Ohio Memory Project Press Release

April 14, 2003

OHIO DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY PARTICIPATES IN OHIO MEMORY PROJECT
Digital Versions of Historical Documents and Artifacts Available on Internet

Columbus, Ohio – Historical collections from Ohio Dominican University Library have been added to the Ohio Memory Online Scrapbook, available at http://www.ohiomemory.org. The Ohio Memory Project, which is administered by the Ohio Historical Society, was begun in June 2000. A second phase of the project was launched in October 2002.

The online scrapbook brings together primary source materials from more than 320 archives, historical societies, libraries, and museums around the state. Included are letters, diaries, government records, artwork, clothing, furniture, natural history specimens, and prehistoric artifacts. The scrapbook provides convenient access to historical collections that document state and local history. It contains more than 2,200 collections, which total more than 19,000 images.

Users can search or browse by institution name, resource type, title, subject, creator, or place. A noteworthy feature of the Ohio Memory web site is "My Scrapbook," which allows users to store favorite items and add captions or notes, and then share with others.

Items submitted for Phase 2 by Ohio Dominican include a book and letter written by, and a photograph of, Anne O’Hare McCormick (1880-1954), an alumna of the St. Mary’s of the Springs Academy and recipient of an honorary degree from Ohio Dominican. McCormick was a New York Times columnist during World War II, became the first woman on the Times’ editorial board, and earned a Pulitzer Prize in journalism. Also included in the submission are photographs of Mary Teeter Zimmerman (1905-1991), who was a librarian at Bexley Public Library, taught library classes at Ohio Dominican, and received numerous local honors. Both women generously donated their book collections to the library at Ohio Dominican. These collections join those Ohio Dominican submitted during the first phase of the project, which included three articles pre-dating 1903 from the Catholic Columbian, the official newspaper of the diocese of Columbus now called the Catholic Times.

The Ohio Memory Project is a cooperative effort supported by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the State Library of Ohio, the Ohio Bicentennial Commission, OhioLINK (the library consortium for higher education), the Ohio Public Library Information Network, INFOhio (the library network for K-12 schools), the Ohio Library Council, and the Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board.

"Ohio Memory is a valuable resource for students and teachers as well as the general public," Ohio Memory Project Manager Angela O'Neal says, “it is the only place on the Web where users can view collections from more than 300 Ohio cultural institutions.”

Historian Andrew Cayton, author of the new book Ohio: The History of a People, says "this project is a terrific example of the enduring legacy of the Ohio bicentennial celebration. Thousands of citizens will be using this virtual scrapbook of the state’s history long after the birthday revelries have themselves become parts of Ohio’s past.”