Buckeye Presidents-- Part 4: Longest Inaugural Address to the Civil War and Modern American Era

William McKinley, president from 1897 to 1901, had the first War Room.

It was perhaps no coincidence that the elder Harrison is also noted for delivering the longest inaugural address on record -- in the rain and without a coat, which led to the sickness which caused his death.

A timeline accompanying the exhibit begins with William Henry Harrison's election in 1840 and runs through the death of President Warren G. Harding, the last of the group of Ohio presidents in 1923.

Five of the Ohio presidents served in the Civil War.  The other three, beginning with McKinley served in  what is considered the  the modern American era.

The exhibition includes a Civil War  re-enactment scene and the insights drawn from Ohio presidents' administrations into how the nation changed from before to after the war.

--Cooter

Buckeye Presidents-- Part 3: "Old Tippecanoe"

Objects, artifacts and photographs displayed throughout the center's upper floors were assembled from the Library of Congress, Ohio History Connection, Western Reserve Historical Society and elsewhere.  The show highlights four aspects of each president's life:  their home life, campaign, time at the White House and Death.

Visitors will find Garfield's bathrobe as well as Warren G. Harding's silk pajamas on display. There are hats, fans, china, walking sticks, furniture, historic campaign materials and other personal items.

The first Ohio president Benjamin Harrison's grandfather William Henry Harrison, was the nation's ninth president and the first to die in office.  He was a famed War of 1812 and Indian fighter hero known as "Old Tippecanoe" (for a victory over the Indians) and died just 31 days into his term of typhoid, pneumonia, and paratyphoid fever, prompting the first protocols for replacing a sitting president when he dies.

--Cooter

Buckeye Presidents-- Part 2: "Bearded Guys, Old Civil War Soldiers"

The presidential egg roll started under President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife Lucy in 1878.  President Benjamin Harrison's wife, First Lady Caroline Harrison placed the first White House Christmas tree in 1889 and initiated the tradition of White House china collections.

"Many of the different things that we take for granted in some respects when we hear about them on the news, were actually started by presidents from Ohio," Shererer said.

It was era, the Gilded Age, whose presidents are largely forgotten, said Dustin McLochlin, historian at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums in Fremont, Ohio.

"They're bearded guys, old Civil War soldiers and generals when the presidency wasn't as powerful as it is today," he said.    "What the Ohio presidents really speak to, if you're going to talk about them as a whole, is it's an era when Ohio is so important to winning an election, particularly to the Republican Party."

--CootGild

Buckeye Presidents-- Part 1: Easter Egg Roll and the War Room

From the October 9, 2019, Chicago Tribune "Eyeing a Time Buckeye State bred presidents" by Julie Carr Smyth, AP.

Commanders in chief who hail from Ohio star in exhibit.

Lancaster, Ohio

Ohio had a formidable run of early U.S. presidents who established many of the White House's enduring traditions from the frolicsome Easter Egg Roll to the presidential war room.

This is explored in a new exhibit in Lancaster, about 30 miles southeast of Columbus in the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio.  The exhibit is called "The Ohio Presidents Surprising Legacies" which opened in September and ran until the end of the year.  Sorry, you missed it.

The exhibit showcases a roughly 80-year period beginning in 1840.

"We are highlighting some of the things about their lives and careers that are not typically known by the general public," said curator Christine Fowler Sherarer.  "We've tried to find the fun facts and things that aren't common knowledge."

--CootEye

Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs-- Part 3: 9/11 and KKK

The exhibit doesn't have much more to add on  9/11, but the twisted piece of an airplane said to be from the World Trade Centers packs a punch.  The show is stronger when it goes back farther in time.  It tells about the Ku Klux Klan marching in Washington, D.C. and even KKK business cards.

They also have a bulletin board to address current day events with articles about "Trump's border wall" and the racist Charleston killer, whose name I won't mention..

Some more photos accompanying the article:

**  The robes worn by the KKK, including a red one and, even sadder, a kid's robe.

**  A pike

**  Equipment worn by an emergency services worker at the Oklahoma City bombing site.

The exhibit goes through October 1 and is included with the $16 general admission price  The Chicago History Museum is at 1601 N. Clark Street

--Cooter

Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs Exhibit Opens in Chicago-- Part 1: A Piece of a 9/11 Plane

From the April 20, 2017, Chicago Tribune "Espionage exhibit features intrigue" by Steve Johnson.

"Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs" is a new exhibit at the Chicago History Museum.  It's subtitle is "Fear and Freedom in America."  It looks back into America's past and highlights moments when peace was threatened from within and the nation debated questions of safety and the sacrifice of public liberties.

Some of the events are well-known: the Communist scare of the 1950s, the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and the nationwide labor rights struggle that included the Haymarket bombing.

Three items in the exhibit:

**  A piece from a plane involved in the 9/11 attacks.

**  A vest packed with explosives.

**  An ammunition cartridge and weapon linked to the assassination of President William McKinley.

--Cooter

Challenger, Columbia Wreckage on Display for First Time

From the August 2, 2015, Yahoo! News/AP by Maurice Dunn.

For the first time, NASA has a new exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center showing one piece from each shuttle as well as reminders of the 14 astronauts who died in their explosions.

The intent of the exhibit is to show how they lived rather than died.

Among the personal items:  Challenger commander Francis "Dick" Scobee's leather helmet he wore from the StarJuster biplane he and his wife used to fly and his blue "TFNG" t-shirt from the astronaut class of 1979 which was nicknamed the "Thirty-Five New Guys."

Columbia commander Rick Husband's scuffed cowboy boots and well-worn open to Proverbs will also be shown.

Each of the 14 astronauts will have an individual display case.

The Columbia blew p Feb. 1, 2003, and 42 tons of debris was collected.

The Challenger blew up January 28, 1986.

See World War I Trenches in a Truck

From the February 13, 2012, Salt Lake (Utah) Tribune "Step into WWI trenches in 'big-rig' gallery visiting Utah."

You can walk through a trench and examine a Colt machine gun which took a crew of seven to operate.

An 18-wheeler truck will be at Salt Lake City's Fort Douglas Military Museum on Feb. 25th. Admission is free, but donations accepted.

Waddell & Reed, a financial services company founded by two World War I veterans in 1937 created this traveling exhibit with the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.  In it, you can see weapons, equipment, uniforms and even the flight suit and gear used by company co-founder Chauncey Waddell.

The exhibit also features the contributions and roles of women, blacks and immigrants to the war effort.

World War I resulted in the deaths of approximately 16.5 million with another 25 million wounded. In just over a year, the U.S. suffered 116,708 military deaths and even 757 civilian ones.

This tour comes on the eve of the centennial commemoration of the war.

You can check out their website at Waddell & Reed Traveling World War I Exhibit.

--Cooter