The Ohio Historical Society and Establishment of the State's Archives: A Tale of Angst and Apathy

The author traces the evolution and development of Ohio's state archives from the early 1900s to 1959, the year legislation passed naming the Ohio Historical Society as the archives administration. The failure to establish a clear archival authority and the absence of sustained financial support forms part of the story. That the Ohio Historical Society, beset by multiple demands on limited resources, a quasi-public relationship to the state, and an uncertainty about its role and mission, became a captive of its involvement in the effort to preserve the state's archives is also part of this tale of angst and apathy.