This month, The Extraordinary Times caught up with Bob Viney, a former US Navy officer and Procter & Gamble Marketing Director with a passion for civic engagement. For the past 10 years, he has worked alongside others in the Submarine Cincinnati Memorial Association to identify a site for the Cold War Memorial and Peace Pavilion, commemorating the USS Cincinnati and its unique place in America’s history. Construction of the memorial begins this Spring on the grounds of the National Voice of America Broadcast Museum in West Chester. Viney graduated “With Merit” from the US Naval Academy in 1970. Following graduation, he completed 15 months of nuclear power training and submarine school, and served on the USS Tautog (SSN 639), a fast attack nuclear submarine out of Pearl Harbor (1972-74). He then served as Division Director for the Chemistry, Materials, and Radiological Health Physics subjects at the Nuclear Power School in Mare Island (1974-1976). Viney left the Navy in 1976 and came to Cincinnati to work in Brand Management with Procter & Gamble. He turned around several declining businesses, and started the P&G business in Taiwan as Marketing Director. After 15 years, he took a position as Chief Marketing Officer for Arm & Hammer. Over his career, he spent 30 years managing major businesses for multi-national Fortune 500 companies and working in database, digital, interactive and internet portal marketing agencies. Viney also serves on the Leadership Council of a company in Dayton that builds hydrogen refueling stations for Fuel Cell Vehicles. He has written a book, American Turning Point, proposing solutions to the division and dysfunction that challenges our Constitutional Republic, and has taught the solutions to over 300 adult students in the Lifelong Learning programs at the Universities of Cincinnati and Dayton and Miami University. * What was the significance of the USS Cincinnati in American naval history? The Navy’s nuclear powered submarines are the primary elements in protecting our country’s peace and security; our primary defense against a nuclear attack. The submarines carrying intercontinental nuclear missiles, or SSBNs (SS – submarine; B – Ballistic; N – nuclear powered), can shower missiles on any country in the world without much warning. Land based missiles and bombers are in known locations, and their weapons have to travel very long distances, giving a lot of warning. But submarines can be as close as 20 miles off an enemy coast, so the missile travel time and the warning to an enemy, can be incredibly short. Submarines are nearly impossible to detect, so they can’t be targeted in a first strike. The other submarines in our fleet do not carry intercontinental missiles. They are called “Fast Attack” submarines, or SSNs. Their weapons are mostly anti-ship, traditional torpedoes and newer anti-ship missiles. But the newest submarines carry over 100 cruise missiles which can target ships or land based targets. These submarines also provide important intelligence about the naval capabilities of our enemies—their ships, submarines and the electronic monitoring capabilities around their coasts. In World War II, the submarine force carried the war to our enemies after Pearl Harbor, especially to Japan. They sank more total enemy tonnage in the war than surface ships or airplanes combined. And they lost a higher percentage of the fleet and men than any other part of our armed forces. Their bravery and cunning in pursuing the destruction of as much enemy shipping as possible, to deny the enemy free use of the sea lanes near their own countries, has been celebrated in many books and movies. In the Cold War, SSNs were the primary source of intelligence about Soviet naval capabilities. They protected our surface ships during confrontations like the Cuban Missile Crisis. And they trained to be capable of sinking the nuclear ballistic missile submarines of the Soviet Union “on station” near our coasts, and the anti-ship attack submarines near our surface fleets. Today our newest SSNs bring an arsenal of undetected cruise missiles to conflicts in countries that border the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea in the Middle East, and protect the freedom of the seas missions by our surface fleets in the Pacific where China is seeking to expand its control over international waters. Viney served on a fast attack submarine in the Pacific, and made 3 special operations patrols in Cold War and Vietnam War regions in 1972. The USS Cincinnati (SSN 693) served in many parts of the world’s oceans from commissioning in 1978 to decommissioning in 1996. These included special operations patrols in the Mediterranean Sea, and a 60,000 mile submerged transit of the globe. * How much of the original submarine will be preserved in this memorial?
The original elements of the USS Cincinnati that will be incorporated into the full scale replica of the submarine, the major iconic element of the Memorial, are the superstructure above the hull, called the Sail or Conning Tower; the forward horizontal control planes mounted on the conning tower, called the Fairwater Planes; the upper section of the Rudder; and the emergency back up power supply for the submarine if the reactor shuts down, a diesel generator called the “Big Red Machine”. The submarine was built during the years that the Cincinnati Reds teams were winning back-to-back World Series Championships, and were called “The Big Red Machine”. So the diesel generator was painted red in construction and was always referred to as the “Big Red Machine” by the crew. * What is the mission of this memorial in promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education? Our purpose is to teach young students the elements of the operations of a nuclear powered submarine that relate to STEM topics, with the goal of getting students interested in taking more science, engineering and math subjects in school, and developing an interest in science, technology and engineering careers. We have started connecting with school districts in our area to pull together teachers to help us develop the STEM elements to include in our educational curriculum, and to help us present the information in age-relevant ways to students from elementary school to high school. We’ve also met with the staff and a few teachers at Butler Tech about the opportunity to not only interest students in college-based STEM careers, but also developing interest in the technical skills related to STEM topics. As a nation, we are falling short in the skilled trade areas we need to not only keep our economy growing but also competitive in the world, which is a critical element of maintaining our national security. Our vision is to use fixed displays and interactive digital content, eventually transmitted via QR codes on individual phones, as students explore the equipment and operations in each compartment area of the Memorial’s full scale submarine replica. We plan to develop day-long programs focused on teaching specific STEM related topics by docents who have served in different roles on submarines, many with hands on experiences. These will be conducted in an Educational Center on the grounds next to the replica of the submarine itself. We will also include STEM topics related to the VOA’s broadcast technology in sending radio program signals around the world from the transmitting station that existed on the grounds of the National VOA Broadcasting Museum, and the area which now encompasses the shopping center to the west of the Museum, Miami University’s VOA campus, the VOA MetroPark of Butler County, and the MetroPark Athletic Fields. * What parallels do you see between the 20th century Cold War and the global challenges faced by the United States today? The parallels are disturbingly similar. The 20th century Cold War sprung from the conflict between the countries that were based on authoritarian governments and those based on free democratic republican governments. A simple way of defining the difference would be the conflict between governments where citizens are ruled by leaders and governments where citizens choose their leaders. And a conflict between authoritarian governments seeking to expand their areas of geographic dominance, and democratic governments seeking to respect the sovereignty of independent nations; of governments seeking to install and expand their own laws in all territories, and governments seeking global peace and security through the acceptance of common laws. During the Cold War, it was difficult for authoritarian governments to spread the falsehoods and disinformation used to control their populations outside of their own borders. The United States had a technological advantage that enabled VOA to broadcast truthful messages into those areas controlled by authoritarian leaders, under the mission of “Tell the Truth and let the World Decide”. That was one factor that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union from within, not from a military attack from the United States and our Allies. The global challenges facing the United States today are similar. A major difference today is the ability of authoritarian leaders to spread disinformation to distort truth and replace it with falsehoods outside of their borders, and to target those false messages to maximize the divisions in our country that undermines our national unity, our economic prosperity, our national security, and our ability to exert positive global leadership. Another difference is the willingness of authoritarian leaders to use military force to achieve territorial expansion. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is an attempt to rebuild the former Soviet Union’s empire in Europe. Putin views the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the world’s greatest geopolitical catastrophe, and is focused on regaining control over as much of the former Soviet Union’s control of other nations in Europe as possible. This conflict will remain a “Cold War” only with the support of Ukraine by the free democratic governments in the world with financial support for their military defensive operations. I hope that the United Nations might take a stronger role in requiring Russia to abide by the UN Charter they have committed to support in joining the UN and being offered the esteemed position as a permanent member of the Security Council. Russia’s actions in Ukraine are entirely at odds with that commitment, and put the UN at risk of becoming ineffective in accomplishing their purpose in founding after World War II – the protection of the sovereignty of independent nations from the aggression of its neighbors. * How will this memorial complement the nearby National VOA Museum of Broadcasting? In our education program, we will also include topics related to the history of the Cold War, and the roles played in winning the Cold War by the Voice of America broadcasts and fast attack nuclear submarines such as the USS Cincinnati. We will also include the highlights of the technology involved in the broadcast of messages from the Broadcast center in West Chester around the world, sending VOA program content to all parts of Europe behind German lines in World War II and the Iron Curtain of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. We plan to have joint merchandise for the Submarine memorial and the VOA Broadcast Museum. The extra visitors we attract to the Memorial may be interested in visiting the VOA Museum as well, increasing the visitor traffic for the Museum.
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The Extraordinary Times caught up this week with Nate Lampley, Jr. Nate is a trial lawyer and the Cincinnati managing partner of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, a full service law company with over 400 lawyers, and offices in eight US cities, as well as in London, England. Nate graduated from Hamilton High School in the top 1% of the class of 1981. He graduated with honors both from the University of Dayton (1985) and University of Cincinnati College of Law (1988).
Among his civic activities, he has served on the Boards of the Cincinnati Black Ambassadors, the Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati, the Christ Hospital Sports Medicine Institute, Downtown Cincinnati, Inc., Volunteer Lawyers for the Poor, the University of Cincinnati College of Law Board of Visitors, The Salvation Army and the University of Cincinnati Alumni Association. He has participated in Leadership Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers (CALL) and the United Way Volunteer Leaders Development Program. He delivered the Commencement Address for Hamilton High School in 2002 and 2013. On Thursday, February 22 at 7 p.m. Nate Lampley will deliver the Black History Month keynote address “The Dignity of Unity” at Miami University Hamilton’s Harry T. Wilks Conference Center. This program is free and open to the public, but rsvp is encouraged: miamioh.edu/regionals/rsvp * What message do you want folks to take away from your keynote talk "The Dignity of Unity"? Our history has shown us over and over again that our nation is strongest when we work together towards common goals. * Which individuals do you most admire in American history, and why? Abe Lincoln, because he understood that extreme politics on either side would never lead to a unified nation. [Writer] James Baldwin because his profound thoughts and insights about America are still relevant today. * What does Black History Month mean to you? The mere fact that we have a Black History Month allows us to hopefully never forget who we are, and who we have been as a Nation. * How did your education at Hamilton High School and upbringing in the city lend itself to success in life? I left Hamilton High School with the confidence to do anything. Despite my humble beginnings, my upbringing in Hamilton inspired me to think big, and taught me that I needed to work hard to achieve great things. This week, The Extraordinary Times catches up another mover-and-shaker on the historical and cultural scene. Jennifer Patterson Lorenzetti is the new Administrator and Curator of the McGuffey House and Museum at Miami University (readers may recall the Q&A with her predecessor Steve Gordon, to whom we wish a well-earned retirement!).
Jennifer graduated from Miami University in 1991 with a BA in History and 1993 with an MS in College Student Personnel Services. She is a visiting professor at Miami University teaching History of Design in the Communication Design program. She has taught design history, history of photography, history of advertising, art history, and western civilization for universities including Wittenberg University and Sinclair College. Jennifer is pursuing an MA in History with a concentration in Public History from Southern New Hampshire University. Her research focuses on cultural formation and expression in small towns. She actively studies the history of Key West and design history, but she is also passionate about Medieval European history and the history of Christianity. Jennifer currently lives in Huber Heights (Dayton), Ohio, with her husband Daniel and their two dogs, Shinnosuke and Eva. * What are you most looking forward to in your new position as Administrator and Curator of McGuffey House and Museum? The history, of course! One of my greatest joys is helping others find connections between themselves and the past. Locating yourself in the context of millennia of others who have had similar and different experiences to your own is an important part of understanding who you are and how you relate to the grand scheme. I would never have anticipated having this role with one of Miami's museums, but I can't imagine anything more perfect for me at this stage of my life. * How would you pitch the McGuffey House for someone who has never visited before? The McGuffey House was built by William Holmes McGuffey, the author of McGuffey's Eclectic Readers. The Readers shaped and were shaped by the culture of the Midwest in the first half of the nineteenth century. The house gives us an intimate look into McGuffey's world as he wrote these seminal works. It gives visitors an up-close look at what we saw as the American identity when the country was less than a century old. * How did your Miami education prepare you for the challenges of your new role? I received both my bachelor's and master's from Miami, with my bachelor's being in history. I had some fabulous professors—including Charlotte Newman Goldy and Allan Winkler—who taught me that history encompasses everything; any other discipline that interests you can be enriched by an understanding of its role in history. Sometimes, we take Miami's liberal arts focus for granted, but that is really the approach that makes its alumni able to shift into different roles throughout their lives. * How are you balancing your academic studies with the roles of administrator and curator? I am currently pursuing an MA in History with a concentration in Public History from Southern New Hampshire University. I plan to continue on for a doctorate. It is a labor of love in addition to being excellent preparation for my new role. It is interesting to have gone to grad school in my early 20s and then again thirty years later. I find myself irresistibly attracted to my studies, and I typically have to limit my time doing class work or I wouldn't get anything else done! The Extraordinary Times blog wishes a happy and healthy 2024 to all readers! This new year we have the pleasure of catching up with Carrie Halim. Carrie is Curator of the Robert McCloskey Museum at Heritage Hall, 20 Hight St, Hamilton, Ohio, dedicated to the life and work of Robert McCloskey, Hamilton’s celebrated children’s author and illustrator (Make Way For Ducklings, Lentil, and many other classics). Carrie was raised in a small rural town in Northwest Ohio and rode her bike uptown when our town got its first stoplight. She graduated from Miami University, and has spent the better part of two decades singing songs, telling stories, leading and learning from children. * How did you come to work at the Robert McCloskey Museum? I came to this role as curator first as a lover of history and as a resident of German Village. When my daughters and I would walk in our neighborhood, the Butler County Historical Society became a regular part of our route. We would stop, tour and chat with Kathy [Creighton] the executive director and volunteers. Soon I found myself volunteering with the Multigenerational Programming, and was asked to join the board. Soon after, I became a member of the committee that oversees Heritage Hall and the Robert McCloskey Museum. My joining the committee coincided with the opportunity for the museum to expand into a wing of rooms in the old Municipal Building. Ideas began flying, programs were planned, and fresh energy flowed into the McCloskey Museum in the form of newly published picture book biographies of our hometown author and illustrator Robert McCloskey. I found myself in a wonderful position of being supported by my board and committee, encouraged and spurred on by local city and arts leaders, and so stepped into the role of Curator of the McCloskey Museum and Heritage Hall. * Why does Robert McCloskey deserve to be better remembered in relation to Hamilton, Ohio? While Robert McCloskey never sought fame or attention, his work continually attracted it. He was deeply involved in the region as he grew up. He went to Hamilton Schools, was a camper and later leader at Camp Campbell Gard, played in a harmonica band and led the Marching Band as Drum Major. Similar to the inventive boys in his books, he was always tinkering and creating. As he grew, art became "the life for him," so he says. He won a national scholarship competition based on a pamphlet made with the Hamilton High History Club that took him to Boston for art school, but it was his hometown that inspired his first published book. In fact, his lifelong publisher May Massee told him to go home and write what he knew. Perhaps she knew how great our region is, as she was related to one of our local families, the Fitton Family. Luckily, he took her advice, for his vision of community and home life has inspired families around the globe for generations. It was his book, "Make Way for Ducklings" that pointed to the safety of home that was read aloud to families as their fathers went off to war. His illustrations were sent to bring joy and a vision of home to soldiers overseas. His book became the book of the city of Boston and is celebrated in the famous duckling statues in Boston's Public Garden. Replicas of those statues were given from the children of the United States to the children of Russia as part of the peace treaty signing in the 1990s. And the week after the tragedy of 9/11, Nancy Schon and McCloskey's daughters, Sally and Jane, unveiled the Lentil sculpture and park in Hamilton. The children of Hamilton named Lentil's dog (a part of the sculpture) Harmony—a word that rang loudly in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Though he didn't seek accolades, he was the first illustrator to win two Caldecott Medals for the best children's picture book of the year, and was named a living legend by the Library of Congress. Beyond all of that, he understands hometowns. He understands the importance of home, wonder, creativity and community. His stories inspire and bring people together. * How does the Robert McCloskey Museum celebrate McCloskey's life and works?
The Robert McCloskey Museum has been a part of Heritage Hall alongside the Mueller Exhibit and the Council Chambers at the previous Municipal Building for 15 years. In that time, there have been many lectures, celebrations, programs and an exhibits of original artwork, artifacts, medals and memorabilia. We are expanding our scope in this season to include more storytimes, programs, and partnerships. We shared McCloskey's story, "Journey Cake Ho!" an Appalachian folk tale, at Operation Pumpkin with local drama students. We 'Made Art Like McCloskey' by drawing ducklings from life with the help of local artists and ducklings from Hopefull Pastures Therapeutic Farm, and recently received funding to partner with the artists of Inspiration Studios for our Hamilstorian Project. The artists of Inside Out Studios are creating interactive wonder based exhibits based on two McCloskey stories as well as celebrating the Heritage of other Hamiltonians: architect Frederick Mueller and philanthropist and former CEO, David Belew. There is a wonderful connection to Sally and Jane McCloskey through Dave and Marge Belew some of our founders. McCloskey's daughters who appear in his books, gave two of their father's kaleidoscopes to Dave and Marge Belew, with the story that their father used the kaleidoscopes as a sort of visual palette cleanse, a lens cleanse, to see afresh. As we celebrate these Hamilton stories, McCloskey's and others', we invite young and old to look again at the world around them through the eyes of art and to be inspired like McCloskey was inspired. * How do you hope to tie your work at the museum with the cultural and economic growth of the city and its community? As Hamilton is enjoying a renaissance of its own, it’s important to (re)connect with our history. That includes the people, places, architecture, manufactured items, and stories of Hamilton. Robert McCloskey was unique in that he was an author and illustrator, but started out as an artist. He created well-known icons, from the Camp Campbell Gard totem pole to the bas reliefs on the former city building. Winning those design commissions as a high schooler. He told modified stories of his hometown, using architectural details from local buildings and incorporating real events like the opening of the city’s “newest” hospital. Many well-known Hamiltonians went on to lead national and international businesses. McCloskey, however, showed us that wonder, design, and creation are all important. And that children, can often see what adults don’t always notice. It’s a gift that he gave his hometown to see through the eyes of a child, the wonder and magnificence of our city.
This week The Extraordinary Times caught up with Dr. Jay Cost, Gerald R. Ford senior nonresidential fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a visiting scholar at Grove City College's Institute for Faith and Freedom. He is the author of several books, most recently Democracy or Republic? The People and the Constitution. He lives in western Pennsylvania with his wife, two children, and one very spoiled cat. This Friday, November 10, from 2-3 p.m. Dr. Cost will deliver the 2023 William V. Coombs American History Lecture, drawing on his book The Price of Greatness: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the Creation of American Oligarchy.
The Coombs Lecture is free and open to the public at the Harry T. Wilks Conference Center, 1601 University Blvd., Hamilton, OH45011. Co-sponsored by Miami University Regionals and Hamilton High School. RSVP strongly encouraged: https://miamioh.edu/regionals/rsvp/ * What drew you to write about Alexander Hamilton and James Madison rather than, say, the more familiar pairing of Hamilton vs. Jefferson? I was drawn to Hamilton and Madison because they had previously been allies and intellectual partners. They had, in many respects, a shared vision of constitutional republicanism. But they were driven apart in 1790 because those visions were not entirely the same. I thought that looking at them with care would help better understand some of the finer aspects of American political thought. * How, when, and why did America become an "oligarchy"? It has never been, strictly speaking, an "oligarchy" because the people still wield power through elections. However, the government's commitment to national economic development entangled it with private enterprise, which in turn gave the latter a kind of "soft power" that it would not otherwise wield through the democratic process. That did not happen overnight. It grew slowly by accretion in the 19th century, was checked for a time by the Progressive Era and the New Deal, but has expanded dramatically since World War II. * What are the fruits of oligarchy in today's America? Power and money are fungible. The rich exercise a power that the rest of us cannot ever hope to. The result of this is that public policy in this country has an inevitable bias toward those wealthy interests with business before the government. * Can Americans reasonably look to our founding era to resolve the political crises of the 21st century? On a philosophical level, yes I think so. One of the great lasting legacies of the American founding was the way in which the founders took the big ideas of republican political thought and applied them to a young, democratic nation. While our economic, technological, social, and cultural circumstances have changed, these ideas are timeless. The more we understand those ideas, the more we can apply the lessons of the founding to the 21st century. * What is your next project? TBD but my hope is to write an intellectual history of the Jeffersonian Republicans. This month, The Extraordinary Times caught up with Brad Spurlock, Manager of the Smith Library of Regional History and Cummins Local History Room for the Lane Libraries. This fall, Brad will present a three-part series on Hamilton's Industrial History at Miami University Downtown, 221 High Street, Hamilton, OH 45011. This series includes Hamilton Hydropower (10/4), Safe Capital of the World (10/24), and From Champion to Champions (11/2). All three programs start at 7:00 p.m.; registration not required. When not giving historical talks, Brad’s work includes maintaining physical and digital archives, coordinating and conducting historical research, and carrying out history and genealogy programming. He graduated from Xavier University with a BA in History in 2014 and went on to earn a Master of Library and Information Science, with concentrations in Archiving/ Special Collections and Management, from Kent State University in 2016. Brad is a Certified Archivist through the Academy of Certified Archivists.
* For those who may be unfamiliar with the Smith Library, what services do you offer the public? The Lane Libraries has two history repositories, the Smith Library of Regional History, located in Oxford, and the Cummins Local History Room, located in Hamilton. The Lane Libraries History Team, composed of Smith Library staff and reference staff at the Hamilton Lane Library, works cooperatively to complete patron requests, undertake digitization and community history projects, and provide public programming. The services we offer include accepting requests for information related to local history, genealogy, property histories, and military service. We will also search for newspaper articles/ obituaries and photographs for patrons in addition to helping patrons gain access to specific books/ materials, offering advisory on archiving/ preservation, and presenting talks to local groups and organizations. * Historically, what factors made Hamilton, Ohio such an economic hub in its industrial heyday? I once had a professor who said that all history is dependent upon geography, and I have never been able to refute that theory. Hamilton became an industrial juggernaut because of a flood that occurred in 1805 on the high ground north of the town. That flood rerouted the Great Miami River north of Hamilton and allowed for an extensive hydraulic canal system to be constructed from the remnants of the original path of the river which was called the "Old River." The Hamilton Hydraulic turned its first water wheel in 1845, bringing industrial power to Hamilton for the first time. Some of the early factories that utilized the hydraulic were the ancestors of Beckett Paper Company, Shuler & Benninghofen, and Hooven-Owens-Rentschler. Another boon to Hamilton's industry came in the 1890s when civic leaders created the East Hamilton Improvement Syndicate which developed Hamilton's 5th Ward and brought major manufacturers to the city, including Mosler Safe, Estate Stove, and Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe. Possibly from seeing the success of this, Peter G. Thomson brought Champion Paper Company to Hamilton around the same time. * What kinds of sources did you draw from in researching your forthcoming talks? All of the information presented in my programs is based on source materials, mostly from the resources held in the Smith Library and Cummins Room. We have several local history books and ephemera (including manufacturing company publications), maps, directories, yearbooks, photographs, etc. to draw information from. We also use web resources to an extent, mostly digitized books available online. One of the best and most specific sources for information on manufacturing, and local history in general, are newspapers. Lane Library patrons have access to historical Hamilton and Cincinnati newspapers through databases we subscribe to, and these newspaper sources are heavily utilized in finding information for our programs. * Without any spoilers, what are some fascinating facts about industrial Hamilton? The most fascinating thing about Hamilton's manufacturing history is just how much influence the city had on vital industries of that time. Hamilton was once known as the Safe Capital of the World as half of the safes and vaults made in the entire world were produced across the street from each other in East Hamilton. Champion Paper Company would also become the world's largest paper manufacturer. General Machinery Corporation, a successor of Niles Tool Works and Hooven-Owens-Rentschler, would also grow to become the world's largest machine shop (I will be holding a program on this at the Hamilton Lane Library on 11/16 at 6pm). This week The Extraordinary Times caught up with Anne Delano Steinert, founding Board Chair and Vice President for Fundraising at the Over-the-Rhine Museum. The Over-the-Rhine Museum is a new immersive urban history museum soon to open to the public on Cincinnati’s West McMicken Avenue. Steinert was recently featured on WVXU’s Cincinnati Edition, where she and fellow guests discussed the mission of this exciting new museum housed in a historic tenement space. Steinert is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Cincinnati. She holds degrees in historic preservation from Goucher College and Columbia University, as well as an M.A. and PhD in Urban History and Public History from the University of Cincinnati.
* Describe how the Over-the-Rhine Museum got started Up until the most recent wave of newcomers, history had been well preserved in Over-the-Rhine. Very little change had taken place since the Great Depression, so the buildings were these little time capsules going all the way back in the 19th century. Things like heating and plumbing and furniture in the buildings were preserved because so little had been updated. As Over-the-Rhine evolved, a more affluent population wanted bigger kitchens, more spacious bathrooms, and larger apartments. As all that change took place, the buildings were being drastically altered. The long-term residents of Over-the-Rhine, meanwhile, saw their rents increase and their taxes go up, so a lot of those people also were being lost. The Over-the-Rhine museum is an attempt to preserve and protect and celebrate all those stories that Over-the-Rhine has to tell, embedded in the physical fabric of the neighborhood, the buildings, and the streetscape, but also the stories of to residents who may or may not have been able to stay in the neighborhood. * What makes the museum unique in Greater Cincinnati? One thing that stands out is that it tells the story of everyday ordinary people. It's not—for example—the home of William Howard Taft, who was wealthy and prominent and powerful. It’s the story of folks who are living their everyday lives: people who immigrated, who worked hard every day for a living, people suffering with poverty or health care, issues people who suffered discrimination of one sort or the other. The other thing is that it's immersive. It's not the kind of place where you read things on a wall. You will instead feel like you’ve traveled back in time, like you're immersed in someone's life. We’ll be creating six different spaces for six different moments in time, where you'll experience what life was like for different families. You'll see what their furnishings look like, you'll see how big or small their apartment was. You might hear the kinds of music that they were listening to. It will be experience rather than something mediated by a curator or where there's something between you and the experience—you will be in the experience. * What is the role of oral history in expanding the impact of the museum? In our research we identified over 150 families and businesses that have occupied the building, which was built in the early 1860s and was occupied until around 2008. As we've been doing that research, there are better archival or documentary sources for the deep history of 1860s through the 1950s, but the closer we get the present, the harder it is to find written sources that have been archived. So oral history allows us to capture the memories and stories of folks who lived and worked and played in Over-the-Rhine. We have some oral history stories going back to the 1940s and 1950s, so we can capture this world in a way that we could not really do from what's otherwise available. The United States Census is a great source, for example, but the full records are only publicly available to researchers up to 1950. Oral history also adds significant richness to the story. Even when we look at, say, the Fettweis family who built the two buildings where the museum is housed in the 1860s and in the 1870s, we have lots of archival information but it's still very flat. lt isn't rich in the in the same way you get from an oral history of someone’s story, which pulls you in and gives you a kind of a sensory connection—I feel like that way of learning about the past is just so much richer. * Is there anything you would like to share finally with the readers of this blog about how they can find out more or get involved? One thing I would add is that we have a wonderful walking tour program, “Walking the Stories.” I really encourage people to sign up! The other thing is that this project is a labor of love pulled together by history enthusiasts. We really are a grassroots effort and rely on funding from the public. If this project sounds exciting or interesting, we encourage people to donate or to get involved. They can reach out to me or get in touch by email: [email protected]. Blockbusters are like buses: you wait forever for one to show up, then two come along at once. However transparent this summer’s “Barbenheimer” hype, Hollywood is finally figuring out how to fill theater seats in an age of post-pandemic fatigue and streaming overload. At the time of writing, Barbie has raked in an eye-popping $780 million in global box office. Its unlikely rival Oppenheimer has earned $400 million, putting it on track to become one of the highest earning biopics of all time. While bubblegum-pink comedies in alternate plastic universes might not be this reviewer’s cup of tea, it is refreshing to see moviegoers coming together in search of a shared experience, whatever that experience might be. But this review is about something entirely different. Yesterday, I caught a matinee screening of the other movie, surrounded by a few old geezers. While Barbie likely pulled in more business at this particular theater, I was eager for the latest offering by the magnificent Christopher Nolan.
Oppenheimer does not disappoint, even as it defies expectations. Drawing on Kai Bird’s and Martin Sherwin’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography American Prometheus, Nolan’s three-hour study of the tortured genius behind the Manhattan Project is simply a masterpiece—not flawless, by any means, but so engrossing that its run time never drags. Whether the experience would carry to an I-Pad screen or a laptop seems doubtful. For a film about the atom bomb, the explosions are spare, sometimes hinted obliquely in the surreal special effects that illustrate the title character’s stream of consciousness, but only once revealed in full force, midway through the movie. Although Nolan’s filmography includes superhero and action movies (The Dark Knight, Tenet) which climax in pyrotechnics, the decision here is made to depict the Trinity test in the deserts of New Mexico rather than the more notorious bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This choice is laudable and compelling: audiences share in the anxiety of Oppenheimer and his colleagues as the detonator implodes (one theory—a “near zero” probability--hypothesized the atom bomb would ignite an unstoppable chain-reaction, incinerating Earth’s atmosphere. Oppenheimer went ahead anyway.) The ensuing blast is one of the most strangely beautiful scenes ever depicted in film. Nolan’s film works best, however, as a human drama, which just happens to be about the atom bomb. Critics might complain that the brutal incineration of Japanese civilians is underplayed, but much of the conflict at the heart of this movie revolves around the dark and problematic realization of a monstrous but arguably inevitable technology. Though troubled by the bomb’s implications, Oppenheimer rationalizes its use. Whether or not America can be trusted with such a weapon, the Nazis certainly can’t. One of the chilling themes of Oppenheimer is how close Hitler came to the atomic bomb, though hampered ironically by racist policies (Oppenheimer and many of the Manhattan Project’s diverse team, including numerous refugees, were Jewish). Like the Greek Prometheus who stole fire from the gods, Oppenheimer’s reward for his labors was to be chained (metaphorically) to a rock for eternity. Though celebrated on the cover of Time magazine, Oppenheimer sadly fell foul of the prevailing McCarthyism of 1950s, tarnished by innuendo (though Oppenheimer moved in left-leaning intellectual circles, he was never a card-carrying communist, much less a Soviet agent). Most pitiful was the vendetta waged against Oppenheimer by Lewis Strauss, Chair of the Atomic Energy Commission, around which much of the film is organized. Strauss, whose vindictiveness eventually sank his own political ambition, is played with Machiavellian glee by Robert Downey, Jr. A star-studded cast also includes Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, and Gary Oldman in a memorable cameo as Harry S. Truman. Tom Conte as Albert Einstein is a particular treat. But special mention belongs to Irish actor Cillian Murphy, a stalwart in Nolan’s films, cast here in his first leading role for the director. Murphy nails down the nervous energy and haunted dignity of the brilliant but troubled Oppenheimer, conveying more emotion in a single gaze or gesture than most actors could evoke in a thousand lines. He surely deserves Best Actor at next year’s Academy Awards, but there’s no accounting for taste in this summer of Barbenheimer. Grade: A+ This week, The Extraordinary Times caught up with renowned historian H. W. Brands author of The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom. Holder of the Jack S. Blanton, Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas, Austin, Dr. Brands has written some 30 acclaimed books on American history and politics, including two bestselling titles which were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. On Thursday, September 7 at 7pm, Brands will speak at Miami University Hamilton’s Parrish Auditorium on the epic struggle embodied by Brown and Lincoln—two men moved to radically different acts to confront our nation’s gravest sin. This free public event is sponsored by the Michael J. Colligan History Project, with generous support from Hamilton Community Foundation.
* With such a prolific career, how do you balance research, writing, public appearances, and regular life? Because I enjoy what I do, it doesn't seem like work, and I don't begrudge the time I spend on it. My writing and teaching complement and inform each other: I write about the same things I teach about. Public speaking is teaching to a larger classroom. * What inspired you to write The Zealot and the Emancipator? I want to know what makes people do what they do. In this book I ask how people respond to evil. Brown and Lincoln provided opposite answers to the question of how to confront the evil of slavery. Brown embraced violence, Lincoln chose politics. Why? And what were the consequences? * Did studying Brown and Lincoln in tandem change your understanding of either or both men? I came to appreciate the unsatisfactory nature of each of their approaches to slavery. Which was why the problem proved so vexing. * Of all the quotations about Brown after his death, which is your favorite and why? On his way to the gallows, Brown left a note. "The crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood," he said. This was both a rationalization of his own actions and a chillingly true forecast for America. * What is your next project? Since The Zealot and the Emancipator, I've published Our First Civil War: Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution and The Last Campaign: Sherman Geronimo and the War for America. Next is Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams, and the Brawling Birth of American Politics, out this fall. This week, The Extraordinary Times catches up with the multi-talented Dale Farmer. A Fairfield native now living in Preble County, Ohio, Dale Farmer stays busy honoring his Appalachian heritage with film, writing, and music. He can be found performing traditional Appalachian music with the Jericho Old-time Band and The Farmer and the Crow.
Miami University Appalachian Studies will be screening Dale’s acclaimed movie, The Mountain Minor, on November 16, 2023, at Wilks Conference Center, Miami Hamilton. This free public program begins at 6 p.m. with a light dinner, followed by film screening at 6.30 p.m. The program features live musical accompaniment from the Jericho Old Time Band and an audience Q&A to follow. * How and when did you first get into filmmaking? For as long as I can remember I’ve had stories playing out in my head: characters, situations, places, various time periods. I never had the drive to write novels, so the stories just remained in my head where I’d revisit them all from time to time. Then I discovered the screenwriting format and some user-friendly software that really suited my storytelling style. So I began putting the stories in black and white. One of the duties of my previous career was making training and promotional videos. My employer furnished video production classes at a local college where I learned a lot of the basics of filmmaking. As I neared retirement, I began thinking about putting my storytelling, video knowledge and music background together to make of my screenplays into a 20-minute short-film idea I had called The Mountain Minor. As more people became involved and greater possibilities were realized, the short film eventually evolved into a feature length film. * How closely does The Mountain Minor reflect the story of your own family? Almost everything in The Mountain Minor actually did happen in one way or another. The film was mostly a collection of stories my grandfather told me over my lifetime until his passing in 1985. I had to take some liberties with reality to make my family story into a more compelling and affordable production. I could list out all the details and differences the film has from the actual story, but what matters most is what The Mountain Minor has in common with many thousands of family stories of having to leave Appalachia to come north and find work and sustenance. I was especially compelled to tell the story of how my family, and nearly every Appalachian family I’ve known, are more than stereotypes portrayed in Hollywood and the media in general. They’re resourceful, hardworking people of moral character. I wanted The Mountain Minor to help us to embrace our family stories of our ancestors’ sacrifices that we and society are benefitting from today. * What were some key source materials you drew on for inspiration and historical context? My primary source was The Harpers of Pongo Ridge, Christine Harper McKinney’s biography of growing up in the mountains of Kentucky and eventually moving to Reading, Ohio to make a living, There are a few pages in the book about my paternal grandparents who briefly lived next to her childhood home. During my research I met Mrs. McKinney and spent a lot of time with her over the past few years until she passed earlier this year at the age of 96. I also somehow inherited my great grandmother’s old suitcase full of family photos from Kentucky. I spent a lot of time with those photos of my ancestors; a lot of “speak to me” moments looking into their eyes. The old suitcase makes an appearance in the film when the family is leaving the farm for Ohio. I also went back through all my old Foxfire books that I’ve had since my teenage years. I referred a lot to Gerry Milne’s book Play of a Fiddle. I listened to old Appalachian field recordings collected on front porches and living rooms, just like in our film. I took trips to the mountains of Kentucky and met descendants of relatives Grandpa and I visited during my childhood and teenage years. My newfound cousins and I explored old family farm ruins back in the hollers. There’s so much inspiration out there when we go looking for it. * Your movie enjoys a remarkable cast, including many local musicians (Dan Gellert, Ma Crow, Judy and Warren Waldron, to name a few). Did you know going into this project how these folks would shine as actors? I’ll just say that I took a big chance using musicians to act rather than actors to play authentic music. But having authentic music was so important to this story. These musicians took this project very seriously and worked very hard to portray their roles. Nobody won an Oscar for their acting but so many people have told me that it was so refreshing to see actors just being genuine, relatable people on screen. I’m very proud of all of them. * What's next on the horizon, project-wise? We started work on a short-film project in 2019 that was shut down by Covid. It was one of a few short sequel stories to The Mountain Minor I’m hoping to resume later this summer. But I’m primarily focused on my next feature film with the working title Girls Can’t Fiddle. I’m trying to take this project to the next level, so I’ve been meeting with potential established producers and hope to find the right fit and begin pre-production soon. Girls Can’t Fiddle is a narrative film about a teenage fiddler in 1939 rural West Virginia who is prohibited from playing the fiddle because that was something ladies just didn’t do. So she sneaks off and learns from her secret mentor, an aging African American fiddler. My hope is that the film will both pay homage to early African American and women traditional musicians and also help promote racial healing during this difficult time in our history. |
AuthorMatthew Smith, PhD (History). Public Programs at Miami University Regionals. Historian of Appalachia, the Ohio Valley, & the early American republic. Archives
February 2024
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