Garnet C. Brown

After living in the Dayton area for over a year and a half, I was not surprised to find a collection about another person who was an engineer for planes and automobiles. Garnet C. Brown, a Springfield native, is credited with helping create the Army’s first electric bomb rack and designed the motor for synchronized firing through propeller blades. Without attending college, Brown acquired his engineering skills by working in a machine shop. Brown went on to work for well-known manufacturing companies such as Dayton Electrical, Packard Motor Car, Willys-Overland Company, and Bohn Aluminum and Brass Corp to name a few. Born in 1881, Brown had the advantage of being around for the creation of not just airplanes, but cars as well, making a perfect playground for an engineering mind!

            Flipping through his collection in the archives, it’s clear his passion extended to other things such as firearms, and military artillery. Correspondence between fellow firearm aficionados shows great interest in adding to his collection of rare rifles and shotguns. Along with being a pioneering engineer, Brown is also considered an inventor. Helping to develop the widely used Twin-Six engine in 1915, electric bomb rack in 1918, and upgraded wheels and fluid pumps for aircrafts.

            Between a few letters and blueprints, was a short story of sorts which discussed the issues with the first automobiles. Brown addresses many insights which I’m sure many would never consider. For one, with cars came mechanics. An entirely new trade and he mentions that people in the early years of cars were going to their own mechanic to find a cheaper solution to their issues. Not much has changed in roughly 100 years. Whether or not this short informative story was intended to be published in a book or pamphlet was unclear. But it does point out the slightly comical issues car owners had during their time. Breaks used to be made by using leather, and with time that leather began to erode as vehicles became faster and faster. Believe it or not, since these breaks were not foolproof, it was likely that your car would roll away from you. Yet, if you were using the newest and state of the art hand breaks, not only would your car stay in place, but it would also tear up the road!

            This first-hand account of car troubles from the first years of the 1900s is an excellent view of the issues of new inventions. Most of us probably look at old Model T cars and never really think about the problems they had, or what crazy ideas people had to fix them. Using leather in breaks?! It might sound crazy today, but probably not that crazy compared to a gas-powered vehicle still in its infancy. Many of us take for granted the hard work and engineering which has gone into our current day cars, and documents such as this allow us to take a step back and realize that our car troubles are not so severe.

Erix Infante

Sources:

MS – 82: Garnet C. Brown Papers
Box 3 File 1 & 2

Argonne Forest

While going on a fall hike, my friends and I decided to meet up somewhere new. We had never been to Possum Creek Metropark, a Five Rivers Metropark a few miles southwest of Dayton. When we arrived we decided to take the purple trail, and we began our hike. About halfway down the trail we started noticing rusty pieces of metal everywhere that looked like tracks and pieces of old cars. Curious, we started to explore the mysterious heaps of metal, where we met some other adventurous hikers who told us we were walking through the remains of an abandoned amusement park. It turns out part of the current Possum Creek Metropark used to be home to the now abandoned Argonne Forest Amusement Park.

Remains of the Argonne Forest Amusement Park

Argonne Forest Amusement Park was founded in 1920's by Null Hodapp, and reached it's popularity during that time. Daytonians could visit the park to go swimming, go kart racing, or see the carnival. The park also had a dance hall and baseball diamond. Park goers could even rent canoes and ponys to ride around. Hodapp also bought four retired streetcars from the city of Dayton and placed them around Argonne Forest, and rented them out as campsites for $12 a month.

Argonne Forest swimming pool and baseball field during the 1920's
Photo courtesy of the Dayton Daily News

When the Great Depression hit, the park suffered and business began to slow. The park was able to pull through the tough financial times though, and continued operation into the 1940's, when the wartime demands of WWII eventually forced its closure and abandonment. When Five Rivers Metroparks acquired the property they decided to leave the abandoned rides and structures to show how land was used before modern conservation efforts.

- Krista Dunkman

Sources:

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/amusement-parks-that-fell-the-wayside-nostalgic-sites-southwest-ohio/1EnJWHISOIP7f9lXuGJC3I/

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/dayton-summer-thrills-amusement-parks-where-the-city-went-for-adventure/R2KDtwRtloEkNrh5yJPXTK/

https://www.metroparks.org/places-to-go/possum-creek/

Dayton Was Not Impressed

When my dad was growing up in Northridge, OH in the 1970's, he was a huge Doobie Brothers fan. He always tells the story about the time he went to go see them in concert and the crowd booed the opening band off stage, which just so happened to be Journey. I always thought this just proved how old my dad was that he couldn't appreciate Journey, but it turns out music fans in Dayton have a history of being unimpressed with famous musicians. Only a decade earlier, the Rolling Stones came to Hara Arena to play their first show in Dayton in  November of 1964. The famous band that would eventually  transform the cultural and musical landscape of the entire world was just starting to make a name for themselves in the U.S. in late 1964, and the country was showering them with television appearances and critical acclaim. It seemed like the Rolling Stones were quickly becoming the most popular band everywhere they went. Everywhere except for Dayton. Although an intense marketing package heralded the Stones as the best band since the Beatles, they sold less than 1,000 of the available 6,000 tickets to their Dayton show, and not even all those who bought tickets bothered to show up.

Hara Arena on Nov. 14th, 1964, the night of the Rolling Stones concert
Photo courtesy of the Dayton Daily News

The crowd look more like the size of the audience at a high school band concert than that of a rock concert, however the lack in turnout could have been made up for by an amazing show. Unfortunately, the consensus among the concert goers was the the Rolling Stones concert was a dud. They only stayed on stage for about 30 minutes, and performed a mere 8 songs. 

Absolutely no one paying attention to
the Rolling Stones concert at Hara Arena in 1964
Photo Courtesy of the Dayton Daily News

The review in the Dayton Daily News the next day, written by Gee Mitchell, was absolutely brutal. Mitchell used quotes when referring to Mick Jagger as a "vocalist", suggested that the band looked like homeless men who were picked up on the way to the concert, and questioned England's taste if they truly believed the Rolling Stones were second only to the Beatles. Perhaps the audience that night really did experience a terrible concert, but it has since turned into a somewhat prideful narrative about how the people of Dayton are unimpressed with the rich and famous.

- Krista Dunkman

Sources:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/the-night-the-rolling-stones-bombed-dayton/mWFqXkoT2YFk8R7F1o6niO/

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local/when-the-rolling-stones-bombed-dayton/8S9ELVAz47XGi1d1jrDUnL/

So Easy A Child Could Be Seriously Injured While Doing It

All Harry Frahn and Morris Rice wanted to do was make things easier for the citizens of Osborn, and make money while doing it. They had the perfect plan. If Osborn had to move to make way for the new dam, why not buy all the property, move it themselves, and then resell it? The residents of Osborn wouldn’t have to worry about moving their property, they would be so thankful! Frahn and Rice gathered seven other Osborn businessmen and set to work as the Osborn Removal Company in March of 1920. Moving an entire city couldn’t be that hard, right? Surely not everyone in Osborn would actually want to keep the same house they owned before. Only a handful would, and Frahn and Rice could then profit from the resell of the other houses. Their plan was foolproof!

But then almost everyone in Osborn wanted to stay. Frahn and Rice could still make this work. So they had to resell most of the properties to their original owners and couldn’t make as large of a profit had they been able to solicit outside buyers, big deal. They could still solicit outside buyers for a few of the properties, new businesses would be dying to come to a place as fine as Osborn. Well, maybe not dying, but why were these potential owners being so needy? WM. Snyder expressed interest in moving his hardware store to Osborn from Cleveland, but then he had the gall to suggest that his “first class” reputation might be sullied if the citizens of Osborn couldn’t meet his high standards. As if Cleveland is the pinnacle of high society! Why did Snyder and the others need so much convincing? 

Greeting card featuring the beautiful landscape of Osborn

Even the citizens of Osborn were creating a fuss. Didn’t they realize that Frahn and Rice were trying to help them? Of course they were going to have to pay a little extra money when they rebought their own homes, entire houses were being dismantled and moved miles away! Obviously the company couldn’t guarantee the houses would be undamaged when they arrived at their new location, it’s not like they were a professional moving company. Well, technically yes, they were but they had never done this before, why couldn’t anyone cut them some slack?

And then there was that awful business with Henry Seifer. The Osborn Removal Company was providing work for hundreds of locals, all they had to do was tear down the houses and rebuild them, it’s not like that took any special skill set. Why couldn’t 17 year old Seifer do the job correctly? He said he passed 9^th grade, he should have been completely qualified to demolish a house and rebuild it without supervision. Was the Osborn Removal Company actually expected to train him to tear down a 30 ft. high brick wall? All the other workers could do it just fine, Seifer must just have been a little dim. When he saw the wall start to fall why couldn’t he have just moved? And then he had the nerve to sue! The kid was making more money than he had in his life, why couldn’t he have been happy with that and moved on after the injury? He somehow convinced the judge the Osborn Removal Company was at fault, and they had to pay him $280 per week for the next six months. So what if Henry Seifer couldn’t use his left arm and leg, what’s truly shocking is that no one seemed to appreciate the hard work of the Osborn Removal Company.

- Krista Dunkman

Sources:

[Creation of Osborn Removal Company, 1920-1921, Box #7, Folder #19], MS-77, Osborn Removal Company Records, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.

[Letter from WM. J. Snyder to the Osborn Removal Company, March 26^th, 1920, Box #9, Folder #8], MS-77, Osborn Removal Company Records, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.

[Henry Seifer Injury Case: Case Documents, 1925-1926, Box #9, Folder #1], MS-77, Osborn Removal Company Records, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.

Before Opening Night

The lights dim. The lingering bits of chatter fade away. The curtain looms ahead. We sit silently with growing anticipation, waiting for the curtain to reveal the glorious spectacle. Backstage, the dancers breathe slowly to calm their nerves. They feel that great feeling of both fear and excitement. The orchestra sits patiently in the pit, their instruments at the ready. Everyone in the theater waits. Tension builds and will only be released by removing the velvet wall that separates reality from fantasy. Sitting in the audience before the show begins, I think about what led to this moment. Fortunately, one of the dancers, Josephine Schwarz, answered my query.

The year is 1934. It is still warm outside as summer forges ahead into August. Boston welcomes the School of American Ballet who traveled from New York to perform. It appears they brought the whole school with them. Besides the dancers there are musicians, designers, and costumers getting everything ready for the show. Even more file into the theatre including, a shoe man, wig man, and hat lady. All these people make the show possible, but sometimes the audience forgets those who are not seen on stage.

The excitement is already building as the students prepare for opening night. Being in a different city and on a different stage requires hours upon hours of work, with only two days to rehearse here in Shubert Theatre. Shortly after arriving they were in rehearsal for three and a half hours, took a short hour and half break, and then back in the theatre for another two and a half hours. That night one of the dancers did not go to bed until one o’clock in the morning. It seems as if those dancers live in that theater; they spend fifteen hours a day there.

Josephine Schwarz 1938

Waiting in the audience, we do not see the sweat, pain, and work that go into a rehearsal. We only see the finished product. It always seems so effortless on stage, and frankly, we do not want to know that yesterday’s rehearsal was a disaster. It is probably better if the audience remains ignorant of such things. Well, it would be disconcerting to hear one of the ballerinas say that they were not ready for the performance, and everything was a complete mess. It is understandable when they have not even practiced in their new costumes yet with the performance less than seventy-two hours away.

Rehearsing is all they do in order to give their best performance. But sometimes it can be a struggle. With the small stage, bothersome wigs, and posts and pillars in odd places, who wouldn’t be worried about opening night? The show is expected to be brilliant and have a long run, but one student has her doubts. She is even hoping for an act from God such as a tidal wave, hurricane, or earthquake to prevent the curtain from opening. No matter how chaotic the rehearsals, the show will go on.

Opening night is the most exciting of all performances. Unfortunately, one dancer confided in me that, “things seem to be getting worse as far as our numbers are concerned & we wonder why in God’s name we ever opened or why we ever wanted to be in the show any way.” As a spectator, I cannot imagine the pain of feeling this way. After all their hard work and hours of rehearsal, it must be difficult to give a performance that they deem unacceptable. But how can the dancers do their best when changes are constantly being made? The pillars have changed position, and two of the numbers have been taken out and then put back in again. After so many changes, anyone would have a difficult time trying to remember them all.

Miss Schwarz and the rest of the crew stayed in Boston for three weeks before returning to New York. After spending most of her time at the theatre and the Charlotte Cushman Club, where she stayed, Miss Schwarz regretted not being able to see more of Boston. But it was a relief to be back in the Big Apple, where she continued her lessons. The moment before a show is thrilling, and everything before it can be just as exciting, although sometimes, it can also be messy.

By Julie Hale

Sources:

Josephine Schwarz, letter, July 31, 1934, MS-218, Josephine Schwarz Papers, Special
       Collections and Archives, University Libraries, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.
Josephine Schwarz, letter, August 4, 1934, MS-218, Josephine Schwarz Papers, Special
       Collections and Archives, University Libraries, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.
Josephine Schwarz to Family, August 7, 1934, MS-218, Josephine Schwarz Papers, Special
       Collections and Archives, University Libraries, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.
Josephine Schwarz to Hermene and Hannah Schwarz and Claudia, August 10, 1934, MS-218,
Josephine Schwarz Papers, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, Wright State
       University, Dayton, Ohio.
Josephine Schwarz, letter, August 1934, MS-218, Josephine Schwarz Papers, Special Collections
       and Archives, University Libraries, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.

Photo: MS-218, Josephine Schwarz Papers, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries,
       Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.

A Look Into The Past

Last weekend I interviewed my grandmother to investigate what her life was like during World War II. She was excited to share stories of her early childhood and what it was like living in a house of seven people during a time when the United States when families survived on rations. My grandmother, born Lillian Botma, was seven years old when the US entered WWII. She lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her parents, two older sisters and her paternal parents from the Netherlands. In the back of their small house was a garden and a flock of pet ducks. Lillian's maternal grandparents from Holland lived in the house right behind theirs. Despite both sets of grandparents being Dutch, the grandparents found they had a language barrier and were unable to clearly communicate. In order to get by, they spoke broken English. The families took care of each other's well being, making sure all of their needs were met.

Lillian remembers eating fresh vegetables from their garden. She says meals always consisted of a meat source, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable. Most of the food was provided from what they could grow in their garden and what items could be obtained with rations. Meals were often cooked by her grandmother. The family of seven never seemed to go without when so many families struggled to feed mouths. She thinks the family did so well during the war due to her grandparents helping out with meals and supplying extra income for the household. Despite stories I have heard about the hardships many families faced during this time, my grandmother's interview is a reminder that not all families' diets were affected or drastically changed by the war. 

Source:

Lillian Curtis interviewed by Emily Reth, South Bend, IN, November 25, 2017

Emily Reth

New Meaning for the East Race

The St. Joseph River runs through the city of South Bend, Indiana.The river provided power to companies such as the Studebaker and Oliver Chilled Plow factories, whose industries were vital to the prosperity of South Bend.  The flowing water also provided power to saw mills near the downtown area. The river was crucial to keep production running.

What was once a means to increase industry, now serves as a means of recreation. In a post- industrial era, the city has used parts of the river to bring in tourism and commerce. During the Civil War, channels of the river were filled in to allow land to level. Soil was removed in 1973 to create the East Race was renovating the once prized channel along the east banks.

The 2,000 feet of raceway was made possible through tax payer funds. Today the raceway serves as a place for locals to kayak down the river, but also serves as a training course for Olympic whitewater kayakers. Since the opening of the East Race in 1984, shops, restaurants, and apartments have been built around the East Race due to the many visitors that walk along river pathways.

Sources:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/east-race-waterway
https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/keynews/localeconomy/east-race-waterway-celebrates-years/article_553a15b8-f0b4-11e2-a654-001a4bcf6878.html
https://visitsouthbend.com/white-water-rafting-in-downtown-south-bend/

Emily Reth