50 YEARS OF PRESERVING CINCINNATI

Cincinnati Museum Center is kicking off their latest local exhibit with an elegant gala: both celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA). The organization was started by three women dedicated to saving Native American and early settlement sites, then evolved their mission into saving entire neighborhoods.  Since 1964, the non-profit has worked buildings with historic architecture, public art, monuments and landscapes, as well as archaeological sites. One of their several current focuses, in addition to advocating for Union Terminal repairs, is restoring the historic neighborhood of Walnut Hills.

If you've visited Over-the-Rhine, it's likely that you've passed by or enjoyed a meal in one of the buildings saved by the CPA. They've worked along side developers to rehabilitate:

• Renaissance Hotel, Downtown
• The Color Building on Vine Street, home to Asian fusion restaurant, Kaze.
• Nicolay Lofts and Westfalen Lofts, at Race and 14th Street
• Hummel Building, condos located adjacent to Washington Park and Music Hall
  
  

  

  The new grey facade of the Hummel Building.

  
  

The former is where they'll be hosting the gala, November 8 at 7:00PM. Taking place in the Marriott Renaissance, Burnham Room C, the evening kicks off with cocktails at 6:00PM, followed by a gourmet dinner at 7:30PM. Tickets are available via phone (513-721-4506 Ext. 2) for $150 per person.

On a budget? Be sure to check out the FREE exhibit, Celebrating 50 Years of Working Together Saving Places at Cincinnati Museum Center in the Culture Gallery, located near the Historical Library in the center of the rotunda, lower level. The installment runs through April 5, 2015.

COCKTAILS WITH CURATORS

Cincinnati Museum Center is taking off their white artifact-handling gloves and picking up the silver tumbler in their after-hours series: Cocktails With Curators. Throughout the year, the museum will showcase their knowledgeable curators and allow guests to speak one-on-one with them about their favorite exhibits. Typically, curators aren't accessible for the general public, as they're busy working behind the scenes planning the next great exhibit to be featured at the museum. Cocktails With Curators brings the experts, and all their fascinating stories together with guests in a relaxed happy hour setting.

We attended a session with Scott Gampfer, Director of the Cincinnati History Library, held inside the Cincinnati History Museum. Guests were welcomed with light hors d'oeuvres, a selections of wine, beer and cocktails including the specialty drink of the evening, a lemon drop martini.

Later, Gampfer gave our group a personal tour of the Museum Center's newest exhibit: Treasures in Black & White, a gallery of historic photographs of Cincinnati spanning over the last 100 years. Handpicked from over 800,000 images in the collection, Treasures features 65 rare depictions of the Queen City. From Babe Ruth's visit during the 1947 All Star Game to architecture, Ruth Lyons, 1884 Courthouse Riots, World War I, streetcars, and chilling images from the 1937 flood, the selection tells the heartfelt story of Cincinnati's good times and bad.

When asked about his favorite picture, it was difficult for our curator to choose just one. Like most images, a select few resonate personally. For Gampfer, it was the telephone ladies that brought back memories of his grandmother: a line of women employed to connect calls on the switchboard for Cincinnati Bell.

 

Whether you can recall the stories first hand or have heard the legends passed down through generations, Treasures in Black & White is guaranteed hit home visually. Be sure to check out the exhibit as well as future Cocktails With Curators events, featuring paleontologist Brenda Hunda and the exhibit Cincinnati Under The Sea, or explore more Cincinnati history with collections curator David Conzett.

WOMEN WEDNESDAY: MARY EMERY

Mary Emery was one of Cincinnati's most generous philanthropists during the early 20th Century. A native of New York, Mary came to Cincinnati as a teneager in 1862 and married Thomas Emery four years later. During his working life, Thomas ammased a sizable fortune in manufacturing and real estate, which was left to Mary when he died in 1906. With no direct descendants, Mary spent the last two decades of her life providing financial support to countless charitable organizations, hospitals, museums, churchs, and universities.

Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Museum Center

In 1922, Mary hired a nationally recognized planning firm to design a ideal community on property she had purchaed. Her model town, Mariemont, was designed to provide housing for about 5,000 people from every level of society. Mariemont contained cottages and single-family homes, schools, recreational facilities, and shops as well as a library, theatre, town hall, and church. Although not all of the goals envisioned for the community were realized, urban planners and reformers praised Mariemont as a "national exemplar."

Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Museum Center

Aerial view of Mariemont
Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Museum Center

In 1916, Mary Emery and Anna Sinton Taft each put up $125,000 to purchase the financially troubled Cincinnati Zoo. Once they became owners, the two agreed to cover any deficits for the next five years to further secure the future of the Zoo.

Mary was also a major benefactor of the Cincinnati Art Museum and University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She funded the construction of Children's Hospital, orphanages, churches, recreational facilities and helped found the Cincinnati Opera.

As her final act of philanthropy, Mary created a $29 million charitable trust to continue her work after death. Her generosity continues to leave a lasting imprint on the city.

To learn more about the influential women of Cincinnati, check out the Daughters of the Queen City exhibit at Cincinnati Museum Center.

WOMEN WEDNESDAY: THE LADIES OF CINCINNATI STREETCAR

In honor of Women's History Month, CincyWhimsy is highlighting some of the fascinating stories about Cincinnati ladies in a series, Women Wednesday. For National Women in Construction Week, we're featuring some of the ladies who are working on the Cincinnati Streetcar project.

Laura Collins (Messer Project Manager), Sarah Perrino (City of Cincinnati Field Engineer),  

Delores Williams (Prus Cement Finisher), and Vercinia Warren (Messer Carpenter)

From design conception and engineering management to the daily construction work taking place along the streets of Over-the-Rhine and Downtown, these four women have been involved in the project every step of the way.

The focus of Women In Construction Week is to highlight construction as a viable career choice for women and to show that females are a visible component of the industry. Women comprise up to 12% of the construction workforce from owners, project managers, engineers, craftspeople, general contractors, subcontractors, administrative personnel, attorneys, insurers and lenders. Local Women In Construction chapters are celebrating the week through community service projects, jobsite tours, membership drives, student activities, hands-on workshops, fundraisers and outreach programs. For more about Women In Construction, visit www.nawic.org

To learn more about the influential women of Cincinnati, check out the Daughters of the Queen City exhibit at Cincinnati Museum Center.

WOMEN WEDNESDAY: PATRICIA CORBETT

In honor of Women's History Month, CincyWhimsy is highlighting some of the fascinating stories about Cincinnati ladies in a series, Women Wednesday. Here's this week's Daughter of the Queen City:

Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Museum Center

Patricia Barry Corbett, New York native, Columbia University graduate and trained singer, married J. Ralph Corbett in 1930 and made Cincinnati her home in 1932. By 1955 the couple had amassed enough funds from his company, Nu Tone, to establish the Corbett Foundation. By the time of Patricia's death in 2008, the Corbetts had donated more than $65 million to the arts, medicine, and education in the Queen City.

The Corbett Foundation funded a multitude of projects that involved music, such as Music Hall renovations, Cincinnati Symphony Orcestra and Opera tours, Riverbend Pavilion, and countless other artistic endeavors. They also established auditoriums at University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music, Northern Kentucky University, and School for the Creative and Performing Arts, becoming one of the key influencers in making Cincinnati the city that sings. In honor of her lifelong commitment to philanthropy, Patricia Corbett's name adorns countless buildings and performance halls across Greater Cincinnati.


To learn more about the influential women of Cincinnati, check out the Daughters of the Queen City exhibit at Cincinnati Museum Center.

WOMEN WEDNESDAY: JENNIE PORTER

Over the next several weeks, CincyWhimsy will be highlighting some of the fascinating stories about Cincinnati ladies in a series, Women Wednesday, in honor of Women's History Month which takes place in March. We're getting a head start in February in combination with Black History Month by beginning with stories of African American women from Cincinnati:

Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Museum Center

Jennie Porter was born in Cincinnati in 1879. Her father was Cincinnati's first African American undertaker and her mother a schoolteacher. Porter graduated from Hughes High School in 1895 and like her mother, she pursued a career in teaching. She ran a private kindergarten for African American children in the West End, then became a teacher at the Douglass School. After trying to find a temporary school for African American children who were displaced by a flood, she discovered that many did not have a school to go to in the first place. Porter helped establish the Harriet Beecher Stowe School in 1914 and became its principal, the first African American woman to serve in the position in the city.

Creating the Stowe School as a strictly African American school placed Porter at the center of a controversy. She believed segregated schools were better for African American children because they would be able to learn and grow in an environment free from the abuse and prejudice found in integrated schools. Porter's opponents believed segregated schools were a hindrance in the fight for equality, and helped strengthen segregation in other parts of life. Despite this, Porter held to her convictions.

Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Museum Center

While at the Stowe School, Porter pursued her college education and gained her bachelor's degree in 1923, her master's in 1925, and later became the first African American woman to earn a Doctorate of Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati. Porter continued her career as a principal until her death in 1936. Though her stance on segregated schools drew much criticism, she nevertheless created one of the most important educational opportunities for African Americans in Cincinnati.


To learn more about the influential women of Cincinnati, check out the Daughters of the Queen City exhibit at Cincinnati Museum Center.

WOMEN WEDNESDAY: THE LINKS, INCORPORATED

Cincinnati Museum Center recently unveiled its latest local exhibit, Daughters of the Queen City, to compliment its main exhibit about the life and artifacts of Princess Diana. The one room gallery was just as impressive as the traveling feature on the Princess. The Daughters collection illustrates a sampling of philanthropic efforts by Cincinnati women from the 1850s-1960s, highlighting both women's organizations as well as 10 well-known leading ladies of the city. Over the next several weeks, CincyWhimsy will be highlighting some of the fascinating stories we learned about Cincinnati ladies in a series, Women Wednesday, in honor of Women's History Month which takes place in March.

We're getting a head start in February in combination with Black History Month by beginning with stories of African American women from Cincinnati:

Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Museum Center

 
Established as the original circle of nine friends in Philadelphia in 1946, The Links, Incorporated is a premiere national women's volunteer service organization committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the cultural and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry.

Cincinnati women who understood the need to assume civic, cultural and social responsibilities in their community formed the Cincinnati Chapter of The Links, Incorporated on March 30, 1950, becoming the 17th chapter inducted into the Links Chain of Friendship. The chapter established an exemplary record of philanthropy both locally and internationally. In the 1950s, the first Cincinnati Chapter fundraiser provided funding for Camp Joy, the first integrated camp for children in the city. For nearly 45 years, the chapter presented the couture Ebony Fashion Fair with proceeds benefiting the building of the first The Links, Incorporated School in Africa, community service agencies, collegiate scholarships, and the chapter's community programs.

Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Museum Center

Charter members included Vivian Beamon, Johnnie Mae Berry, Reber Cann, Margaret Clarke, Ethel Caliman Deal, Vera Edwards, Camille Hood, Ruth Hubbard, Evelyn Jones, Laura Lovelace, Odessa Simms, and Mary Weatherly. Vivian Beamon served as National President and is credited with developing the concept of The Links Foundation, Incorporated and the adoption of The Arts as a programmatic focus. Margaret Hough was the first National Director of The Arts, followed by Yvonne Robertson.

The Cincinnati Chapter programs have left an indelible and transformational impact upon the greater Cincinnati community.

To learn more about the influential women of Cincinnati, check out the Daughters of the Queen City exhibit at Cincinnati Museum Center.

RIVERFRONT TRANSIT CENTER TOUR

Commonly referred to as Cincinnati's other abandoned subway, METRO held an open house during Ubahn Music Festival for the public to tour the Riverfront Transit Center and debunk the myth that the structure sits unused.

Located underneath the Second Street overpass between the stadiums, Riverfront Transit Center opened in 2003 for METRO and TANK buses, charter buses and school buses visiting the riverfront. The tunnel can accommodate over 500 buses and 20,000 passengers per hour. Originally, it was designed to include commuter rail transit, which was never implemented due to a failed referendum in 2002; just six months before the Riverfront Transit Center was to open.

Thus grew the legend that Cincinnati had abandoned another rail facility, much like the 2.2 miles of unused subway tunnels leftover from 1928. With street-level portals and underground entrances that resembled that of a subway system, one can certainly imagine what it would have been like to have rail Downtown.

 

Riverfront Transit Center is lined with beautiful tiled mosaics, each representing an activity of daily life: work, chores, food and leisure.

 

 

Though without rail, METRO, operator of the Riverfront Transit Center, continued to use the structure for its intended purpose. Currently, it serves as a parking facility for charter buses, school buses, and 12-passenger vans during all Reds and Bengals games for $30. Cars and small vehicles are not allowed in the RTC. It is also used as a layover destination for the new Metro*Plus buses. While solely used for wheel-and-axel vehicles, provisions have been made to accommodate commuter rail in the future.

DIXIE TERMINAL BUILDING

From a distance, a non-descript office tower lines the corner of Fourth and Walnut Streets among the many skyrises in the Financial District. Currently the home of Great American Insurance, this building was once epicenter of transit in Cincinnati.

Erected in 1921, Dixie Terminal was used for streetcar service until the 1950s. Streetcars arriving from Northern Kentucky crossed the Roebling Bridge and took elevated ramps over Third Street into the southern terminal. Passengers would arrive and depart through the grandiose north building. Over 100,000 passengers on Northern Kentucky’s Green Line streetcar were transported daily. A $3.5 million project, the facility was hailed as the "Gateway to the South." After the City of Cincinnati stopped streetcar service, Dixie Terminal was used as a bus terminal through 1998.

Dixie Terminal in the 1940s via CincinnatiViews.net

Streetcar entrance ramps into the southern terminal via CincinnatiViews.net

Streetcar ramps over Third Street in the 1920s via CincinnatiViews.net

Ten stories housed railroad ticket agencies, administrative offices of the Cincinnati Street Railway Company, Cincinnati Stock Exchange, and retail shops. Marble floors and wainscotting accent the interior, while the vibrant vaulted ceiling depicts children riding on the backs of animals. The entryway catches the eye from the street, with gold framing and Rookwood Tile archway.

Free and accessible to the public, the next time you're downtown, take a peek inside Dixie Terminal. Pause for a moment to remember the hustle and bustle that once passed through the halls during a time when rail was a key component to transportation in the Queen City.