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In memory of the Irish people who left a country where only their rivers run free. The Irish came to Cincinnati where they contributed to housing, education, employment, religious freedom, medical care and recreation, and embraced all aspects of life in the city. The descendants of Irish immigrants hope that our hands will ever be extended in friendship and never in want.
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Henry Solomon Lehr founded Ohio Northern University in 1871 as the Northwestern Ohio Normal School. Its purpose was to train teachers and to provide higher education to the people in Northwest Ohio. In 1885, the school became Ohio Normal University. The new name recognized that the institution drew students from all over Ohio and the nation, and offered courses in many disciplines, including literature, music, business, telegraphy, and law, as well as teacher training. Beginning with 131 students, the institution’s enrollment grew rapidly during its first thirty years of existence. Buildings on the early campus included Dukes Memorial (left), built in 1905; the Normal School Building, built in 1871 and demolished in 1915 to make way for Lehr Memorial (center); and Hill building (right) finished in 1879. The Methodist Episcopal Church (predecessor to the United Methodist Church) assumed control in 1899. Ohio Normal University became Ohio Northern University in 1903. On June 3, 1910, President William Howard Taft delivered that year’s commencement address near this spot.
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The Root Homestead was built in 1879 by Amos Ives Root, founder of the A. I. Root Company, shortly after he moved his business from the town square. The homestead housed several generations of the Root family until 1953 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. A pioneer of the beekeeping industry, Root helped to standardize such beekeeping equipment and tools as the Langstroth removable frame hive and the centrifugal honey extractor. As a result, beekeepers were able to harvest more honey every season without harming the bees. A prolific author and publisher, Root educated beekeepers across the globe and built a sense of community within the profession. (Continued on other side)
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Central State University originated on March 19, 1887, when the Ohio General Assembly passed an act establishing a Combined Normal and Industrial (CN&I) Department at Wilberforce University. Through various transitional changes, it emerged as an independent, state university. In 1941, the General Assembly expanded the CN&I, which offered two-year courses, into the College of Education and Industrial Arts, with four-year programs. In 1947, it separated from Wilberforce University. The history of Central State University tells the history of higher education and advancement for African Americans in Ohio. It is within the walls of these structures, and others unfortunately demolished or destroyed by the 1974 tornado, that thousands of African Americans received valuable training for successful and rewarding careers. Thus, many of the contributions of African Americans to the promotion and betterment of education, medicine, law, social justice, technology, and the arts in Ohio have their roots here on the campus of Central State University.
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Near this location stood the settlement of African American families known as “The Lett Settlement.” The Lett Settlement was a self-sustaining community of mixed race families, including the Caliman, Guy, and Lett families. The families had formed ties through marriage and common background during the mid-1700s in Virginia and Maryland. These early African American pioneer families came to Ohio as “free people of color,” and began acquiring land in Meigs Township, Muskingum County, and surrounding townships in adjacent counties during the 1820s. They were soon joined by the Brown, Clifford, Earley, Simpson, Tate, and Pointer families. The families of the Lett Settlement were land owners and tax payers in Ohio before the Civil War and challenged the State of Ohio for the right to vote and for access to education during the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s. (Continued on other side)
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Joseph Carter Corbin’s work in the Reconstruction-era south after the Civil War created many educational opportunities for African Americans. Corbin (1833-1911) was a professor, administrator, journalist, linguist, and musician. Born in Chillicothe, Ohio to free African American parents, he earned his bachelor’s degree and two masters’ degrees from Ohio University, in 1853, 1856, and 1889, respectively. In 1872, Corbin and his wife Mary moved to Arkansas where he served as the state superintendent of public education. In 1875, Corbin was appointed principal of Branch Normal College, which became the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. In 1898, he co-founded and became president of the Arkansas Teachers Association. He was also a leader in the Prince Hall Masons, an African American Masonic order. He served as a secretary and Grand Master of the lodge’s Arkansas chapter.
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An October 23, 1927, ceremony was held for the laying of the cornerstone for the Dennison High School Building. It opened in the fall of 1928 and was called “Angel’s Castle” in honor of school superintendent William Hiram Angel. The building was designed by J.K. Griffin, an architect from Canton, Ohio, in a style that has the elements of Collegiate Gothic that was popular for school and college buildings during the early twentieth century. The distinguishing architectural features of the entrance towers enhance the school’s prominent location above the street level. Dennison High School is an important visual landmark in the community, as its towers are visible from the downtown area and surrounding neighborhoods. It has retained its integrity of location, materials, design, and association and conveys the early twentieth century ideals of education that the original design of the building was intended to inspire. (Continued on other side)
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J. Scott Garbry, a 1986 inductee into the Ohio Conservation Hall of Fame, had a lifelong commitment and passion for conservation, historic preservation, and education. His gift of land and artifacts to the Upper Valley JVS led to the creation of the Willowbrook Environmental Education Center and Garbry Museum. He was also instrumental in providing land for the site of the Piqua High School and for Garbry Woods of the Miami County Park District. These gifts make it possible to appreciate and experience Ohio’s natural and historic heritage.
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