Historians Debut New Ohio Valley History Journal

In the early 1800s, the term "Ohio Valley" meant "the West." But what does it mean today, and how has the region and its identity evolved over time? Those are some of the questions a new historical journal edited by two UC faculty members will try to answer.

The inaugural issue of the journal, Ohio Valley History, has just arrived in subscribers' homes. It carries on a publication history that dates back to 1835, when the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio began publishing history about this area, according to Douglass W. McDonald, president and CEO of Cincinnati Museum Center. That first publication later evolved into Queen City Heritage, a quarterly published by the Cincinnati Historical Society -- now Cincinnati Museum Center -- until financial troubles led to the periodical's demise last year.

That's when the UC history department volunteered to head a new, expanded journal, edited by Wayne K. Durrill and Christopher Phillips of the history faculty in the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences.

Cincinnati Museum Center, which includes the Cincinnati Historical Society Library and the Cincinnati History Museum, had come to the conclusion it could no longer afford the $80,000 needed to publish the magazine four times a year, said Ruby Rogers, director of community history at Museum Center.

UC's Charles Phelps Taft Professor of History Emeritus Zane Miller was instrumental in approaching Durrill and Phillips about coming to the periodical's rescue. The two saw an opportunity for the journal to take on a wider focus, encompassing the entire Ohio Valley region.

According to Durrill, Ohio Valley History will attempt to "define a region that has until now been largely ill defined. "Although the Ohio River Valley isn't as readily identifiable as the South or the Midwest, it is a significant territory that holds a crucial place in the nation's history, Durrill continued. "Over the next three or four years, we will let scholars define the field, come up with the leading themes and set the research agenda for the next decade or so."

Adds Phillips, "The really hard work has now set in -- doing leg work to set the foundation for the journal's future, identifying and contacting scholars in and of the region for submissions ... sending issues to libraries, both academic and local, to encourage subscriptions, and contacting graduate programs in the region who would most likely have students who have immersed themselves in studies of the region and who are looking for an outlet for their ideas. Response has been enthusiastic, and nearly every offer to serve on the editorial board has been accepted by reputable scholars from across the country. Those responses have confirmed our belief that this region needs an identity; we are confident this journal will help to create it."

The first issue features articles on:

• An exploration of the cities along the Ohio, including Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville and how historians have previously examined the region, by David Stradling of UC's history department.

• The question of the Ohio Valley and in what sense it is a region, by Andrew L. Cayton of Miami University.

• An examination of the Ohio Valley that argues that the area is one of differing political cultures, by Nichole Etcheson of the University of Texas at El Paso.

• Rookwood Pottery and its origins as an artistic enterprise founded and staffed by women, by Nancy E. Owen of Northwestern University.

Each issue will also feature book reviews, with at least one focusing on a significant work from the past. For example, one of the first issue's four book reviews is about Afloat on the Ohio, a reprint of an 1897 book by Reuben Gold Thwaites (1853-1913). He was an archivist, editor and historian who took a six-week voyage down the Ohio River with his wife, 10-year-old son and a friend. His 32-volume edition of Early Western Travels helped to romanticize the West, including the Ohio Valley.

The inaugural issue was mailed to about 2000 Cincinnati Museum Center members, according to Rogers, who serves as managing editor of the new journal. Subscriptions to Ohio Valley History are $27 a year. The publication is also included in membership at the Cincinnati History Museum ($50 for an individual plus one and $60 for a family). To subscribe, send a check to the Cincinnati Museum Center, attention Ruby Rogers, Ohio Valley History, 1301 Western Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45203. For information, call 287-7080.