An Organization with History

Mission. The Columbus Historical Society (CHS) was founded in 1990, and has become one of the premier non-profit cultural organizations in Central Ohio. Our mission is, “… to educate the citizenry, to preserve historic artifacts, and to instill pride, love, and respect for ourselves, our cultures, and our ways of life.” CHS accomplishes this mission with a broad spectrum of programs, publications, collections, and promotion of heritage as an economic development and tourism tool. Our offices and gallery space at the Jefferson Center are here to serve our members and the entire Central Ohio community.

The organization also seeks to expand its mission by partnering with other local historical associations to achieve an integrated approach to the history of the greater Columbus area. For example, the CHS worked with MORPC to establish a network of local historical societies to efficiently expand awareness of Central Ohio’s history and to promote heritage tourism.

Collections. As a Society, we actively collect historic artifacts, documents and artwork pertaining to the history of the city of Columbus. The Society’s collections were recently expanded with the additions of a plat book which details land additions to the City of Columbus between 1897 and 1920; and, more than 80 drawings and renderings for major buildings such as Central High School and the Old Courthouse.

Exhibits. The Columbus Historical Society was one of the lead organizations participating in the Franklin County Bicentennial Project. All exhibits created for the county celebration of 2003 were donated to CHS for exhibition. We are also currently assisting the City of Columbus in planning its Bicentennial Celebration to be held in 2012.

Programs. The society produces an average of six programs per year, with major events strategically preserved on tape for future broadcast or exhibit use. A listing of forthcoming programs appears elsewhere on this website.

One example of an outstanding program was “Mayors of Columbus – A Historic Perspective, which staged a panel of all living former mayors, James A. Rhodes, Tom Moody, Dana G. “Buck” Rinehart, Greg Lashutka, and current Mayor Michael B. Coleman. “The event was the late Governor Rhodes’ last public appearance.

Another example of programming was “Trailblazers: African-American Leadership Roundtable.” Trailblazers included a panel of African-American civic leaders over 65 years of age. Moderated by State Representative Ray Miller, the panel included Ann Walker (media), Wilbur Weddington, M.D (medical), Amos Lynch (publishing), Evelyn Luckey (education), and Otto Beatty, Jr. (government). The discussion centered on changes in the African-American community in their lifetime with respect to their business, culture, economics, and racism.

Projects. The CHS is involved in a variety of projects to increase local historical awareness and information. One on-going project involves providing materials for elementary school teachers of Columbus history. In 2003, CHS facilitated the publication of “Through Children’s Eyes: Tales of Old Columbus.” A teacher advisory group is now actively working to develop lesson plans to accompany that text. The CHS Gallery Project will focus on expanding our gallery at 51 Jefferson Avenue for school and community group use. Finally, CHS has organized a series of docent-led bus tours of historic downtown Columbus which have been very well received.