Unsurprisingly, that complicated question is closely connected to the Ohio History Connection’s organizational history.

The Ohio History Connection was established as the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society in 1885 (Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society [OSAHS] 1887a). Very soon afterward, the Society began acquiring objects for an Ohio archaeology collection in a public museum space in the Ohio Statehouse. At the first annual meeting, the Society reported that “in the [museum] cases now are Dr. Hart’s collection, some three thousand specimens, donated in September, 1885; the collection of Ohio State University, and a number of smaller donations, aggregating in all some five thousand specimens” (OSAHS 1887b:293). These are the earliest collections, managed by the Society’s secretary, Albert A. Graham. According to later accounts, Graham kept track of some of the objects by labeling them, but if he kept a catalog, it likely has not been preserved.

In the first known catalogs, objects and object lots (groups of objects) were recorded in handwritten ledgers. Two ledgers date to this time: objects and lots were given catalog numbers from 1 to 27,270 from one ledger and 1 to 24,025 from the other. The date, source, and donor were variably reported with each entry. The earliest entries reflect Moorehead’s attempts to catch up on a decade of collecting with little documentation, where often the only data he could associate with an object was his classification, resulting in entries such as “Pottery” and “Arrowhead.” However, later entries included slightly more data, such as entry 13,555 from Ledger 2: “Arrowhead, Rome, Adams Co, Ohio, 1896.” Although this record does not meet today’s cataloging standards, it reflects a distinct shift in cataloging practices toward a data-driven approach.

Of course, cataloging cannot be “completed” as long as an institution continues collecting. The earliest catalogs compiled by Moorehead, Loveberry, and Allen were foundational to recording and maintaining the Society’s collections and reflect museum practices characteristic of the late 19^th century. However, new systems and approaches quickly emerged, and cataloging at the Society evolved dramatically in the following years under the direction of the next curator, William C. Mills.

These original ledgers were used intermittently in the following years while objects were recataloged into a new cataloging system. Inventory marks show that curators used the ledgers throughout the 20^th century to care for objects that remained cataloged in the old system. Many of these objects still have the ledgers’ catalog number written on them and updated catalog records retain the data from the original ledgers. Today, these ledgers have been fully digitized and are retained in archival housing for reference. Understanding and learning from these early practices are vital to caring for the archaeological collections at the Ohio History Connection.