Calls for Collections

Our collections enable people to discover their place in historical events. While we have collected and continue to preserve items spanning thousands of years of human history, we also recognize the importance of collecting and documenting the history we are making today, and filling gaps in the collections to better represent all Ohioans. This page documents our past and current calls for collections.

Considering recent events surrounding the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the ensuing protests around the globe, we must ask ourselves what can I do, or more poignantly, what should I do? Ohio history makes it clear that current civil rights struggles are directly related to the broader legacy of slavery, racism and discrimination, and even white supremacy.

At Ohio History Connection, we want to offer our skills to you to document and preserve this moment in Ohio's civil rights legacy. If you would like to donate related objects, papers, or photographs to our collections, or if you would like guidelines for historic preservation at home, please send us a message by visiting our Contact Us page and selecting "Collections" from the drop-down menu.

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In August 2020, the 19th Amendment will be 100 years old. This Amendment made it illegal to discriminate against voters on the basis of sex and allowed many women to vote for the first time.

To commemorate this anniversary, the Ohio History Connection is issuing a call for donations documenting all Ohio women's activism--past and present. Items of interest might include:

  • Letters and diaries
  • Organizational records
  • Photographs and video recordings
  • Banners and buttons
  • Clothing
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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to develop, we're collecting items documenting Ohioans' response to COVID-19 and attempts to limit its spread. These pieces will help us and future Ohioans to understand this extraordinary time in our history. As Ohio's public history organization, the stories you share with us will help us understand the day-to-day impacts of this pandemic.

What types of items are you seeking?

  • Documents including letters from friends and family, flyers advertising aid, creative online lesson plans, communications about resources from neighborhood associations, etc.
  • Photographs depicting empty store shelves, unique things you did while social distancing, etc. – please include information about the scene, including date, location and photographer
  • Objects such as Ohio-made products aiding in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, unique items that speak to social distancing, etc.

These items may relate to:

  • Gathering restrictions and the way they have reshaped how we learn, work and socialize
  • The role of medical professionals and first responders throughout Ohio who are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Effects of the pandemic on local businesses
  • Impact of school and childcare closings on family life and student activities
  • Experiences of people diagnosed with COVID-19 and/or their caregivers
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Help us by contributing your digital content

We're looking to collect digital stories, images, videos, blog posts, websites or other digital content that demonstrates the impact of COVID-19 on Ohioans.

Tell us your story, or consider what digital items best represent the experiences and observations that stand out to you most. Share a personal reflection or story that relates to these prompts:

  • How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed your daily life?
  • Are you a medical professional or first responder? Share how this pandemic has affected you.
  • Share how COVID-19 has impacted your business or businesses in your community.
  • It's normal to feel anxiety and uncertainty during this time. How have you coped with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic?
  • How has your family and/or your community coped with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic together?

If you are interested in donating documents, photographs, objects or other materials to our permanent museum and archives collections, see our Donation Guide for more information about the materials we are accepting and how to contact us.

Contributing to this community collection doesn't guarantee that our organization will permanently or temporarily preserve your submission. Still, we may consider some of this material for our permanent collections.

Please do not submit medical records, including therapist and counseling records, or case records from social workers, school records, case files and other privileged records from lawyers, personnel files kept by an employer, and court records. There are restrictions and requirements for Ohio History Connection's use, publication and retention of such records.

Before submitting content through our form, please review these Contribution Guidelines and Terms.

What items have we collected recently?

Gloria Steinem Papers

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In November of 2019, Ohio History Connection acquired a set of papers related to Gloria Steinem. Of particular interest is:

  • A copy of Steinem's famous Living the Revolution speech with handwritten editing notes.
  • A school paper written by Susanne (Gloria's older sister) in 1941. She writes of the Steinem family, including her sister Gloria whom she loved very much.
  • A 1956 letter in which Gloria discusses a recent breakup, her career aspirations, and her indecision about a haircut.

You don't have to play one role in this revolutionary age above all others. If you're willing to pay the price for it, you can do anything you want to do. And the price is worth it.

-Gloria Steinem, Living the Revolution, 1970

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Mary Stuart Andrews

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In 2017, Ohio History Connection purchased a collection of Women's Suffrage items originally belonging to Mary Stuart Andrews of Warren, Ohio. You can learn more and watch us unbox the collection here.

I thank the camera friend most cordially, for the glimpse of the familiar figures of Headquarters, and all put up in such neat and attractive style. I like best the two views of the three girls, all smiling, as though they liked each other and liked the work, and liked the big, big world too. Long may they continue to smile - and to work...

-Carrie Chapman Catt to Mary Stuart Andrews, 1920

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Women's March

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In 2017, we collected items (like the signs seen in this image) from women who attended the Women's March.

In 2019, we sat down with Rhiannon Childs, Women's March Ohio leader, to talk about her experiences. Check out her oral history here.

"I just raised my hand..."- Rhiannon Childs, 2019

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Oral Histories

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Speaking of oral histories, we sat down with a handful of activists and recorded their stories to get the Ohio women's activism collecting initiative started. Interested in preserving your story but not ready to donate? Oral histories might be the option for you. Please contact [email protected] or 614.297.2535.

Check out these great oral histories:

"...[M]y idea of a feminist growing up was an angry woman, the bra-burning, screaming and yelling, man-hater. And I never really identified with that. But now...I say, 'Yeah, I'm a feminist,' because I'm all about empowering women and helping us to show ourselves as an equal sex… I think it's all in approach."

-Paula Haines, 2019

Catherine Harper

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In the summer of 2019, we received a donation of items originally belonging to Catherine Harper. Harper worked as an aide for State Senator Marigene Valiquette during the national push for an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the 1970s. This photo depicts the day the ERA was ratified in Ohio.

"Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." Section 1, Equal Rights Amendment

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Interested in Donating to our Collections?

Fill out the form below, and we will get right back to you!

 

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