Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Pictures of NNU Students

The Digital Archive Project is such a huge undertaking that the Archivist has assigned individual volunteers smaller, more manageable tasks within the scope of the overall project.

One such task involves matching photos of National Normal University Students with the surname file of NNU students in our archive.  Many of the students in the photos are identified, but many are not. The volunteers have been trying to match individual photos by comparing them to students in group photos. Sometimes that works. 
At this time we have a stack of unidentified individual National Normal University student photos about two inches thick!  Here's just a few of them. If anyone knows who these folks are, please contact us at wchs@wchsmuseum.org.

I attended National Normal University in Lebanon, OH. Do you know who I am?









Saturday, January 28, 2012

Flea Market Today

The January edition of the Old Post Office Flea Market is going full force. Doors open today - the last day until the end of April - at 10:00 am and close at 4:00.  Yesterday saw a good crowd and a lot of sales but there's still plenty left.  Don't wait!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Your Tax Refund Can Help Our Museum

Visit www.ohiohistory.org to find out more!

Donate to the Ohio Historical

Society and support history

grants for local communities.

Your tax refund can
MAKE

HISTORY

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Dirty 15

Director of Education John Zimkus vacuumed the high places.
Fifteen Warren County Historical Society volunteers and staff spent the morning dusting artifacts in the warren County History Center.   For two hours the group used dusting cloths, dust busters and vacuum cleaners to clean up the museum's artifacts.
Volunteer Reena finishes dusting some of the smalls in the Shaker kitchen.



When the cleaning was finished the group broke for a pot lunch, with everyone contributing a side dish, rolls, salad or dessert.  The museum staff provided Golden Lamb fried chicken.


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Dusting and Fried Chicken

Tomorrow is dusting day at the museum.  Staff and volunteers, about 17 of us, will spend the morning dusting and cleaning the artifacts in the lower level of the museum. We don't have to dust too often but at least once a year the old farm equipment, buggies and the log cabin objects need a good cleaning.

At noon we will break for a pot luck. The museum provides Golden Lamb fried chicken (carry out) and everybody brings a side, salad or rolls. We enjoy an hour or more of good food and camaraderie and then go back to our regular duties.

I'm bringing salad and I've opted for my mothers "Three Bean Salad" which I used to serve as a side option at Copperfield's. Here is the recipe.

"Three Bean Salad"
In a small sauce pain cook to a boil:
1 cup sugar                1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon water    3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 salad oil              3/4 cup vinegar
In a large bowl mix together:
1 can green beans          1 jar sliced mushrooms
1 can wax beans            1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 can red beans              1 medium onion chopped
1 can whole corn           1 cup celery chopped
Pour the hot liquid over the bean mixture, cool and let stand in the refrigerator over night.  Keeps a good week.   I vary this quite a bit and its still very good. For example, I will eliminate the mushrooms, water chestnuts and celery and add chick peas and sweet red pepper. It's always good.



Monday, January 23, 2012

You Can't Keep Antiquers Down!

Despite the ice and snow, the 69th Lebanon Antiques Show opened on schedule Saturday morning at 10:00 am. More than 350 people braved the icy roads to make sure they got first crack at some of the finest antiques offered anywhere. 


Silver Cake Stand $145,  Royal Dalton Figurines, $185 to $225 Water Glass, $38
Robbens Metal Restoration, Cincinnati, OH  812-637-0798
Sunday the roads were  clear and a very large crowd arrived ready to buy. Dealers were kept extra busy and were still writing sales tickets when the show closed at 4:00 pm.  As usual, it was a beautiful show. Here's a few of our favorite things:
Cows on the Baltic Sea
by Emanuel Hegenbarth, Germany, 1890-1910
$2000
Jo Akers Designs, Columbus, OH  614-425-7782



Royal Cauldon Turkey Platter, English Staffordshire Transferware, $4975
Blue Diamond Antiques, Dearborn MI, 248-249-0996

1820 Chest of Drawers - $1250
Dallaire Antiques, Brockway, PA, 814-328-2636


Friday, January 20, 2012

Antique Study Classes

Antique China for sale at the Lebanon Antique Show
January 21 and 22, 2012, Sat. 10-5, Sun 11-4
Bowman Primary School, 825 Hart Rd. Lebanon
The first of the late Sue Studebaker's "Antique Study Classes" will go live on our website next week. You can get a preview of it today by visiting our site at www.wchsmuseum.org.
Sue's classes were essential for anyone wanting to collect antiques either for fun or as an investment. The course lasted eight weeks and covered everything in furniture and decorative arts. 

As part of the Warren County Historical Society's "Digital Archive Project", we are placing Sue's classes on line.  Originally the classes were presented with slides accompanied by Sue's lectures.  Fortunately Sue wrote out each set of lecture notes in detail to match the slides.  WCHS inherited Sue Studebaker's entire archive of antique study slides and notes and will present them, one module at a time on our website as a benefit of membership in the Warren County Historical Society. 

A membership costs just $35.00.  You will be able to join on line, register and get a password for the classes.  If you are already a member of the Warren County Historical Society, you need only register on line for the class.

The first module is on ceramics and includes Staffordshire china, a hot collectible at present. Module number two is collecting antique pewter and module number three is quilts and coverlets.  You will be able to see modules one in January and two in February and three in March and so on.  The class will take you through an entire year of Sue's lectures and should be a valuable resource for anyone wanting to know more about collecting American and some European antiques.  We hope you enjoy the classes.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Vote for Us!

Best of Warren County Contest


We are thrilled two have two of our three historic properties nominated for the "Western Star" newspapers "Best of Warren County" contest.  We made it into two categories.

Glendower is nominated for Best Places to Create Winter Memories
Warren County History Center is nominated for Best Hidden Gem

Please, follow this link, http://www.western-star.com/lifestyle/topic-one/ and vote for us before January 29!

Antique Show This Weekend
Don't forget the Lebanon Antique Show this weekend, January 21 and 22 at Bowman Primary School, 825 Hart Road, just west of downtown off Rt. 123. Admission is just $8.00 but here's a $2.00 off coupon under this picture.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Freedom Center Open for Free Today

Thanks to generous underwriting from PNC, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (NURFC) is able to offer free admission to visitors on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 16, 2012. In its ongoing commitment to the spirit of inclusion, PNC continues to fund this free day, providing access to members of the community otherwise not able to visit. The center is located in downtown Cincinnati next to the Great American Ball Park.

The Warren County History Center is closed today as are most museums, but you can visit the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and learn a great deal about southwest Ohio's role in the abolition of slavery. 

There isn't a lot of material culture - that's museum speak for "things" to put on display in this museum. There's the slave pen and a few shackles, but mostly you will read and view and learn about the risks our ancestor's took to help right a terrible wrong.
One of the information exhibits

For "edutainment" there is an exciting "chase" movie introduced by Oprah Winfrey and several short videos of slave re-enactor's telling their stories.


The picture above shows a time line wall with three different historical time lines to ponder. The top line is about the abolitionists and the abolitionist movement. The middle line tells the story of slavery in this country and the last line tells individual slave's stories.  It's a lot to read and take in, but between the movie, the videos and the timeline you should come away with a good basic understanding of the events that brought us to war in 1861. 




Saturday, January 14, 2012

So much culture, so little time!

As the Director of the Warren County Historical Society it's my job to run the business side of the operations, provide leadership for the staff, be the public face of the the Historical Society and keep in touch with other cultural organizations in the area.

With all that in mind, I spent Wednesday and Thursday of this week visiting other cultural sites in the area and having  a wonderful time in the process.

I spent the better part of Wednesday at the Cincinnati Art Museum. www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org
just touring the collections. If you want to educate yourself about art, you can find all that you need at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Some of the best paintings anywhere are in this collection.  I visited primarily to see the Cincinnati Gallery, but couldn't pass up the special exhibit on Picasso, and naturally, I couldn't leave without visiting the American collection.
Underground Railroad by Webber, Cincinnati Art Museum
It was while I was dreamily drifting through the American collection enthralled with the wonderful Copley portraits and Moran landscapes and of course the famous "Underground Railroad" by Webber, that I spied a still life of yellow pears. It was a small canvas, about 15 inches by 10 inches,  and it was just pears, but something about it beckoned me. I went closer to investigate and read the sign. "Attributed to Rhoda Steddom".  That name leaped out at me. Rhoda Steddom was Marcus Mote's wife, and Marcus Mote is a major painter in our museum's collection!

I had no idea that his wife painted!  I read the notes displayed next to the painting and found out that the Steddom family had sent their five children to the Turtlecreek Subscription School where a young Marcus Mote was a teacher. The pears were thought to be painted by Rhoda Steddom at that school about two years before she married Marcus at age 16.  I couldn't wait to get back to the Warren County History Center and pick the curator's brains.  A Marcus Mote painting had just turned up on the Antiques Roadshow two weekends ago and we'd had several calls and emails about Mote since that show aired.  Stop by the Warren County History Center to learn more about Marcus Mote and view a large collection of his paintings.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Murder Mystery at a Wedding Reception

You are invited to a wedding reception and a murder!  Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 11 at 6:30 pm.  The Lebanon Theatre Company and the Warren County Historical Society present their bi-annual mystery dinner theatre fund raiser with the presentation of "I'm Getting Murdered in the Morning" a comedy murder mystery set during a wedding reception.

Scenes from a real wedding reception at the Lebanon Conference & Banquet Center
The event takes place at the Lebanon Conference & Banquet Center (the old post office), the scene of numerous wedding receptions, but thankfully, no murders yet!   RSVP by purchasing tickets, which cost $40.00 each, from the WCHS by calling 513-932-1817.  The evening includes a dinner buffet complete with a wedding cake and the "murder" of course.
One of the cakes from a real wedding reception at the Lebanon Conference & Banquet Center
The WCHS staff is thrilled to be hosting a wedding reception.  Our banquet center has been the scene of many weddings during the last few years so we've seen a lot of different decorating styles. The curators are busy planning a color scheme and decorations, the dinner menu and the cake of course. There will be music and photo taking and the usual wedding reception goings on! Loads of fun. We can't wait.

Seating is limited to 100 guests, so get your tickets now. The office is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Call us at 513-932-1817. We take cash, checks, Visa, MC and Discover!!

Friday, January 6, 2012

Winter Farmer's Market Returns

We were closed the last two Saturdays in December, so there was no Winter Farmer's Market inside the museum.  This Saturday, January 7 from 10:00 to 3:00 the market returns.

As before, the museum will be open free to the public on Saturday, so you can shop and visit the museum at no charge.

You won't find fresh tomatoes or sweet corn at this Winter Farmer's Market, but you will find maple syrup, honey, jams and jellies and an assortment of breads and baked goods.  Glory Farms even has a basket of squirrel corn for sale.


Open Free today for tours and Winter Farmer's Market

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Marcus Mote on Antiques Roadshow

Last Sunday PBS's "Antique Road Show" began their 16th season with a show from Tulsa, OK.  That show featured a painting of two twin boys by noted 19th century Ohio artist, Marcus Mote.

Monday we received an email from a gentleman who thought he might have a Marcus Mote painting.  He sent us an email of the painting high lighting the signature and we were able to disclaim it as a Marcus Mote. Below is a picture of Marcus Mote's signature on a still life painting of grapes.

An authentic signature by Marcus Mote
Marcus Mote was born into a Quaker family in 1817 near Waynesville, OH. He was a self taught artist who, as a child, made his own paints and drawing materials from charcoal and natural plant dyes.  His local Quaker Meeting did not believe in drawing and painting and threatened to kick Marcus out of their church. Fortunately his family was able to convince the church of their son's God given talent and his art career blossomed.

The Warren County History Center has an excellent collection of Marcus Mote paintings, including some of his best portraits.  Glendower Historic Mansion also exhibits several Marcus Mote paintings including a beautiful portrait of Thomas Corwin's daughter Evelyn Corwin Sage (pictured below)


Glendower Update

Glendower had a great Christmas season. All together we were open 13 days and logged in a little more than 500 visitors. That is about 40 visitors a day average and considering we were open five hours each day and the guided tour is an hour long, no wonder the tour guides were always busy! Many thanks to all the volunteers who conducted tours and to the many volunteer musicians who provided musical entertainment. Special thanks to Abby Davey for finding and scheduling such wonderful volunteer  musicians. We so very much appreciate their time and effort during the busy holiday season.

The dining room decorations were inspired by the glass pieces on the mantel.

The log book reports visitors from as far away as Washington state in the west and Rhode Island in the east. A good many people came from Columbus and north - Ohio in general, but we also had a good number from Kentucky and Indiana.  When we asked folks how they found us, mostly they mentioned our web site.  The curators will be busy putting away the decorations this week, so enjoy this few pictures and if you  missed us this Christmas we re-open June 6th.

The library decorations were inspired by peacock feathers.

Peacocks and Red Berries on the front door.
Although Glendower is closed for the season until June, tours are available all winter and spring for groups of 20 or more at $5.00 per person. Reservations must be prepaid and should be made at least two weeks in advance. Call us at 513-932-1817 to book your tour.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Homage to Tecumseh

Happy New Year!  We start the 200th anniversary year of the War of 1812 with a quote from the great Shawnee Chief Tecumseh provided us by our member and volunteer, Liz Grauwelman:

"Give Thanks. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself."

Liz is an active member of both the Warren County Historical Society and the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is a docent at Glendower Historic Mansion where she plays Lucy Boake. She also plays Lucy at our "Lantern Light Cemetery Tours and she is also a Civil War Re-enactor.

Liz as Lucy Boake and her son Nate as Rigdon Williams at the "Lantern Light Cemetery Tour".