University District Archive

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Doreen Uhas-Sauer, long-time neighborhood civic leader and educator, announces the creation of the University District Archive at the Ohio Historical Society.

University District’s history to be preserved and shared

The University District Organization (UDO) and the Ohio Historical Society (OHS) on Oct. 30, 2006, announced a new partnership to gather, preserve and share the history of the neighborhoods around the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University. UDO will cooperate in establishing at OHS a “University District Archive” that will preserve photographs, maps, plans, documents and other memorabilia from the neighborhoods in the University District.

The announcement came during a special event in the Archives-Library reading room of the Ohio Historical Center. Nearly 100 neighbors and friends gathered to learn of the new archive. For the event, OHS staff displayed old plat maps and other documents and artifacts related to the history of the University District.

In conjunction with the new archive, OHS has created a fund to support research into and public access and display of these materials from the University District. OHS announced that Paul Watkins, Jr., owner and general manager of the Student Book Exchange, has made the first gift, in the amount of $5,000, to this fund. UDO also will seek other donations with a goal of at least $15,000 so that the fund will become permanently endowed.

During the event, Richard Talbott, owner of Inn-Town Homes & Apartments, announced that he would follow Mr. Watkins’ lead and contribute $3,000 to the fund. Mr. Talbott lived with his family in the University District until he was a junior in high school.

As described in Columbus City Code, the University District is bounded by Fifth Avenue on the south, Glen Echo Ravine (just north of Arcadia Avenue) on the north, the Olentangy River on the west and the railroad tracks on the east. The University District’s diverse neighborhoods include census tracks with among the highest population densities in the state. Given its proximity to the university, more Ohioans likely have lived in the University District, at least for a few years while they were in college, than any other neighborhood in the state.

“We are very excited about this partnership with the Ohio Historical Society,” explained Doreen Uhas-Sauer, a member of the UDO Board of Trustees and a long-time civic leader in the University District. “We have a rich history of both permanent residents and thousands of college students who first lived on their own in these neighborhoods and now live throughout the world. As a public school teacher, I am hopeful that the University District Archive can be used in innovative ways to enhance civic education in the schools.”

The archive will contain a record of the vibrant college student life in the neighborhood, as well as the arrival of farmers and traders in the late 18th century, the northward growth of Columbus in the 19th century, the significant changes to the University District after World War II and the efforts at urban revitalization in the late 20th century.

“We are very pleased to partner with our neighbors in the University District to create this unique historical archive,” said William K. Laidlaw, Jr., executive director of the Ohio Historical Society. “And, we are deeply appreciative to Paul Watkins for his thoughtfulness, his generosity and his foresight. We believe this partnership will be a model for other neighborhoods to consider. OHS will provide a permanent repository for historical materials and, with the creation of the fund, will have additional resources to process and make available this special history, and to continue working with the University District Organization to highlight this history for future generations.”

Ms. Uhas-Sauer said that UDO will establish a committee of neighborhood volunteers to work with OHS to identify the kinds of material that should be preserved for the archive and then to acquire and catalog those materials.

In addition to the announcements, the event included a panel discussion moderated by Bob Singleton, a retired reporter from WCMH-TV and a long-time neighborhood resident.

Local historian Ed Lentz recalled when OHS was housed on High Street at Fifteenth Avenue in what is now Ohio State’s Sullivant Hall. He welcomed the reconnection of OHS and the university community through this new archive.

Marty Cottrill, a sixth-generation resident of the University District who now lives in Dayton, spoke of her family’s history. She is a direct descendant of David Beers who arrived in central Ohio in 1804 and built a log cabin near what is now the intersection of High and North streets. In the late 19th century, the cabin was moved to East Norwich Avenue, where it still stands. Ms. Cottrill researched, wrote and published a booklet on David Beers and his descendants.

The Ohio Historical Society was founded in 1885 to collect, preserve and interpret the state’s past. It acts as the state’s partner in historical matters such as operating and maintaining historic sites, museums, the State Archives and the Ohio Historic Preservation Office, providing educational resources to teachers and students and providing advice and service to local history groups.

UDO, founded in 1971, is a nonprofit organization representing the University District’s major civic groups and the university. UDO promotes cooperation among University District stakeholders, provides a variety of services to neighborhood organizations, oversees a public meeting room and art gallery space and administers grants for neighborhood improvements.

William Laidlaw, executive director of the Ohio Historical Society, welcomes nearly 100 neighbors and friends of the University District to the society’s Archive-Library reading room for the announcement of the new University District Archive and a panel discussion on neighborhood history.