Fall Meeting with OLHA: Registration Open

OLHA/SOA Fall Meeting, October 4-5, 2024

The Society of Ohio Archivists is partnering with the Ohio Local History Alliance for the fall meeting, Truth and Consequences. Join us on October 4-5, 2024, at Quest Conference Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Registration is now open through September 23! Sessions and speakers will discuss how the theme of Truth and Consequences relates to the work of our member organizations in collecting, sharing, and commemorating Ohio’s local history.

The SOA track will take place on Friday, October 4 and will feature the following sessions:

9-9:50am: Find Digital Ohio: Advocating and Promoting Your Digital Collections, Jenni Salamon, Ohio History Connection; Cari Hillman & Adam Wanter, MidPointe Library System
10:10-11am: Crucial Conversations: Preserving Undertold Stories, Justice, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (JEDAI) committee
11:20am-12:10pm: Designing and Sustaining an Institutional Archives, Brianna Treleven & Rachel Sykes, Shaker Historical Society
12:30-1:45pm: Lunch & Keynote Address, Ulysses Grant Dietz
2-4pm: Intersectional DEI Mini-Workshop, Michelle Ganz, Dominican Sisters of Peace

View full details on the conference brochure. Attendees are welcome to attend any of the Local History Alliance sessions, luncheons, and other special events on both Friday and Saturday.

Questions? Contact the Educational Programming Committee Cochairs Sara Mouch and Michelle Sweetser.

Last Updated on August 16, 2024 by Emily Gainer

Celebrating the Ohio State Fair History

by Collette N. McDonough, CA. Collette is a member of the SOA Advocacy and Outreach Committee.

As a young person, the summers meant many things to the city pool, mowing the grass, but the peak of summer fun was the fair. I was a 4-H kid, and the county and state fairs were a big deal for me. I participated in the animal science program, specifically the equine division. I loved going to the Washington County Fair each year and to the Ohio State Fair when I qualified. So, I’m happy to contribute this blog post about the Ohio State Fair that features materials from the Ohio History Connection.

Most Ohioans would assume that our state fair has always been held in Columbus, but the fair bounced around the state well into the 1880s, taking place in Cincinnati, Dayton, Newark, Toledo, Zanesville, Cleveland, Mansfield, Sandusky, and Springfield before its permanent and current home in Columbus was finished in 1886. The first Ohio State Fair was held in 1850, just outside of Cincinnati. Continue reading →

Last Updated on August 23, 2024 by Emily Gainer

SOA Election Results 2024

During the recent Annual Meeting at Capital University, new council members were elected.

SOA would like to welcome the following new leaders:

Matt Francis, Ohio Northern University, President (2024-2025)
Jennifer Long Morehart, Bowling Green State University, Vice President/President-Elect (2024-2025)
Sophia McGuire, City of Gahanna, Treasurer (2024-2026)
Jim DaMico, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Edward L. Pratt Research Library, Council Member (2024-2026)

A big thanks to the Nominating Committee. Also, thank you to everyone who participated!

Officer Transitions:

Matt Francis, Ohio Northern University, transitions from Vice President/President-Elect to President. Thanks to Matt for his continued leadership.
Melissa Dalton, Preserve It, LLC, transitions from President to Past-President. Thanks to Melissa for her work as President.
Brittany Hays completed her term as Treasurer. Thanks to Brittany for her work as Treasurer.

New co-chairs:

Advocacy and Outreach Committee: Welcomes Sarah Aisenbrey, as co-chair
Justice, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (JEDAI) Committee: Welcomes Hannah Kemp-Severence, University of Akron, as co-chair
Marketing and Communications Committee: Welcomes Amber Bales, Ohio State University, as co-chair.
Membership and Awards Committee: Welcomes Stephanie Shreffler, University of Dayton, as co-chair.

Thanks to outgoing co-chairs: Collette McDonough (Advocacy and Outreach Committee); Penelope Shumaker (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (JEDAI) Committee); Jane Wildermuth (Marketing and Communications Committee); and Jennifer Long Morehart (Membership and Awards Committee).

For more information see the Officer and Council Member roster, Committees & Task Forces page, and the Nominating Committee page.

Last Updated on July 3, 2024 by Emily Gainer

Council Meeting Minutes Available, April and May 2024

The Society of Ohio Archivists most recent leadership meeting minutes from April 5 and May 17, 2024, can now be found on the Council Meeting Minutes page.

Interested in SOA over time? Also on that page are minutes dating back to 1997. In addition to documenting actions from the leadership meeting, minutes include reports from the treasurer as well as from committees and task forces.

Questions about minutes? Contact SOA Secretary Shelby Beatty.

Last Updated on July 1, 2024 by Emily Gainer

2024 SOA Merit Award Winners

The SOA Membership & Awards Committee is pleased to announce the 2024 Merit Award recipients! The awards were presented at the annual meeting on May 17.

Congratulations to Greene County Archives, recognized for their work to preserve the vital records of Greene County through the new Online Catalog System and Digital Repository.

Congratulations to the Columbus Metropolitan Library and the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, recognized for their work in preserving the archives of their hometown newspapers.

3 people holding awards

Photograph (left to right): Robin Heise, Greene County Records Center and Archives; Angela O’Neal, Columbus Metropolitan Library; and Larry Richmond, Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.

Last Updated on May 28, 2024 by Amber Bales

Meeting Scholarships Awarded for 2024

The SOA Membership & Awards Committee is pleased to announce five scholarships awarded at the Annual Meeting on May 17.

Scholarship awardees, pictured left to right:

Jessica Licker, Ohio University (Student Scholarship Award)
Katie Gable, Kent State University (Student Scholarship Award)
Nikala Trujillo, Dawes Arboretum (New Professional Scholarship Award)
Emilie Cornelius, Central Ohio Technical College and The Ohio State University Newark campus (New Professional Scholarship Award)
Niel White, University of Denver (Ohio Preservation Council Scholarship Award)

The scholarship consists of registration to the SOA annual meeting (including lunch), a one-year SOA membership, and a $100 travel stipend. Look for articles sharing their meeting experiences in the fall issue of the Ohio Archivist newsletter!

Last Updated on May 28, 2024 by Amber Bales

National History Day at 50: A Salute

by George Bain and Connie Conner, Advocacy and Outreach Committee members.

The National History Day program was born in 1974, 50 years ago this year, as a modest venture in the area of Cleveland, Ohio under the direction of Case Western Reserve University History Professor David Van Tassel. But it was a dream that began to expand across the state and then over several years into other states and then became national in scope. Also known widely by its initials as well, NHD is an admirable educational entity that deserves recognition for stimulating the study of history. But why, as it celebrates its Golden Anniversary, is it of direct importance to the archival community? Continue reading →

Last Updated on July 27, 2024 by Emily Gainer

Ballot Available for 2024 Election

It’s time to vote for Society of Ohio Archivists Leadership!

All current members of SOA should have received an email with a link to the ballot for officers and Council members on April 26. The ballot will be available April 26-May 17 (noon). If you did not receive one, and you have checked your junk folder, check with SOA Liaison Betsy Hedler at ohioarchivists @ohiohistory.org regarding your membership status.

Please see the Candidates’ Statements on page 4 of the Ohio Archivist, spring 2024.

2024 Slate of Candidates

Vice President/President-elect: Jennifer Long Morehart
Treasurer: Sophia McGuire
Council (1 open seat): Jim DaMico

Thank you to the Nominating Committee for their work.

Last Updated on May 7, 2024 by Emily Gainer

Volunteer Appreciation Month: Clark County Historical Society

by Natalie Fritz, Archivist & Outreach Director, Clark County Historical Society at the Heritage Center.

April is volunteer appreciation month, a great time to acknowledge those who give their time, talent, and energy to support our missions and day to day operations.

Depending on what kind of organization you are from, you may interact with, utilize and depend upon, and find your volunteers differently. I want to share a bit about my own experience with volunteers as the Archivist and Outreach Director for the Clark County Historical Society in Springfield, Ohio.

A color photograph of a stone and brick building. There are trees and light posts surrounding the building. Blue sky with white clouds are behind the building.

The Clark County Historical Society is housed in the Heritage Center.

First a bit of background on our organization. We are a county museum, founded in 1897. Since 2001 our home has been the Heritage Center, built as Springfield’s City Hall and Marketplace in 1890. The Heritage Center has a museum on the first and second floor, of the original building and we added an annex for more exhibits, the Expo Hall, in 2003. We have collections storage throughout the building, but primarily on the second floor, and our research library and archives are on the third floor on the east end of the very long, very narrow building. There are other tenants in the building, including Clark County Veterans Services, United Way, ODOT, and Un Mundo Café. We are grateful to have support from our community for a levy, which mainly helps with major upkeep and capital projects in our 130+ year old building. Continue reading →

Last Updated on July 27, 2024 by Emily Gainer