STATEHOOD DAY MARCH 1, 2021
Strengthening Ohio Through Heritage
AGENDA
STATEHOOD DAY IS HOSTED BY:
Opening remarks and review of Statehood Day legislative priorities Live panel discussion “The Power of History During Historic Times” featuring: • Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, president of the Congressional Black Caucus
ollowing the end of the American Revolution, the newly formed government had to decide what to do with the Northwest Territory; a large body of unsettled land that encompassed what are now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 1, one of the most important documents in American history, established not only how the territory was to be governed, but also the procedures under which sections of the territory could obtain full statehood. Those included: the territory being ruled by a governor, a secretary and three judges appointed by Congress to perform the executive, legislative and judicial functions of government; the formation of a house of representatives; and the approval of a state constitution. Once completed, the territory could apply to the federal government for statehood.
• Jane Campbell, president & CEO of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society in DC (former Cleveland mayor and Ohio state rep) • Christie Weininger, executive director of the Hayes Presidential Museums & Library • Moderator: Ben Garcia, Ohio History Connection Deputy Director Presentation of the Ohio History Leadership Award • State Senator Stephanie Kunze (R-Hilliard) • State Senator Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland)
CONTENTS The Brief History of Ohio Statehood
4 Ohio History Leadership Award Recipient 5 “The Power of History During Historic Times” Panel 8
2021 Legislative Priorities
Ohio Statehood F
• Chancellor Randy Gardner
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THE BRIEF STORY OF
Statehood Day is a joint effort among the Ohio History Connection, Ohio Museums Association, Heritage Ohio, the Ohio Academy of History, the Ohio Archaeological Council, the Ohio Local History Alliance, the Ohio Travel Association, the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, Ohio Humanities, Preservation Ohio, the Ohio Genealogical Society, the Ohio Council for Social Studies, Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board and the Society of Ohio Archivists.
With criteria in place, and amid a flurry of westward expansion as statehood-seeking settlers poured into Ohio, the process accelerated—but not without controversy. Ohio’s boundaries are well known today, but in the early 1800s, they were a hotly debated issue, fueled by politics and personalities. Territorial governor Arthur St. Clair led one faction that sought to divide the state and delay statehood indefinitely, making Cincinnati and Marietta the permanent centers of government for the Ohio territory. Statehood supporter Thomas Worthington led another group,
the Democratic Republicans, who sought greater congressional power and representation, thus requiring the creation of a state. Called “the father of Ohio statehood,” Worthington urged Congress to keep the divisions set forth in the Northwest Ordinance and reject St. Clair’s plan. In 1800, Congress agreed with Worthington’s group. That same year, Ohio’s population reached about 45,000. The total was less than the 60,000 required by the Northwest Ordinance before a territory could apply for statehood but Worthington and other Ohio leaders, certain that the continual migration of settlers into the state would soon bring population numbers to 60,000, moved quickly to secure a state constitution. In April 1802, President Thomas Jefferson signed into law the Enabling Act, which “enabled” the territory to become a state. It established the state boundaries and gave its people the right to establish a constitution. Ohio’s first constitutional convention convened in the Ross County Courthouse in Chillicothe in November 1802. Thirty-five men required 29 days to write Ohio’s constitution. It was approved by delegates by a vote of 32–1. The lone dissenter was Ephraim Cutler, a rabid Federalist from Marietta who despised Thomas Worthington’s Republican rabble. The constitution set the first state election for January 1803. Worthington was chosen to hand-deliver the constitution to Congress. After a three-week journey, he arrived Dec. 22, 1802 in Washington, D.C., where he met with Jefferson before delivering the document to Congress. Ohio’s constitution was approved by Congress, and then signed by President Jefferson on February 19, 1803. By this time, the January elections had been held, with the mild-mannered doctor and legislator Edward Tiffin—Worthington’s brother-in-law—elected governor. Official “state” business was conducted for the first time on March 1, 1803, when Tiffin and members of the first Ohio General Assembly convened in Chillicothe.
The Ordinance of 1787 was also known as the Freedom Ordinance because for the first time slavery would be prohibited from an entire American region. The states of the Midwest would be known as free states, distinctly separate from the slave states south of the Ohio River. 1
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Senator Stephanie Kunze (R-Hilliard) Senator Stephanie Kunze is serving her second term in the Ohio Senate representing the people of the 16th Senate District on the western side of Franklin County including the cities of Dublin, Galloway, Grove City, Hilliard, Upper Arlington, Worthington and portions of Clintonville and Columbus. Prior to her election to the Ohio Senate, she served two terms in the Ohio House of Representatives. She was also previously a member of the Hilliard City Council, a position to which she was first elected in 2009.
OHIO HISTORY LEADERSHIP
Award Recipients Senator Sandra Williams teamed up with Senator Stephanie Kunze to introduce legislation (Senate Bill 30) that created the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission, which Governor Mike DeWine signed into law on April 24, 2019. Ohio ratified the 19th Amendment giving most women the right to vote on June 16, 1919. Nationally, the law was approved when the 36th state adopted the Amendment on August 18, 1920. Subsequently, women voted for president for the first time in 1920 when two Ohioans were vying for office—Warren Harding and James Cox.
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THE POWER OF HISTORY DURING
Historic Times LIVE PANEL DISCUSSION
PANELISTS
Senator Kunze is the chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee and as a member of the Senate Financial Institutions & Technology; Insurance; Local Government & Elections and Rules & Reference Committees. Senator Kunze graduated with a degree in English from Indiana University.
Senator Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland) Senator Sandra Williams is a native of Cleveland, where she attended Cleveland Public Schools. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Cleveland State University in Political Science with a minor in Criminal Justice, a Master’s in Criminal Justice Administration from Tiffin University, and an Executive Master’s in Business Administration from Cleveland State University. She is also the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Tiffin University. Senator Williams serves as a ranking member on the Public Utilities, Higher Education and Ways and Means Committees as well as Vice Chair on the Finance Subcommittee on Higher Education. She is the former President of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus. Senator Williams has spent more than two decades in public service—as a corrections officer, probation and parole officer, mediator for the State of Ohio, legislative aide, and State Representative. She also served our country as a member of the United States Army Reserve and was honorably discharged in 1995.
U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty MODERATOR
Ben Garcia Deputy Executive Director & Chief Learning Officer, Ohio History Connection Ben Garcia is Deputy Executive Director and Chief Learning Officer at the Ohio History Connection where he leads strategic initiatives and supports six divisions. Ben’s prior museum experience includes tenures in the Education Departments of the J. Paul Getty Museum and Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. He served as Head of Interpretation and Operations at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley and as Deputy Director at the Museum of Us in San Diego. Ben holds a MS Ed. in Museum Leadership from Bank Street College and a BA in Art History from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He serves on the boards of Equality Ohio and the Association of Midwestern Museums.
President of the Congressional Black Caucus U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty (D-Columbus) has represented Ohio’s 3rd Congressional District since 2013. She recently became the Chair of the powerful Congressional Black Caucus. Prior to her service in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congresswoman Beatty was Senior Vice President of Outreach and Engagement at The Ohio State University and a member in the Ohio House of Representatives for five terms. During her tenure in the Ohio House, she rose to become the first female Democratic House Leader in Ohio’s history. Congresswoman Beatty received her Bachelor of Arts from Central State University, her Master of Science from Wright State University, and completed all requirements but her dissertation for a doctorate at the University of Cincinnati. She has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Ohio Dominican University and Central State University, as well as an honorary juris doctor from Capital University Law School.
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PANELISTS CONTINUED
Chancellor Randy Gardner Ohio Department of Higher Education Randy Gardner was appointed by Governor Mike DeWine as the 10th Chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education in January 2019. As Chancellor, he oversees Ohio’s two-year and four-year colleges and universities and Ohio Technical Centers. He provides policy guidance to the governor and Ohio General Assembly and carries out state higher education policy. Randy taught history and government before beginning his long career in public service. He served in the Ohio Senate and Ohio House for a combined 33 years where he maintained a 100% voting record before becoming Chancellor. Randy was the first recipient of the Ohio History Leadership Award in 2014 in recognition of his leadership in sponsoring legislation that created the Ohio History Fund tax check-off program that has led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in competitive matching grants in support of history-related projects across Ohio. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education as well as a master’s degree in political science from Bowling Green State University. He and his family live in Bowling Green.
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Jane Campbell
Christie Weininger
President & CEO of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society in DC (former Cleveland mayor and Ohio state rep)
Executive Director, Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums
Jane Campbell has served as the president and CEO of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society since February 2019. Created in 1962, the U.S. Capitol Historical Society is a nonprofit and nonpartisan educational organization dedicated to promoting the history of the U.S. Capitol and Congress. Jane is the former mayor of Cleveland (2002-2006). Her public service career also includes serving five years as Cuyahoga county commissioner and six terms in the Ohio House of Representatives. Her public service focused on economic development, fiscal stability, child welfare, and health and human services policy. She established Ohio’s first Brownfield Loan program and carried the legislation to finance both Cleveland sports stadiums. Ms. Campbell also served as chief of staff to former Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, leading efforts to recover from both Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf oil spill and serving as the Senator’s principal advisor on health care. She also served as Staff Director for the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, where she directed policy to support small businesses’ access to capital, federal contracting opportunities, business counseling, and engagement in international trade.
Christie M. Weininger has served since 2012 as the executive director of the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums in Fremont, Ohio. In 1995, she graduated from Otterbein University with an undergraduate degree in history. While at Otterbein, she volunteered in the college archives and completed internships with the Ohio History Connection, the Motorcycle Heritage Museum and the Plymouth Area Historical Society. She also spent a semester abroad at Roehampton Institute in Wimbledon, England, where studying “local history” meant working with documents that were 600 years old. Christie earned her master’s degree in history from the University of Toledo in 2004. Her thesis was entitled “Finding Common Ground: The Use of Memories in the Creation of Community Identity.” Christie was the director of the Wood County Museum in Bowling Green for nine years and spent seven years as director/ curator of the Wyandot County Museum, Upper Sandusky. Christie is a past president of the Ohio Local History Alliance and chaired that organization’s Advocacy Committee. She also served the Ohio Academy of History as chair of the Public History Committee. She teaches Ohio History and Public History at Heidelberg University in Tiffin.
View from Adena Mansion & Gardens that inspired the Seal of Ohio
Ohio lacks almost nothing except an instantly recognizable symbol – perhaps because Ohio is not one thing but all things American, not distinctly north, south, east, or west, but some of each.” Ohio, The Spirit of America, Diana Landau
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2021
Legislative Priorities Strengthening Ohio Through Heritage
Support Ohio history and hard-hit tourism and cultural industries in the state’s FY 2022-23 operating budget An investment in historic preservation, arts, culture, history and tourism is an investment in local economies, quality of life and Ohio’s future citizens. The state’s two-year operating budget was introduced one month ago and must be approved by July 1. Driven by the global pandemic and economic uncertainty, Governor DeWine’s proposed budget contains many forward-looking provisions that will help accelerate Ohio’s recovery by boosting our hard-hit tourism and cultural industries. Some strong budget opportunities: •G overnor DeWine proposed nearly $13 million annually for the Ohio History Connection, the state’s nonprofit partner in preserving and sharing history.
Ohio’s nonprofit cultural organizations work together with travel and hospitality businesses to drive the Ohio economy. Yet the pandemic has been devastating to visitor spending and resulted in economic hardships. Ohio’s cultural organizations and our travel industry is faced with a 22% unemployment rate and more than $12 billion in lost revenues. Ohio is home to hundreds of local museums and historic sites in both urban and rural settings that have been forced to close their doors, some forever. Simply surviving or returning to pre-COVID conditions is not an option. Ohio now has the opportunity in the next two years to look forward and ensure Ohio comes back stronger than ever. « Request: Support investment in Ohio’s local economies, quality of life and our future by supporting Ohio history and the state’s cultural industries in the state’s FY 2022–23 budget.
Create a Task Force to Study How to Better Protect Human Burial Grounds
Establish an Ohio initiative for the upcoming America 250 commemoration
Ohio contains thousands of abandoned and inactive cemeteries and many thousands more unmarked burial grounds thousands of years old. These places must be treated with dignity and respect regardless of who is buried in them or how long ago they were buried. In Ohio, many of these places are being needlessly lost because of neglect and destruction, and state law protecting these burial grounds is among the weakest in the nation.
The year 2026 will mark the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding. A national effort to mark the occasion is underway with important themes aimed at strengthening the vitality of the American experiment in democracy: to educate, engage and unite. America 250 will offer Americans and Ohioans the opportunity to reflect on the past, embrace the present and to move us toward a future that fulfills the ideals (realized and unrealized) of our nation’s founding—as Abraham Lincoln observed—striving together toward a more perfect Union.
Ohio’s weak laws and a lack of process have hampered efforts to preserve these places and respect the remains of those who came before us. Other Midwestern states like Wisconsin and Indiana have long since addressed these issues successfully. An Ohio Burial Grounds Law Task Force representing key interested parties is needed to adequately study the matter and make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly on how to better protect these sacred places.
« R equest: Through the leadership of Governor DeWine and the General Assembly, the State of Ohio should establish and support robust initiatives to tell the full, inclusive stories of our state and celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence. These initiatives should tell stories of Ohioans, by Ohioans and make full use of our state’s rich historical and cultural resources.
« R equest: Establish an Ohio Burial Grounds Law Task Force to develop recommendations to modify Ohio law relating to unmarked, inactive and abandoned burial grounds.
•G overnor DeWine allocated $25 million each year to fund a national marketing campaign promoting Ohio to drive visitor spending and investments in Ohio. •T he current budget also proposes $150 million annually to help lodging, indoor entertainment venues, bars and restaurants hit hardest by the pandemic. •A dditional investments in organizations, including Ohio Humanities (for COVID relief), Ohio’s Main Street programs (through Heritage Ohio), TourismOhio, the Ohio Arts Council and other agencies can strengthen Ohio’s communities through local arts, tourism and cultural sectors. 8
If I were giving a young man advice on how he might succeed in life, I would say to him, ‘pick out a good father and mother, and begin life in Ohio.’” Wilbur Wright 9
LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES CONTINUED
Support legislation to add Poindexter Village as the state’s newest addition to the Ohio History Connection site network Sen. Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus) and Rep. Dontavius Jarrells (D-Columbus) have introduced legislation to officially include the two remaining buildings from Poindexter Village on Columbus’ Near East Side in the Ohio History Connection network of historic sites and museums. Senate Bill 31 (Sen. Craig) and House Bill No. 114 (Rep. Jarrells) are identical. The Ohio Senate passed legislation unanimously in November of 2019, but it was not taken up by the House in 2020 following the COVID pandemic period. The two buildings are original to the Poindexter Village housing development, built in 1940 and dedicated by President Franklin Roosevelt. It was the first public housing project in Columbus and the second in the nation. The two remaining buildings represent a vitally important part of both American and Ohio history— they represent the stories of the Great Migration of Black Americans who moved north in the early 1900s to mid-1900s seeking economic opportunity as well as the story of public housing
Oh shoot! My taxes are due.
Continue to Support the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit The Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit has been critical to the redevelopment of Main Street communities and cities across Ohio into vibrant places that attract and retain our young people, talent and entrepreneurs by rehabilitating our historic buildings. Vacant and underutilized buildings are converted to revenue generating, tax paying assets. Besides attracting people, businesses and jobs to Ohio, the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit drives heritage tourism by offering unique and some of the most interesting destinations in the country.
GIVE TO THE
Ohio History Fund
The tax credit program has a strong cost benefit analysis; a return on investment of approximately 6:1. One-third of the state’s investment comes back to the state before the credit is even taken. Since 2007, 433 buildings have been rehabilitated in 57 communities, resulting in $4.45 billion in total investment.
ON YOUR
State Tax Return.
« R equest: Continue to support the successful Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit.
« Request: Urge support of Senate Bill 31 and House Bill No. 114.
An easy way to support your community! Your donation funds local history grants in Ohio.
A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.”
ohiohistory.org/historyfund
Robert Anson Heinlein 10
Learn about Annie Oakley at garstmuseum.org