When their school district refused to integrate after Brown v. Board of Education was decided in 1954, a group of Black mothers in Southwest Ohio marched their children to the white school, demanding admission, only to be turned away every day for two years. Their activism resulted in one of the longest sustained protests of the civil rights era—one that began before … Read More
Storyteller Spotlight: Dr. Carlotta Penn
Dr. Carlotta Penn is Senior Director of Partnerships and Engagement for the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Global Engagement in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. She holds a PhD in Education and an MA in Comparative Studies from The Ohio State University, a BA in Mass Communication from Wright State University, and spent several years as … Read More
Reading Women’s History Month, in Ohio and beyond
We’re bookworms at Ohio Humanities. In celebration of Women’s History Month, here are some of our favorite books that tell women’s stories, in Ohio and beyond: Stay and Fight by Madeline Ffitch Sisters In Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World by Linda Hirshman When Grandma Gatewood Took A Hike by Michelle Houts … Read More
The Storytellers: Amanda Page
By Taylor Starek Amanda Page didn’t set out to be a filmmaker. The 46-year-old is a Columbus-based writer and founder of Scioto Literary, a nonprofit that supports storytellers in Scioto County. She found her way to filmmaking thanks to a case of writer’s block. She was struggling to pen an essay on her hometown of Portsmouth, located in southern Ohio, … Read More
The Storytellers: Yemi Oyediran
By Taylor Starek Secret American lives. That’s what Yemi Oyediran calls the often-overlooked experiences of racial and cultural minorities. And those stories matter. So Oyediran, the child of immigrants from Nigeria, co-founded a company to tell them. Oyediran—alongside friend and business partner JP Leong, who is Chinese American—runs AfroChine, a production company that not only partners with Cincinnati arts organizations … Read More
Spotlight on Local History: Alex Corpuz
Alex Corpuz enjoys tackling complex—and sometimes knotty—issues and ideas. They began college at the Ohio State University in August 2018 as a physics and engineering student. During their sophomore year, they realized they were having more fun doing their German homework than their physics homework. This past spring, they graduated with degrees in German and Medieval Studies. Before heading to … Read More
The Art of Perception: Hometown Juxtaposition
By Amanda Page Portrayals in films, on TV shows, in magazines and across other media can dramatically affect how humans see themselves and each other. We asked three different Ohioans to share how media portrayals impacted their own sense of identity. Life magazine reporter Peter Meyer arrived in Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1989 to write about the extended family at 215 … Read More
The Art of Perception: Some Kind of Wonderful
By Melanie Korn Portrayals in films, on TV shows, in magazines and across other media can dramatically affect how humans see themselves and each other. We asked three different Ohioans to share how media portrayals impacted their own sense of identity. As a Gen-X kid, popular culture—Saturday morning cartoons, music videos on MTV, Atari and mixtapes—was a defining framework of … Read More
The Art of Perception: Almost Home
By Ruth Chang Portrayals in films, on TV shows, in magazines and across other media can dramatically affect how humans see themselves and each other. We asked three different Ohioans to share how media portrayals impacted their own sense of identity. “4 5 ‘00.” In a photograph, my father, my mother, my brother and I sit smiling on the concrete … Read More
Ghoulish reads
Our work often invokes serious topics or discussions, so, here are our favorite spooky books–including some set in Ohio and written by authors from or with ties to Ohio–to help you enjoy the haunted humanities in celebration of All Hallows’ Eve! Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt The Haunted History of the Ohio State Reformatory by Sherri Brake House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski The … Read More