B-329 by staff artist Joan Corbitt and B-330 were part of Antioch Publishing’s entry into a specialty market, and Antioch Publishing also offered coordinating products such as recipe albums, recipe cards and gift mini-cookbooks.
B-331 added to the collection of bookplates for the science fiction reader.
B-332 by Leesa Whitten and B-333 by Debbie Cook added to the ever-popular collection of cat illustrations.
The other three were all taken from children’s books popular that year. B-334 was taken from Tuesday by author/illustrator David Wiesner. B-335 came from Hans de Beer’s The Little Polar Bear. B-336 was based on an illustration by Patrick Lowry for The Amazing Adventures of Teddy Tum Tum written by Gillian Langham and Tony Breese.
Two events and an exhibit are taking place in Yellow Springs in honor of local black history.
The online Encyclopedia of Blacks in Yellow Springs will be the focus of a “Community Conversation” with Dr. Kevin McGruder at Antioch University Midwest at 11:30 am on Wednesday, February 27, sponsored by the James A. McKee Association.
On Thursday, February 28, at 6:30 pm in Room 113, McGregor Hall, Antioch College, there willk be a program of “Reflections on the Life of a Yellow Springs Philanthropist – Wheeling Gaunt’s Onyx Overview.”
Gaunt is also the focus of the exhibit in the front vestibule window of the Yellow Springs Community Library (at least through the end of February) highlighting the Wheeling Gaunt statue project.
Note: “telpehawkin” is currently unknown; “belleflower” is now known as “bellflower”.
The use to which the other out-buildings were put is indicated by their names. Each was located so as to be easily approached from the house or barn. The dryhouse, bakeoven, woodhouse, smokehouse, carriagehouse, and springhouse stood in a row at regular distances from each other, east of the residence and the front yard. The other buildings, being more particularly associated with stock and field work, were placed nearer the barn.
A large apple orchard was planted just north of our house. Father purchased the trees from one John Boswell in the year 1823, as is evidenced by his book account of the transaction. There were 100 seedling trees in all, and the price for the lot was $5.87. Being seedlings the fruit produced was just what each tree happened to bear, but much of it was good. There were many varieties, large and small – some sweet, some sour; some neither sweet nor sour. In later years grafting was resorted to as a means of improving the quality of the fruit and increasing the variety.
Grafting was done by cutting a scion from a tree bearing the fruit of the variety desired and inserting it in a branch of a limb of the seedling tree. (The process of grafting is fully explained in Webster’s unabridged dictionary). When a boy at home I did a great amount of this work. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the scions grow from year to year until they became branches large enough to blossom and produce fruit. By means of grafting a tree could be made to produce several varieties of fruit. I especially remember one tree in our old orchard which bore Siberian crabs, belleflower and a worthless seedling without name, the latter always in evidence to show its primitive right of possession. Some grafting was done in the spring of each year so that in my time the original stock of one-hundred hit and miss seedling trees were made to produce some of the best varieties of fruit on the market, namely, fall pippin, telpehawkin, belleflower, smith cider, winesap, &c.
In later years root-grafted trees were purchased from regular nurserymen, thus insuring trees that would reproduce the variety of fruit desired without regrafting. Now the youngster gets the benefit of the early harvest variety, an apple much appreciated when he has a craving for the forbidden green fruit. The early harvest apple was ready for the average boy’s chompers just as soon as a little shade of yellow on one side indicated approaching ripeness. In fact, the tasting process began much earlier – soon after the apple was out of the blossom, and was kept up at regular intervals until the “yaller” test gave full proof that it was surely ripe and ready to be eaten with impunity.
Of the seedling fruit of our old orchard I recall three varieties that no modern apple can duplicate in richness or delicacy of flavor. One was a small, sweet russet, which, when fully ripe, had a most delicious honey-like taste altogether different from the modern sweet russet. Another was a medium sized apple, pale red and green – the green starting from the stem as though it would form a stripe, but it soon merged into a moderately radish color on the body {this apple we called the wine apple (not the winesap, which is altogether different). Surely it was rightly named, for no wine, however sweet, could surpass it in delicacy of flavor. The third variety I have in mind we named “Neither sweet nor sour”, – these qualities being so harmoniously blended in juicy composition as to form a delightful compromise between the two extremes.
Long before the Yellow Springs Historical Society came into being, the Greene County Historical Society was serving the historical interests of the area, so we are pleased to celebrate their 90th birthday by sharing the history of this organization.
The Trebein-Flynn home is an elegant part of the Greene County Ohio Historical Society complex.
Greene County Historical Society is 90 Years Old
XENIA – In February 1929, about 100
Greene County residents met at the Greene County District Library to
organize an historical society. Dr. William Albert Galloway presided
over the meeting, partly because he was in charge of the historical
exhibit for the 1928 Home-Coming Committee. He spoke briefly of
highlights in Greene County history, and of the danger of losing such
a wealth of personal and general history unless it were collected by
organized effort. Following that initial meeting, the group met
bimonthly in various places, including the Courthouse and Shawnee
Park. Speakers presented lectures, further plans were made to
preserve county history, and schools were encouraged to include the
history of Greene County in curriculum materials.
In 1934, Miss Emma King donated a house
and lot at the corner of Second and Monroe Streets in Xenia to the
county commissioners for a museum. In response to this generosity,
the Greene County Museum Association was organized in April of that
year. In 1936, arrangements were made to move the Galloway log house
from its original location near Goes Station to that lot. During the
next few years, the group learned about museum management firsthand;
collecting and caring for artifacts and building maintenance were all
part of having a permanent home. Memberships were solicited to
further the work of the Society; the County Commissioners agreed to
fund the museum’s running expenses in 1935 “as the building had
been given to the County for museum programs.” The Greene County
Museum Association and Greene County Historical Society merged in
1953, the year of Ohio and Greene County’s 150th birthday
celebrations.
In time, the members felt that
additional property would be desirable, and through the donations of
two men, Charles Snediker of Fairborn and John Glossinger of New York
via Xenia, the property on West Church Street was acquired. The
William G. Moorehead house on the corner of North Detroit and West
Church held many artifacts. The Snediker Museum, named after its
donor, was a brick carriage house on the Moorehead property and
housed pioneer tools and implements. The John Glossinger Cultural
Center was used for meetings and contained the offices of the
Society. In 1965, the Galloway log house was removed to this location
from its former home at Second and Monroe St., and the four-building
complex was complete.
Things went as usual until the
afternoon of April 3, 1974. Of the four historical society buildings,
three were damaged beyond repair, with the log house the only
survivor. It received a temporary roof while artifacts and fixtures
were gathered and stored by volunteers until the Society could find
suitable storage during the rebuilding process. Storage facilities
ranged from an old warehouse in Yellow Springs, to Hooven &
Allison property, to members’ homes. There was no question about
rebuilding; many different options were considered. After much
thought, the membership voted to “trade” the city of Xenia a
portion of the property which was needed for widening Church St., in
order to purchase a house to replace the Moorehead & Glossinger
houses, and to rebuild the Galloway log house at its same location. A
grant was obtained for restoration of the log house, which became the
primary, immediate goal. During this time, membership meetings were
held in various places throughout the county, but none were missed.
The log house was reopened to the
public in December 1975. The Queen Anne house from the southeast
corner of Church and Detroit was moved to the corner of southwest
Church and King in 1977; The Paul Gertler Co. of Reynoldsburg OH did
the moving, which took two days and cost around $15,000. In 1990,
with donations and help from many, the Brantley Carriage House
Museum, a three-story brick building modeled after the old Snediker
carriage house, was erected behind the Town House. Presiding over the
dedication ceremony was Dr Norman Vincent Peale, formerly of
Bowersville. In fall 2009, the Galloway log house was restored at a
cost of nearly $30,000, replacing rotted logs and the cement chinking
from the 1974 rebuilding, and adding copper gutters and downspouts.
The Historical Society continues to preserve historical artifacts and documents in its three-building complex on West Church St., as well as its caboose on South Detroit St., which are open to county residents and visitors alike. Monthly meetings on a variety of topics welcome those who wish to attend, and annual memberships at a minimal cost are available for all age groups. Commemorative N and HO scale railroad cars with the 90th anniversary logo will be available also, at a cost of $25 each, to raise funds. For further information about the Greene County Ohio Historical Society or its programs, please contact them at 937-372-4606 or gchsxo@yahoo.com.
This request for leads to works by Gilbert Wilson is the next link in a chain that started locally with a request to Matt Minde at the Yellow Springs News, who passed it along to Connie Collett, head librarian of the Yellow Springs Library who forwarded it to the editor of this blog.
We have previously covered isolated works of Gilbert Wilson: 1) the bookplate based on his illustration here, and a series of small murals which sadly proved prohibitively expensive to restore and preserve here.
I’m publishing a biography of Gilbert Wilson, the artist who painted the murals at Antioch College. It’ll be released at the same time as an edition of Moby Dick illustrated by Wilson, in celebration of Herman Melville’s 200th birthday.
As
part of the process, we’ve been reaching out to communities where
Wilson lived and worked to find new pieces of art in order to both
catalogue them and, in some cases, include them in the books.
Scott
Sanders told me that he recently had a Wilson piece donated, so he
thinks there might, indeed, be more Wilson art in the community.
Wilson was known for just giving away his work.
The Terre Haute Tribune-Star recently wrote a couple of pieces (see here and here), and I’m wondering if you might help spread the word about our search? And more specifically, do you know if the library has anything that might be useful, such as photographs?
Researchers of local history and genealogy have a new data source. Thanks to the efforts of Yellow Springs Historical Society board member Jean Payne and others, the Miami Township Board of Trustees now has a burial search function on their website: https://www.miamitownship.net/burial-search/.
Cemeteries administered by Miami Township trustees and searchable include Clifton Cemetery (both old and new sections), Clifton-Union Cemetery, Glen Forest Cemetery (including the Scattering Grounds and Natural Burial Grounds) and Pleasant Grange Cemetery.
Ron Siemer, who was the photographer for the series of portraits currently on exhibit in the John Byran Comminty Center as part of “The Timeline Show: YS Theater Past to Present” exhibit, ” also contributed articles to the Xenia Daily Gazette as Arts Correspondent.
XENIA, OHIO, DAILY GAZETTE—Thursday,May
7, 1987
‘Radical Surgery’ hopes to revitalize
Antioch Amphitheater
By RON SIEMER
DAILY GAZETTE arts correspondent
Denny Partridge, Antioch Theater’s new boss and the physician in charge of restoring health to that ailing enterprise, has announced “Radical Surgery” as the first major operation in the revitalization of the Antioch Amphitheater.
At a press conference Tuesday, Partridge introduced the specialist — husband playwright Steve Friedman — who wrote “Radical Surgery,” a political-sexual farce involving a four-way brain transplant and rampant presidential assassination, which will launch the Amphitheater’s first season in 10 years with a five-day run, May 20-24.
“Radical Surgery” will be performed
by a student cast. Curtain time is 8 p.m. on each date. In case of
rain — always a contingency with outdoor theater — the dates will
move, Partridge said, rather than the play, since the play has been
produced for the outdoor theater.
RETURN TO OUTDOOR THEATER
“Everyone is excited about this show,” Partridge said, “not only because it’s a great new play, but because it’s bringing outdoor theater back to Antioch. Once again, outdoor theater will be a large part of the Antioch Theater focus.
“Outdoor theater is a great love of mine,” Partridge said. “And the students really love working here. One of the reasons for restoring the Amphitheater is that it’s such a great place to work.
“Outdoor theater is extremely
attractive to people,” she said, “especially to people in a
highly cultured, theater-conscious community like this. We’re hoping
the community will respond with as much enthusiasm as it did when we
started rebuilding the theater department last year.”
Denny Partridge took over as head of
the Antioch Theater Department in 1986, with the substantial chore of
breathing life into the department’s decaying, all-but-abandoned
program and facilities.
‘An energetic program of new theater
curriculum, a high-quality season of outstanding plays, and a
sleeves-up attack of the job of restoring the Antioch Theater’s
physical facilities has resulted in rebirth of the enterprise, which
had been revered as a vital and forward-looking entity in the
academic world and in area theater generally.
THEATER OF CLASSIC DESIGN
The Antioch Amphitheater itself, an
imposing, mostly-concrete structure built in 1961 and modeled after
the ancient Greek theater built at Epidaurus more than 2,500 years
ago, has loomed as an attractive but strangely abandoned edifice
hauntingly like the ancient structure that inspired it.
Often compared to the awe-inspiring stone antiquity at Stonehenge, England, the Antioch Amphitheater has stood as a monument to timeless design and better times — at least for most of the 10 years since it was officially used as an outlet for the dramatic productions of the Antioch Theater Department.
Unlike the ancient theater, however, it
isn’t a ruin.
“The Antioch Amphitheater probably is
the safest place on the campus,” said Antioch Fire Chief Ariel
Leonard.
Built in 1961 by Yellow Springs builder William Hooper, with design consultation by Paul Treichler and Meredith Dallas, the Amphitheater has the visual impact of an ancient fortress with graceful, contemporary lines. Essentially circular, the hemispheric concrete audience seating area is approximately 80 feet in diameter, facing the hemispheric cyclorama (back wall), also of concrete and approximately 20 feet high and 70 feet in diameter.
OUTSTANDING ACOUSTICS
Partridge demonstrated the outstanding
acoustics of the theater by standing at center stage with her back to
the audience area and speaking in a soft voice. Every word was heard
clearly by the several persons sitting in the theater.
“This is one of the many reasons why
we’re so excited about plays in the Amphitheater,” Partridge said
into the curved back hall. “Not only will we be doing great plays,
but we’ll be able to use all the vocal dynamics that make a dramatic
presentation really dramatic!”
“Radical Surgery” should be a ringing — and therapeutically effective — opener for the reintroduction of the Amphitheater. Playwright Steve Friedman, now a nearly full-time resident of Yellow Springs, is a successful author of Off-Broadway plays in New York City, affiliated for the past nine years with the Modern Times Theater in New York.
Friedman’s work includes “Fallout” (1985), a short play commemorating the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima; “Freedom Days” (1984), a play about the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s; “Hibakusha” (1982), a prize-winning play about the survivors of Hiroshima that was broadcast in part on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” in 1982; and other dramas, some of which have been produced internationally.
Friedman also has been a drama teacher in New York, California, and abroad in France. He was won numerous awards for his plays and teaching activities and has written and acted in plays for the San Francisco Mime Troupe.
He still is an active playwright and actor for the Modern Times Theater.
“RADICAL SURGERY” BITING SATIRE
“Radical Surgery” is set in the near future amid the crumbling remnants of America, where even shooting the president has become a national pastime. The four principal characters, who are subjects of a four-way brain transplant that goes haywire, are a southern white racist sniper, a militant black lesbian poet, a jilted surgical nurse, and the wounded president of the United States.
The action becomes a wild and hilarious jumble of shootouts, assassinations, seductions, and general mayhem, liberally mixed with stark revelations about American politics and sexual identity.
Admission to “Radical Surgery” —
as to all the plays produced in the Antioch Amphitheater — will be
free.
What will be the financial support
required for continuing productions in the Amphitheater?
“Maybe we;’ll pass a hat at the end of each performance,” Partridge said. “We really want to keep the Amphitheater and all its productions free to the public. Passing the hat has worked in the past in this community, because people who have come to outdoor plays have been wonderfully supportive. They want this kind of theater to continue.”
OUTLET FOR NEW DRAMA
Partridge intends to continue producing new plays in the Amphitheater.
“This isn’t to be a once-in-a-lifetime event,” she said. “We want to create new plays on a regular basis here. Some of them will be written by well-known playwrights, and some will be written by students. But they’ll all be good theater.
“The lack of original material is a serious problem in American Theater,” she said. “That’s one of the things Antioch Theater is focusing on. A big part of the drama curriculum at Antioch is creating new plays — as opposed to just writing new plays. We’re committed to improving the quality as well as the quantity of American drama.”
[In which he describes the process of preparing the apple harvest for use]
In the evening after the regular work of the day was finished, paring
and coring apples preparatory for drying was a part of the duty of
the whole family. Several bushes of drop apples were brought from the
orchard to the house during the day. This labor was generally
performed by the women and children, the men being too busy at field
work to stop to pick up a few bushels of apples.
After the supper dishes were cleared away the kitchen table was surrounded by all hands able to aid in the important work of saving the fallen apples and adding to the winter supply of edibles.
Family preparing apples – photo taken from J. Peery Miller’s daughter Della’s memoirs
The paring was usually done by a paring machine – a home made affair – consisting of a wooden frame containing a band-wheel six of eight inches in diameter, turned by a crank. By means of a leather belt the power was conveyed to a spool wheel of inch and a half diameter immediately above the crank wheel. The axis of the spool-wheel was an iron spindle the left end of which had two prongs like a fork. On this fork an apple was stuck and a modest turn of the crank gave a rapid revolution to the apple. As the apple spun around a short knife blade fitted into a wooden base with a short handle, was held against it, paring the skin thick or thin according to the setting of the knife in its wooden frame. Any good carpenter could make this machine. The spindle on which the apple revolved was shaped by a blacksmith. I think ours was made by brother Milton, who was skillful in the use of carpenter tools. An expert hand with this machine could keep four or five persons slicing and coring to keep up with him.
The modern metal parers are fastened firmly to the edge or table by means of a set screw, but the one above described was framed to the end of a board about two feet long, which, when in use, was placed on a bench or kitchen chair and held firmly by the operator’s own weight as he sat astride it.
Personally, I must confess that I did not always take kindly to these family apple-cutting bees. They came at the time when the average farmer boy would rather sleep than work, and frequently I tried to persuade the managers that, in my particular case, the former was more necessary than the latter. Looking at it from the standpoint of youth doubtless my parents sympathized with me, but thee was a question of duty to be considered. Children should help in providing for the needs of the family and dried apples were certainly a necessity. So with visions of dried applesauce and dried apple pies in the future, I applied my knife in quartering and coring the luscious fruit as vigorously as conditions would permit until the end of the session, which was announced by the machine man when he reached for the last unpared apple.
Machine paring was not very satisfactory with bruised or imperfect
fruit as the knife would fail to catch all the rind, leaving much for
the hand knife to finish. However, much labor was saved by its use.
After the fruit was prepared for drying it was spread out in thin layers on hurdles (commonly called hartels) and these were placed on a scaffold built for this purpose, located in a convenient, sun-shiny spot. The dryhouse with stove heat could be used in all kinds of weather.
