COLUMBUS, OH – Ohio History Connection manuscript archivists at the Ohio History Center are making progress on an extensive project to make the Warren G. Harding collections stored at the museum more visible, accessible and usable for those interested in researching the 29th President of the United States.
The work began in summer 2021 in correlation with the 100th anniversaries of Harding’s election to the presidency in 1920 and his inauguration in 1921. Funded by a major grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the archivists are updating he collections’ archival finding aids and ensuring the physical longevity of the collections themselves.
The project is entering its last six months, with records create online for 641 of the 909 boxes of manuscripts, as well as 553 being cataloged with subject headings. All 11 film reels containing more than five combined hours of footage of President Harding, as well as all 65 boxes of photographs and images relating to him, have been reprocessed and added to the organization’s online catalog.
Online records may be accessed at aspace.ohiohistory.org/repositories/2/resources/30226 and aspace.ohiohistory.org/repositories/2/resources/23420.
All 909 manuscript boxes and 65 photograph boxes have been rehoused in new archival-quality containers that will protect the Harding materials for many years to come.
In April 2022, former intern and recent Master of Library and Information Science graduate David McDevitt became the project’s new archivist, though the first archivist, Wendy Korwin, continues to contribute. An intern, Caroline Somerson, also was hired in fall 2022.
“Wendy’s work has been essential in building out this project, and Caroline has been a welcome boost to our team’s efforts in cataloging the Harding manuscripts,” McDevitt said.
Project updates will be posted on the Ohio History Blog at ohiohistory.org/research/blogs-and-publications/blogroll or the Ohio History Connection social media accounts. Upcoming blog topics include the Annual Easter Egg Roll at the Harding White House, coal shortages in Lowell, Massachusetts, and gifts Harding received during his 1923 “Voyage of Understanding” to the Western U.S.
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About the Ohio History Connection:
The Ohio History Connection, formerly the Ohio Historical Society, is a statewide history organization with the mission to spark discovery of Ohio’s stories. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization chartered in 1885, the Ohio History Connection carries out history services for Ohio and its citizens focused on preserving and sharing the state’s history. This includes housing the State Historic Preservation Office, the official state archives and the Community Engagement Department and managing more than 50 sites and museums across Ohio. For more information, go to ohiohistory.org. The Greater Columbus Arts Council provides support for Ohio History Connection programs.
