Columbus Historical Society

05/29/2026

The Southern Theatre was built in 1896 and is the oldest surviving theatre in central Ohio.s
From CAPA - Columbus Association for the Performing Arts. Read more about the Southern Theatre's history at: https://www.capa.com/venues/detail/southern-theatre

05/28/2026

Check out our May newsletter! 💐
▶ https://mailchi.mp/e837dadc7d9c/whats-new-at-chs-may2026

05/27/2026

"In 1906, Daqueen Tao became Ohio State’s first student from China. He arrived as part of a nationwide influx of students who came to study in the U.S. at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Four years later Tao added another first, when he became the first Chinese student to obtain a BA from Ohio State in June 1910."

"While details about Tao’s experience are scarce, records show he was an early leader of the Ohio State chapter of the Cosmopolitan Club, a national organization with a mission of developing friendly relations between foreign and U.S. students. He was elected assistant treasurer and served on the board of directors of Ohio State’s chapter in 1907, and represented Ohio State to ratify the Cosmopolitan Club’s national constitution with seven other universities. Besides Tao, there were 103 Chinese students who attended Ohio State between 1906 and 1928. They included Morgan Gen Louis, the first Chinese student to receive an Ohio State PhD in 1919 (in economics), and Frank Benjamin Dun, the first Chinese student to receive a master’s degree—an MS in electrical engineering in 1915."

Want to learn more about Chinese-American history with OSU? Then check out the rest of this article from Ohio State: https://carmencollection.osu.edu/story/creating-international-gateways

05/26/2026

Own a Piece of Historic Franklinton!

As long as supplies last, you can purchase a paving brick engraved with your name that was part of historic Engine House #6, a Columbus firehouse that proudly served Central Ohio’s first settlement for almost 75 years.

As part of the reconstruction process, these engraved pavers will be reinstalled in the pavement on the Broad Street entrance or the West Side entrance, forever commemorating your contribution to restoring one of the city’s first firehouses, which will become the permanent home and museum of the Columbus Historical Society!

Bricks will be professionally engraved with up to two lines of text.

Purchase a brick today! https://www.columbushistory.org/enginehousepaverprogram

05/25/2026

On this day in 1977. ✨

05/22/2026

“Workers at the Rarig Engineering Company plant, Columbus, Ohio, 1907. The company built steam engines, steam boilers, and other steel and iron structures for civilian and military uses.”

📷 Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 06-135, Science Service Records, Image No. SIA2015-004749

https://www.si.edu/object/rarig-engineering-company-workers-columbus-ohio:siris_arc_386900

05/21/2026

"In April 1842, the famed author Charles Dickens visited Columbus during his five-month tour of North America. Dickens had arrived in Boston on January 22, accompanied by his wife Catherine and her maid, Anne Brown. The traveling party grew to four when Dickens hired George Washington Putnam as his secretary, assigning him the task of making the necessary arrangements for lodging and transportation by boat, rail, and coach."

"Born in 1812, the same year Columbus was founded as Ohio’s capital, Dickens was only 30, but was well known on both sides of the Atlantic, having published The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, and other works between 1836 and 1841. During his travels, he kept a chronological record of his observations on American society and institutions. These observations were published in American Notes for General Circulation upon his return to England."

Read the full article by Jim Tootle in our monthly newsletter!
▶ https://mailchi.mp/1f8e6789d121/whats-new-at-chs-april2026

05/20/2026

"In 1939 he (Takashi “Halo” Hirose) was selected for the US team that toured South America. He was a shoe-in for the 1940 Olympic team, but his and Sakamoto’s dreams were dashed by cancellation of the Games. It was a small consolation that he, along with his Maui teammates Keo Nakama and Fujiko Katsutani were selected for the USA’s Olympic Swimming Teams that never got to compete in 1940."

"After winning the US National 100m title in 1941 came Pearl Harbor and once Japanese Americans were permitted, he volunteered to fight in Europe as a member of the 442nd “Nisei” Regimental Combat Team. On the battlefield he gained almost as many honors as he had in swimming events in Hawaii, the USA, South America, Germany, Austria and Hungary. A member of a machine gun platoon through some of the heaviest fighting in France and Italy, Hirose received five battle stars, the combat infantry badge and a Presidential Unit Citation. In November of 1944, he contracted “trench foot” during deployment in France and was paralyzed from the hips down. It was feared that he might lose his feet."

Read more about Takashi “Halo” Hirose, the first Japanese American to represent the United States in an international swimming competition, WWII veteran, and Ohio State graduate in this 2017 article from Swimming World!

Japanese-American swimmer Takashi "Halo" Hirose has been elected to the 2017 ISHOF Hall of Fame class.

05/19/2026

"This Worthington neighborhood consists of 49 homes, designed and built in the 1950s in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright. The first house established in Rush Creek Village was for the Wakefield family. The Wakefields had originally wanted Frank Lloyd Wright to design their home, but they instead opted to work with a local architect to design and build their dream property."

From the Columbus Navigator:

Discover Ohio’s stunning Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired neighborhood, hidden just off High Street in

05/15/2026

Some of the things you could do in 1946 include get a leisurely drink at the Chittenden Hotel’s Oasis bar and balloon room, see the Achbar Grotto Circus at Memorial Hall or the Columbus Philharmonic Orchestra, visit the Southern Theater to see “Abbott and Costello in Hollywood", or catch a lecture titled “Report on Europe” by John Scott at Erskine Hall on the campus of the College of St. Mary on the Springs. This item was generously donated to CHS by the Granville Historical Society.

05/14/2026

From our friends at the Columbus Metropolitan Library:

"On April 7, 1968, a memorial was held for slain Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated only three days before on April 4th. Part of a nationally proclaimed day of mourning, the service was a massive collaborative effort sponsored by local government, church groups, labor unions, and civil rights organizations, to provide a peaceful service amongst the grief and anger over the assassination of King that erupted throughout the country. The memorial attracted between 5,000-7,000 attendees for a peaceful remembrance featuring local civil rights leaders who spoke at the event including Rev. Phale D. Hale, CMACAO Director Curtis Brooks, Jose Renteria of CORE and Columbus Mayor Jack Sensenbrenner. Clifford Tyree, Director of Columbus City Community Relations, acted as master of ceremonies."

Read the full article by David Barnes in our April Newsletter ➡️
https://mailchi.mp/1f8e6789d121/whats-new-at-chs-april2026

📷 This image is from the April 7, 1968 Columbus Call and Post and can be found on the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s My History.

See more about this image: https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/kingarts/id/14017/rec/8