Category Archives: Archives Month

Ohio Archives Month Archival Spotlights: Dittrick Medical History Center

View of Dittrick Medical History Center Archives. Dittrick Medical History Center, Case Western Reserve University.

Archival Spotlights: Post #2

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee (A&O) wanted to celebrate Archives Month in a new way, so we are featuring a handful of archives in a series of posts we are calling Archival Spotlights. Since the Archives Month poster’s theme was “Ohio’s Healthcare Workers: The True Heart of it All,” we felt it a good idea to feature archives that focus on healthcare or have interesting collections related to healthcare.

About the Dittrick Medical History Center and its Collections

By A&O Committee Member Amy Czubak, Ohio History Connection.

Have you ever wanted to read a letter written by Charles Darwin? Examine intricately detailed medical drawings? Maybe see inside of a Civil War era amputation kit? The Dittrick Medical History Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, has all of these things and more! Named after the first curator, Dr. Howard Dittrick (1877–1954), the museum and archives has been collecting medical history for nearly 100 years and has the most comprehensive collection concerning medical instruments and implements in the United States.

Diagrams found in the Dittrick Medical History Center Archives include this one of a disk oxygenator. The disk oxygenator removes carbon and gasses from the blood and adds in oxygen.
Disk oxygenator diagram engineered by Richard Jones, PhD. Dittrick Medical History Center, Case Western Reserve University.

The Cleveland Medical Library Association, established in 1894, developed a historical committee in 1898. At its helm was a prominent Cleveland area surgeon named Dr. Dudley Peter Allen (1852–1915), who was tasked with caring for and preserving donations given to the Cleveland Medical Library Association by Dr. Allen and other members of the Association. A new medical library built on land donated by Western Reserve University, and funded by money donated by Dr. Allen’s widow, was established in 1926 and featured a third floor museum gallery.
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Ask an Archivist Day 2022

Ask An Archivist Day 2022 graphic from SAA

Who here in Ohio is planning on taking part in #AskAnArchivist Day?

This is an opportunity to talk with the public so they can learn about archives and archivists. Questions vary widely but we hope you will hop on Twitter and respond to questions tweeted with the hashtag #AskAnArchivist. We hope to see you there, next Wednesday, October 12!

More information and resources at the Society of American Archivists #AskAnArchivist Day page. They also have a signup to be on the list of those participating.

This post part of Archives Month activities from the Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee.

Ohio Archives Month Archival Spotlights: Ohio University’s Mahn Center

Athens Mental Health Center Administration building, winter 1981. Tom O’Grady. Athens Mental Health Center collection, Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.

Announcing a New Series

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee wanted to celebrate Archives Month in a new way, so we will be featuring a handful of archives in a series of posts we are calling Archival Spotlights. Since the Archives Month poster’s theme was “Ohio’s Healthcare Workers: The True Heart of it All,” we felt it a good idea to feature archives that focus on healthcare or have interesting collections related to healthcare. The first archive to be featured is the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, focusing on their Athens Mental Health Center collection.

About the Mahn Center, and the Athens Mental Health Center Collection

By A&O Committee Chair Collette McDonough, Kettering Foundation.

The Robert E. and Jean R. Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, part of Ohio University Libraries in Athens, Ohio, contains the Ohio University Archives, Rare Books, Manuscript Collections, and the Documentary Photography Archive. The Mahn Center’s mission “is to support the education, research, and creative endeavors of Ohio University, or broad community of researcher, and anyone with an interest in the preservation of cultural heritage.” Ohio University is in the rolling foothills of Southeast Ohio and is a center for arts and culture in the area.

Athens is renowned for what is now known as The Ridges. Originally called the Athens Lunatic Asylum and later named the Athens State Hospital, The Ridges opened in 1874. The Athens Mental Health Center collection documents its evolution.

Plan for buildings and grounds of Athens Lunatic Asylum, 1872. Athens Mental Health Center collection, Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.

This fold-out map from 1872 was pasted into some copies of the first annual report of the Athens Lunatic Asylum. The construction of the campus started in 1868. The grounds were designed by Herman Haerlin, who was also the landscape architect of the Oval at The Ohio University. The architect was Levi T. Scofield. Continue reading →

Watch Ohio Archives Month 2022 Poster Reveal

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee held an unveiling event for the Ohio Archives Month poster on Thursday, September 8, 2022, 3-4pm on Zoom.

At the unveiling, we heard more about the top ten winning photos (as voted by you!), played some fun Ohio health history trivia, and finally, saw the reveal of this year’s beautiful poster.

The theme of this year’s poster is “Ohio’s Healthcare Workers: The True Heart of It All,” and we received so many amazing submissions! See more about the submissions and the voting process in “2022 Ohio Archives Month Poster Top 10 Voting Results.”

Watch the Zoom unveiling event on the SOA YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/ba1PSJaBxLk (or in the embed below).

Download the poster as a PDF from the website. And see past posters. Physical posters are in the mail (I got mine last week).

Stand by for more Archive Month in Ohio activities!

Questions? Contact A&O Committee Chair Collette McDonough.

Archives Month 2022 Poster Reveal Event – Sept 8

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee is pleased to announce open registration and the agenda for the unveiling of the Ohio Archives Month poster on Thursday, September 8, 2022, 3-4pm on Zoom. (Watch the recording on YouTube!)

At the unveiling we’ll have the top ten photo winners speaking about their winning images, some fun trivia, and finally, the reveal of this year’s beautiful poster.

The theme of this year’s poster is “Ohio’s Healthcare Workers: The True Heart of It All,” and we received so many amazing submissions! See more about the submissions and the voting process in “2022 Ohio Archives Month Poster Top 10 Voting Results.”

Register by September 6. Continue reading →

Ohio Archives News: Historic Marker Dedication July 17

Ohio Archives Month Poster 2020

The Society of Ohio Archivists is pleased to share this invitation (below) to the historic marker dedication for Ohio suffragist Jewelia Galloway Higgins, who was featured on our 2020 Ohio Archives Month poster “Ohio Women and the fight for the Right to Vote.”!

Invitation:

Patricia Smith Griffin, and The Charity’s Children Project, cordially invite you to attend the Historic Marker Dedication of their ancestor, Ohio suffragist Jewelia Galloway Higgins.

Please see the beautiful 3-page PDF version of the invitation, including photos of Jewelia Galloway Higgins. Continue reading →

2022 Ohio Archives Month Poster “Top 10” Voting Results

The 2022 theme for the Ohio Archives Month poster is “Ohio’s Healthcare Workers: The True Heart of It All.”

For the past two years, health-care professionals throughout the country have helped us through a pandemic, so health care issues are on the minds of many people. This is our way of recognizing their work. The SOA Advocacy and Outreach Committee invited repositories and institutions across the state to submit their photographs, documents, or other graphical materials that highlight Ohio’s healthcare related materials.

We received submissions on the theme from 23 institutions, for a total of 52 photographs and documents! The submissions were compiled, and 10 images were selected as winners through online voting by you. Thank you to everyone who submitted images. We could never make this poster without your great images!

Below are the images that were chosen by you as the top ten. Each one of these has a chance to appear on the final edit of the poster. Stay tuned for this year’s poster as we get closer to October and Archives Month!

Thank you to the following institutions for your submissions: Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Archives of the Chancery; Bexley Public Library; Bowling Green State University Center for Archival Collections; Case Western Reserve University; Cincinnati Children’s; Clark County Historical Society; Columbus Metropolitan Library; Defiance College; Franciscan Sisters of the Poor Congregational Archives; Greene County Archives; Hudson Library & Historical Society; Huron County Community Library; Logan County Historical Society; Mahoning Valley Historical Society; Ohio History Connection; The Ohio State University, Health Sciences Library Medical Heritage Center; Ohio University Libraries, Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections; Sandusky Library Archives Research Center; University of Akron; University of Cincinnati, Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of Health Professions; University of Dayton, U.S. Catholic Special Collection; Western Reserve Historical Society, African American Archives; Youngstown State University, Melnick Medical Museum and University Archives.

“Top 10” Images

As voted on by you, selected from the 52 submitted. In no particular order….

Marilyn Hughes Gaston, MD, founder of the Cincinnati Children’s Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, 1986. Cincinnati Children’s Department of Marketing and Communications.

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Cast Your Vote: Ohio Archives Month Poster Images

Help select the images used for the 2022 Ohio Archives Month Poster!

This year for the annual Society of Ohio Archivists’ October Archives Month poster we asked for archival images having to do with the theme of Healthcare in Ohio. For the past two years, healthcare professionals throughout the country have helped us through a pandemic, so this topic is in the forefront for many. Continue reading →

Call for Image Submissions: 2022 Ohio Archives Month Poster

This year for the annual Society of Ohio Archivists’ October Archives Month poster we are looking for archival image submissions having to do with Healthcare in Ohio. For the past two years, healthcare professionals throughout the country have helped us through a pandemic, so this topic is in the forefront for many. With this in mind, we decided to highlight archival holdings related to all aspects of healthcare for this year’s poster, which will be distributed for Archives Month in October.

Does your archive have images related to local hospitals, health clinics? Photos of doctors, nurses, other healthcare professionals? Images related to vaccination clinics, health crises, medical tools, or other healthcare related events or activities? All of these are examples for wonderful submissions! Continue reading →

Ohio Archives Month 2021 Poster: Ohio’s Wonderland

The 2021 theme for the Ohio Archives Month poster was Ohio’s Wonderland: Unboxing The Great Outdoors. For the past year and a half, many have been cooped up indoors and apart from others more than ever before, but the outdoors have always offered an escape! The SOA Advocacy and Outreach Committee invited repositories and institutions across the state to submit their photographs, documents, or other graphical materials that highlight Ohio’s outdoor spaces. (Download the poster as a PDF.)

We received submissions on the theme from 23 institutions, for a total of 65 photographs and documents! The submissions were compiled, and 10 images were selected as winners through online voting by you. We were able to feature 3 of these images on this year’s Archive Month poster.

See our 2021 poster page for the images featured on the poster from the Sandusky Library, University of Akron, and the Ohio History Connection, as well as the other winning submissions, and the full text of the poster. Continue reading →