the two giant solar arrays that are over our parking lots.

SOA: What is something that most people wouldn’t know about the Cincinnati Zoo?

Maynard: The Cincinnati Opera’s original home was the Cincinnati Zoo. The opera held performances at the Zoo from 1920 to 1971. We in fact, still have members of the Opera come to the zoo for Zoo Opera days.

SOA: How are you planning on using historical materials to celebrate this anniversary?

Maynard: Many of our historic photos from years past are on the historical interactive timeline on our website.  We also have featured many historic videos and photos on our new 150 – Second Stories video series.  You can find these on our website and on YouTube.  They are a great resource.

SOA: We hope that many of you will be able to enjoy some of the historical photos the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden have gathered online. Better yet, we hope that you all will be able to enjoy a day at the zoo during this year while they celebrate this milestone. All the images were provided by the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

Ohio Archives Month Poster 2025 – Voting Open

Help select the images used for the 2025 Ohio Archives Month Poster!

This year, the annual Society of Ohio Archivists’ October Archives Month poster theme will highlight Ohio-born companies.

The submitted images from around the state include internationally, nationally, and locally known companies that were born in Ohio. Thank you to all our submitters for sharing these pieces of history!  We had great submissions this year from many wonderful Ohio institutions.

Now YOU can help us narrow down the field for the final poster! Please look through the images and their descriptions and vote for up to 10 images. The top 10 images to receive the most votes will be sent on to the designer for consideration in the final poster design.

Use the Google form to vote between April 22 and May 6, 2025. Please only vote once.

On behalf of the SOA Advocacy and Outreach Committee, we thank you for participating!

Questions? Contact the Advocacy & Outreach Committee cochairs Sarah Aisenbrey and Jim McKinnon.

Women’s History Month – Celebrating Catholic Sisters

The Sisters of the Precious Blood in Dayton, Ohio, have always been women on a mission. Like other congregations of women religious in the United States, the Sisters of the Precious Blood have been integral members of the societies where they lived, worked, and prayed. They were often some of the first university-educated women in the country. They educated immigrants in the 1840s in the wilds of Northern Ohio – and they were immigrants themselves, coming mainly from Germany and Switzerland, leaving their homes for parts unknown, not knowing if they would ever see their families again. They were and continue to be teachers and educators, nurses and doctors, chaplains, housekeepers, weavers, painters, poets, advocates for justice and ecology, administrators, and so much more. 

Because there are too many photos and stories to include in one blog post, I grouped the Sisters’ ministries into four photos from their archives. Each photo represents an aspect of the Sisters’ ministry over time: prayer, teaching, healthcare, and domestic arts.

 In this photo, Sister Rosemary Laux prays in the Salem Heights Chapel in Dayton, Ohio, in 1994.

sister reading
The adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was the catalyst for Mother Maria Anna Brunner to begin the Congregation of the Sisters of the Precious Blood, and prayer has been central to their lives. Throughout their history, the Sisters have continued this tradition with nocturnal and perpetual adoration, writing prayer services, working as pastoral ministers and sacristans, and praying for thousands of requests from people worldwide. Continue reading

Archives Month Poster: Call for Images 2025

For this year’s annual Society of Ohio Archivists’ October Archives Month, the theme will be “Ohio-Born Companies.” Ohio has a rich history of entrepreneurship, industry, and ingenuity, which we want to highlight through this poster.

We are looking for archival images related to Ohio-born companies that have impacted locally, statewide, or nationally; they can relate to corporations, small businesses, or other Ohio-based businesses. Some examples include construction workers building the company’s headquarters, workers working in an office or other environment, showcases of products made by the company, etc. If your institution has archival images with an intriguing backstory, please submit them for a chance to be featured in the poster this year.

We are hoping to receive submissions from across the state of Ohio. If you are interested in participating, please submit your related images to Nina Herzog at [email protected] by Monday, April 7, 2025.

Institutions or individuals can submit a maximum of three (3) images. Please ensure that the image quality is a minimum of 300 dpi; higher quality is encouraged. With your submission, please include a description of the image that explains its importance AND a brief one-sentence caption that can be used on the poster if the image is selected.

SOA members can vote on their favorite entries between Monday, April 21, and Friday, May 4, 2025. Entrants do NOT need to be members to submit images. If you know of organizations with archival materials that fit this year’s theme, please share this information with them!

We look forward to your participation!  View previous Ohio Archives Month posters.

Questions? Contact the Advocacy & Outreach Committee cochairs Sarah Aisenbrey and Jim McKinnon.

Have Your Voice Heard! Attend Ohio Statehood Day on March 5

-contributed by Sarah Aisenbrey, SOA Advocacy & Outreach Committee co-chair.

On March 5, Ohio history, archaeology, and historic preservation professionals will gather alongside legislators and stakeholders at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus to advocate for Ohio’s history and celebrate its birthday. This year, Statehood Day’s theme is “From Canals to Computers: Connecting Ohio to the World,” reflecting the 200th anniversary of the Ohio & Erie Canal. Continue reading

The Impact of Bing Davis as Artist and Teacher

By Kristina Schulz, University Archivist, University of Dayton

Originally posted on: University of Dayton Blog

Bing Davis has created a legacy as an educator, artist, mentor, community builder, community leader and innovator. He has spent his lifetime as an artist who creates opportunities for others.

Born in Greer, South Carolina, Davis moved to Dayton with his family as an infant. He grew up knowing he wanted to create art. Those around him encouraged and supported his vocation. A well-rounded athlete for Dayton Public Schools, Davis played basketball and was on the track team. He attended DePauw University, playing basketball and majoring in art education. In his words, “They needed a small forward (on the basketball team), and I needed an education, so we traded.” Continue reading

Archives Spotlight: National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center (NAAMCC)

by Collette McDonough, member of the SOA Advocacy and Outreach Committee.

To acknowledge Black History Month, the Society of Ohio Archivists would like to shine a spotlight on the archives located at the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center (NAAMCC). The museum opened to the public in 1988 and is the home to about 10,000 artifacts and artwork that tell the story of African Americans. The museum also contains “350 manuscript collections, and thousands of photographs.” The museum has a wide variety of materials in their collections including the “final draft of Roots, a buffalo hide coat worn by a Buffalo Soldier, Gregory Hines’s tap shoes, and artifacts representing the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s.” The NAAMCC archives hold hundreds of photographs and many collections that relate to the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. In addition, they are the caretakers of collections on enslavement and manumission plus the papers of Charles Young. The archives is located next to the museum in a former Carnegie Library building. The library was built with matching grants in 1907 for Wilberforce University and now houses the offices, archive, and museum storage for NAAMMCC.

Black and white photograph of a brick building.

Photograph of the Carnegie Library, courtesy of National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center (NAAMCC).

The museum has a dynamic collection and eye-opening exhibits. If you are interested in art, World War Two or Women’s history, NAAMCC has something for you. Currently the museum has an exhibit called Rhythm of Revolution-The Transformative Power of Black Art 1619 to the Present. “The exhibit maps the visual flow of artistic, cultural, social, and political change in America from 1619 to the present day. Using three-dimensional objects from the NAAMCC collections, Rhythm of Revolution explores how Black artists, religious leaders, and activists worked within their spheres of influence to transform Ohio and our nation.”

Continue reading

Ohio Archives Month: Special Olympics

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee is recognizing and celebrating archives month through a series of blog posts throughout October 2024.

By: Stacy Crouse (Local Coordinator, Allen County Special Olympics Ohio) & Collette McDonough (SOA Advocacy and Outreach committee member).

The mission statement of the Special Olympics is to provide “year-round sports training and competition opportunities for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.” This is very true, but the Special Olympics is so much more. The athletes who participate not only learn new sports skills, but they also make lifelong friends. The athletes are celebrated for what they can do. The athletes, coaches, and volunteers all train together at practices and invest in each other. Athletes learn that they can trust and count on the coaches and volunteers to encourage them and be their biggest fans. Continue reading

Ohio Archives Month – Olympic Memories

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee is recognizing and celebrating archives month through a series of blog posts throughout October 2024.

Even if we haven’t been to the Olympics, most of us still have memories associated with them. We asked our Advocacy and Outreach Committee members about their favorite Olympic memories. Here’s what they said: Continue reading

Paris Olympic Games – 1924/2024

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee is recognizing and celebrating archives month through a series of blog posts throughout October 2024.

by Jim McKinnon, co-chair Advocacy and Outreach.

The theme for this year’s archive’s month poster is O-H-I-Olympics, most of you, if not all, should have received your posters by now so the theme is not a surprise. The Summer Olympics this past summer were held in Paris where athletes from around the world competed for a gold, silver or bronze medal. 2024 wasn’t the only time that Paris was the host city for a summer games. In 1900 Paris hosted, but also in 1924, 100 years ago. How did the games 100 years ago compare to the games of this year? Were there similarities or glaring differences? Continue reading