, OH
Born at Richford, New York, John D. Rockefeller moved to the Cleveland area with his family at age 14. He began his business career as a bookkeeper in 1855. From modest beginnings he became one of the richest men of his era by developing the world’s largest oil corporation, the Standard Oil Company, which was founded here in the Flats of Cleveland. Rockefeller moved to New York City in 1884 but maintained two homes in Cleveland, returning often with his wife Laura (1839-1915). Although he was a controversial businessman, Rockefeller donated millions of dollars to Cleveland charities and institutions, and land for Rockefeller and Forest Hills parks. John and Laura Rockefeller are interred in Lake View Cemetery.
, OH
The oldest building in Cincinnati’s basin area, the Betts House exemplifies a national trend on the expanding frontier of impermanent log and frame structures giving way to more permanent brick architecture. It is the earliest surviving brick building in the city. During Cincinnati’s period of settlement in the early 1800s, the William and Phebe Betts family established a brickyard here that supplied building materials for the rapidly growing frontier city. The Betts House lends its name to the Betts-Longworth Historic District. Established in 1983, the district represents the last nineteenth century remnant of Cincinnati’s lower West End and surrounds the older Betts House with tall, narrow mid-and late-nineteenth century buildings. The Betts house is oriented to the cardinal directions, rather than to the city’s slightly skewed grid.
, OH
Raised and educated in St. Louis, author Fannie Hurst (1885-1968) was born in Hamilton at 918 Central Avenue, the home of her maternal grandparents. She was the daughter of Rose Koppel and Samuel Hurst. Already a writer as a student at Washington University (Class of 1909), Fannie moved to New York in 1910 to begin her career. Success came after repeated rejection. Stories for popular magazines brought her attention in the mid-1910s; by the mid-1920s she had become a best-selling, highly-regarded, and well-paid author. Between 1912 and 1964, Hurst wrote 18 novels, eight short story collections, and many other pieces. Hurst’s short story “Humoresque” (1919) and the novels Back Street (1931) and Imitation of Life (1933) were three of 32 films based on her writings. The film adaption of Imitation of Life received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture in 1934. (Continued on other side)
, OH
The figure atop the Soldiers’ Monument has looked over Youngstown’s Central Square since 1870. Ohio Governor David Tod began campaigning for a monument for Youngstown’s fallen soldiers even before the Civil War ended. The community raised $15,000, and the cornerstone was laid in 1868. The memorial was completed and dedicated on July 4, 1870, with Governor Rutherford B. Hayes and Congressman James A. Garfield, both future U.S. presidents, attending the ceremony. Four cannons procured by Garfield formerly surrounded the monument. In 1951 the figure on the pedestal was accidentally damaged. A new statue of Carrara marble was commissioned, sculpted in Italy, and installed in 1955. The Bertolini Bros., a local marble firm, donated the new figure, which as patterned after the original, as their gift to the city.
, OH
The Scioto Company, led by James Kilbourn (Kilbourne) of Granby and Berlin, Connecticut, founded Worthington in 1803, the year that Ohio became a state. The Scioto Company was organized as a land company in 1802 with 38 original proprietors from Connecticut and Massachusetts. They purchased 16,000 acres of land along the Olentangy River for $1.25 per acre. The name Worthington was adopted in honor of Thomas Worthington, Territorial Land Commissioner, United States Senator, and future Ohio governor. He advised Kilbourn on the location for the settlement and his name provided recognition for the community.
, OH
In 1934, workers at the Electric Auto-Lite Company and other automotive-related manufacturers secretly organized the Automobile Workers Federal Union Local 18384, American Federation of Labor (AFL), which became the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 12. Anti-unionism, broken pledges by management, and abuse of workers had festered locally for generations. Workers bitterly resented the fact that management took advantage of the Depression’s high unemployment to decrease wages. In February, workers struck at Auto-Lite, Bingham Stamping, Logan Gear, and Spicer Manufacturing Company. When management refused to negotiate in good faith, the workers, including a large number of women, struck the Auto-Lite in mid-April. Auto-Lite management secured a court order limiting the number of strikers to twenty-five. The strike appeared to be lost until the Lucas County Unemployed League organized fierce resistance to the court injunction as the crowd around the plant grew to ten thousand. (continued on other side)
, OH
Thomas Cowan Bell, James Parks Caldwell, Daniel William Cooper, Isaac M. Jordan, William Lewis Lockwood, Benjamin Piatt Runkle, and Franklin Howard Scobey met in a second floor room of this building to found Sigma Chi (ΣΧ) in early 1855. All but Lockwood had been members of Delta Kappa Epsilon (ΔΚΕ) but left over a disagreement as to who should be elected poet of Erodelphian, one of Miami University’s literary societies. Runkle and Caldwell, who lived here, designed Sigma Chi’s badge, the White Cross. Reflecting the ideals of Friendship, Justice, and Learning, the Brothers donned the badge and established Sigma Chi on Commencement Day, June 28, 1855. The founding of Sigma Chi completed the Miami Triad, which includes Alpha (founding) chapters of Beta Theta Pi (ΒΘΠ, 1839) and Phi Delta Theta (ΔΘ, 1848). Miami University and Union College in Schenectady, New York are known as the “Mother of Fraternities.” (Continued on other side)
, OH
Completed in 1915, the Gate Lodge is one of several service buildings located at Stan Hywet Hall dedicated to the operations of the estate. Located at the front entrance gates, this two-story Tudor Revival structure was designed by the Seiberlings’ architect Charles S. Schneider. Originally, the Gate Lodge served as a residence for the estate’s superintendent. The first to fill this role was William Dennis who moved in with his family to the Gate Lodge after its completion and resided there until his death in 1923. Between 1923 and 1944, Fred, the eldest child of F.A. and Gertrude Seiberling, lived in the Gate Lodge with his wife Henrietta and their three children. In 1935, Henrietta brought here the two men who would formally found Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson of New York and Dr. Bob Smith of Akron.
614.297.2300
Contact Us
