NEXT, VISIT A PLACE
WHERE THE ESSENCE OF AMERICA
HAS BEEN BOTH FOUND AND FORMED.
<i>WATCH OHIO: 200 YEARS,</i>
THE SURPRISING STORY
OF AN EXTRAORDINARY STATE.
AS AN IMPORTANT PART OF OHIO'S
PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE,
KEY BANK IS A PROUD SPONSOR
OF THIS DOCUMENTARY
THAT PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE PEOPLE,
PLACES, AND THINGS
THAT HAVE HELPED OHIO
ACHIEVE A RICH PLACE
IN AMERICAN AND WORLD HISTORY.
KEY. ACHIEVE ANYTHING.
HONDA OF AMERICA MANUFACTURING--
OVER 20 YEARS IN OHIO AND PROUD
TO BE PART OF SOMETHING GREATER:
OHIO'S BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
FROM THE PEOPLE OF OHIO
AND THE OHIO BICENTENNIAL
COMMISSION.
Man: "IF THERE BE
A MATTER OF FACT PEOPLE
ON THE EARTH,
LOOK AT OHIO
AND YOU SHALL SEE THEM.
NO VISIONS HERE,
NO POETRY HERE,
ALL TABERNACLES OF THE FLESH,
ALL STERN REALITIES."
ISAAC JEWETT, 1831.
John Grabowski:
IS THERE AN OHIO IN OHIO?
I THINK THERE ARE
SEVERAL OHIOS IN OHIO.
THOSE OUTSIDE OF THE STATE
THINK, WELL,
OHIO IS THE MIDWEST.
AND TO SOME EXTENT
THAT HOLDS TRUE.
BUT THEN THERE'S THE OHIO
OF CINCINNATI
WHICH HAS A TINGE
OF SOUTHERN CULTURE.
THERE'S THE OHIO
OF CLEVELAND
BUILT BY THE INDUSTRIALIZATION
OF THE GREAT LAKES
IN THE 19th CENTURY.
Woman:
CHILLICOTHE HAS ALWAYS BEEN
A CENTER OF COMMERCE,
OF AGRICULTURE.
BOWLING GREEN
IS A GIANT PRAIRIE
WITH BUILDINGS ON IT.
STEUBENVILLE, YOUNGSTOWN,
BLUE COLLAR.
TOLEDO, OF COURSE,
IS A BLUE-COLLAR TOWN.
DAYTON IS A CITY
FOR WHICH THERE IS NO PLAUSIBLE
REASON FOR IT TO EXIST.
THERE'S NO GEOGRAPHICAL REASON
WHY OHIO SHOULD EXIST
AS A STATE.
THERE'S NO NATURAL BOUNDARIES
TO THE EAST AND THE WEST.
THERE ARE FOUR OR FIVE
PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS.
George Knepper: OHIO HAS SEVEN
MAJOR NEWSPAPERS,
ALL OF THEM WELL OVER
A HUNDRED YEARS OLD.
ALL WITH THEIR OWN
EDITORIAL OPINIONS.
I CAN GO TO AKRON AND TELL
A COUPLE OF GOODYEAR JOKES,
BUT I CAN'T GO TO CINCINNATI
AND SAY, SO, HOW ABOUT THAT
VULCANIZED RUBBER, HUH?
AM I RIGHT?
Narrator: WHEN POLLSTERS
WANT TO GET
A GOOD CROSS-SECTION OF AMERICA,
THEY GO TO OHIO.
IT'S BOTH URBAN INDUSTRIAL
AND COUNTRY AGRICULTURAL.
WHERE ELSE
BUT IN THE STATE OF OHIO
ARE YOU GOING TO FIND
THE POLKA HALL OF FAME
AND THE SOFTBALL HALL OF FAME
TOGETHER IN ONE BUILDING?
[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
Narrator: JUST ABOUT EVERY
ETHNIC GROUP IS AT HOME IN OHIO.
IT'S THE EASTERN STATE
WHERE ANNIE OAKLEY, ZANE GREY,
HOPALONG CASSIDY AND ROY ROGERS
WERE ALL BORN AND RAISED.
Announcer: WELCOME TO THE
CIRCLEVILLE PUMPKIN SHOW...
Narrator: IT'S THE WESTERN STATE
WHERE COMPANIES LIKE
STANDARD OIL, GOODYEAR,
GOODRICH, AND FIRESTONE
BECAME INDUSTRIAL POWERS.
OHIO HAS PRODUCED
BOTH CHIEF TECUMSEH
AND GENERAL
GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER;
TYCOON JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER
AND SOCIALIST NORMAN THOMAS;
THE WOMANIZING DEAN MARTIN
AND THE FEMINIST GLORIA STEINEM.
THERE ARE SO MANY LITTLE OHIOS
WITHIN THE STATE OF OHIO
THAT YOU JUST CAN'T HAVE
ONE FORMULA OR ONE APPROACH
IF YOU WANT TO WIN
THE STATE OF OHIO,
WHICH MAKES OHIO AN INTERESTING
CHALLENGE FOR ANY POLITICIAN.
Narrator: IN SIZE, OHIO RANKS
35th AMONG THE STATES.
IN POPULATION, IT RANKS 7th.
WITH 21 VOTES
IN THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE,
OHIO MATTERS.
John Glenn:
THE GREAT STATE OF OHIO,
THE BIRTHPLACE OF AVIATION
AND MOTHER OF PRESIDENTS...
Narrator:
EACH TIME BILL CLINTON WENT
AFTER THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION,
HE CHOSE OHIO TO PUT HIM
OVER THE TOP AT THE CONVENTION.
John Glenn: ...CASTS EVERY ONE
OF ITS VOTES
FOR THE CURRENT AND NEXT
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
BILL CLINTON!
[CROWD CHEERING]
Interviewer:
WHAT'S THE STATE NICKNAME?
THE BUCKEYE STATE.
(together) BUCKEYE STATE.
OH YEAH, BUCKEYE,
THAT I KNOW.
John Freudenstein: THIS IS
A BUCKEYE RIGHT HERE.
WE CALL IT A NUT.
IT'S IN FACT ACTUALLY A SEED.
IT'S CALLED THE BUCKEYE
BECAUSE OF ITS RESEMBLANCE TO,
FOR SOME PEOPLE AT LEAST,
TO THE EYE
OF THE WHITETAIL DEER,
WHICH WAS A NAME THAT THE EARLY
COLONISTS GAVE TO IT HERE.
IT'S NEVER BEEN CALLED THAT
IN EUROPE, THE EUROPEAN SPECIES.
SO THAT'S A UNIQUELY
AMERICAN NAME.
Narrator: IF THE BUCKEYE
IS A VERY AMERICAN NAME,
THE STATE IT SYMBOLIZES
IS OFTEN SEEN
AS THE MOST TYPICAL
OF AMERICAN STATES.
ITS HISTORY, FOR ONE THING, IS
VERY MUCH THE STORY OF AMERICA.
OHIO'S WHITE SETTLERS
CREATED ABUNDANT FARMS
IN THE WILDERNESS;
IT BECAME VIOLENTLY DIVIDED
OVER SLAVERY;
IT INDUSTRIALIZED AT FULL TILT,
GIVING BIRTH
TO MONOPOLIES AND UNIONS,
AND THEN THE IDEALISTIC MOVEMENT
CALLED "TEMPERANCE."
THE EXPLOSION CALLED
"IMMIGRATION"
WOULD CHANGE OHIO
TIME AND TIME AGAIN.
BUT IN THE BEGINNING,
OHIO, LIKE ALL OF AMERICA,
WAS AN INDIAN PLACE.
Bradley Lepper:
OHIO WAS A PARADISE
FOR THE NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLES.
GAME, FISH IN THE STREAMS,
FERTILE SOILS
FOR GROWING THE CROPS
THAT THE NATIVE AMERICANS GREW.
GIGANTIC NUT TREES.
THERE REALLY WOULD HAVE BEEN AN
ABUNDANCE OF NATURAL RESOURCES.
Narrator: 1670: THE FRENCH
EXPLORE THE OHIO RIVER.
1788: FORTY-EIGHT HOMESTEADERS
ESTABLISH MARIETTA,
ONE OF THE FIRST PERMANENT
WHITE SETTLEMENTS IN OHIO.
Bradley Lepper:
NATIVE AMERICANS REALLY WANTED
TO FIGHT FOR THIS LAND.
THE SHAWNEE, IN PARTICULAR,
DIDN'T WANT PEOPLE
CROSSING THE OHIO RIVER
FROM KENTUCKY
INTO THE OHIO VALLEY.
ARTHUR ST. CLAIR WAS GOVERNOR
OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
SENT INTO THIS AREA
BY GENERAL WASHINGTON
TO ELIMINATE
THE NATIVE AMERICAN THREAT.
HE LED AN ARMY
UP THROUGH WESTERN OHIO.
THAT ARMY WAS ANNIHILATED
BY NATIVE AMERICAN FORCES
LED BY LITTLE TURTLE.
THE DEFEAT OF ST. CLAIR'S ARMY
WAS A MUCH BIGGER DEFEAT
OF THE AMERICAN ARMY
THAN CUSTER'S LAST STAND.
Narrator: BUT IT WOULD BE ONE
OF THE LAST INDIAN VICTORIES
IN OHIO COUNTRY.
FOR 20 YEARS
THE SHAWNEE CHIEF TECUMSEH
WAGED AN UPHILL WAR
AGAINST THE SETTLERS.
HE WAS FINALLY KILLED
IN BATTLE IN 1813.
SOME SAY THAT HIS BODY
WAS FLAYED BY THE AMERICANS,
FOR SOUVENIRS.
BUT A SHAWNEE LEGEND
HOLDS OTHERWISE.
Woman: "HIS NAME MEANT
SHOOTING STAR.
FROM MAD RIVER COUNTRY
NORTH TO THE BORDER
HE GATHERED THE TRIBES
AND ARMED THEM ONE MORE TIME.
HE VOWED TO KEEP OHIO
AND IT TOOK HIM
OVER TWENTY YEARS TO FAIL.
AFTER THE BLOODY AND FINAL
FIGHTING, AT THAMES,
IT WAS OVER, EXCEPT
HIS BODY COULD NOT BE FOUND.
IT WAS NEVER FOUND,
AND YOU CAN DO
WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH THAT,
SAY HIS PEOPLE CAME IN THE BLACK
LEAVES OF THE NIGHT
AND HAULED HIM
TO A SECRET GRAVE,
OR THAT HE TURNED INTO
A LITTLE BOY AGAIN,
AND LEAPED INTO A BIRCH CANOE
AND WENT ROWING HOME
DOWN THE RIVERS.
ANYWAY, THIS MUCH I'M SURE OF:
IF WE EVER MEET HIM,
WE'LL KNOW IT,
HE WILL STILL BE
SO ANGRY."
MARY OLIVER.
Narrator: 1796: LAND
IN NORTHEAST OHIO
IS SURVEYED BY MOSES CLEAVELAND
AND HIS CREW.
THEY ARE SOON DRIVEN AWAY
BY INSECTS AND DISEASE.
MOSES CLEAVELAND
NEVER RETURNS TO OHIO.
1797: JOHN YOUNG PURCHASES
AN ENTIRE TOWNSHIP,
MAPS IT, CALLS IT YOUNGSTOWN.
OHIO WAS KIND OF THE CALIFORNIA
OF THE 19th CENTURY.
PEOPLE THOUGHT OF IT
AS A LAND OF OPPORTUNITY.
Priscilla Hewetson: ś COME
ALL YOU BRISK YOUNG FELLOWS ś
ś WHO HAVE A MIND TO ROAM...
Narrator: 1803:
OHIO BECOMES A STATE
UNDER THE TERMS
OF THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE:
NO SLAVERY ALLOWED.
ś ...AND WE'LL SETTLE ON THE
BANKS OF THE LOVELY OHIO ś
ś AND WE'LL SETTLE ON
THE BANKS OF THE LOVELY OHIO ś
Andrew Cayton: IF YOU CAME
TO OHIO IN 1803,
YOU'D FIND PEOPLE
FROM MASSACHUSETTS,
PEOPLE FROM VIRGINIA,
PEOPLE FROM SOUTH CAROLINA.
Kathy Nelson:
YOU HAD A HUGE POPULATION
OF IRISH PEOPLE LIVING HERE,
YOU HAD A HUGE POPULATION
OF GERMANS LIVING HERE.
OHIO HAS ALWAYS BEEN A STATE
THAT HAS ATTRACTED
A NUMBER OF IMMIGRANTS.
Narrator: 1813:
COMMODORE OLIVER PERRY
DEFEATS THE BRITISH FLEET
AT THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE--
THE BRITISH NEVER RETURN
TO OHIO.
1825: THE ERIE CANAL IN NEW YORK
ALLOWS FARMERS TO LEAVE
ROCKY NEW ENGLAND
FOR THE MORE FERTILE LAND
TO THE WEST.
1845: OHIO COMPLETES
ITS OWN CANALS,
INCLUDING TWO ENORMOUS WATERWAYS
RUNNING FROM LAKE ERIE
TO THE OHIO RIVER.
IT'S JUST HARD TO IMAGINE
THIS BEING DONE
WITHOUT THE BULLDOZERS AND THE
HUGE TRUCKS THAT WE HAVE NOW.
THIS WAS HAND LABOR.
THEY WERE BUILT ON BUDGET.
AND THEY DID EXACTLY WHAT THEIR
PROPONENTS SAID THEY WOULD DO
IS THEY CREATED PROSPERITY.
Narrator: SUDDENLY OHIO FARMERS
COULD SELL THEIR CROPS
FOR A WHOPPING PROFIT
ALL ALONG THE EASTERN SEABOARD.
THE STATE SOON LED THE NATION
IN PRODUCING HORSES, SHEEP,
WHEAT AND CORN.
Ohio Village Singers:
ś THERE ARE FISHES IN THE RIVER
JUST FITTED FOR OUR USE ś
Narrator:
AND BY 1860 IT HAD ALMOST
3,000 MILES OF RAILROAD TRACK.
ONCE ISOLATED, OHIO WAS NOW
AT THE HEART AMERICAN COMMERCE.
Ohio Village Singers:
ś ...OF THE LOVELY OHIO
ś WHEN WE SETTLE ON THE BANKS
OF THE LOVELY OHIO ś
Interviewer:
WHAT'S THE STATE INSECT?
THE STATE'S INSECT?
IS IT THE DRAGONFLY?
I'M AFRAID IT'S THE MOSQUITO.
THE ANT.
OH, THAT'S THE LADYBUG.
YEAH.
John Wenzel: MASSACHUSETTS,
NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW YORK,
TENNESSEE, AND OHIO
ALL HAVE THE LADYBUG
AS THE STATE INSECT.
THE ADULTS ARE THE ONES
THAT EVERYBODY RECOGNIZES.
THE LARVAE, THE IMMATURES,
ARE THE ONES DOING THE ENORMOUS
BENEFIT OF KILLING APHIDS.
AND YOU SHOULD BE GLAD
THAT LADYBUGS ARE SMALL,
BECAUSE THEY ARE SUCH
FEROCIOUS PREDATORS
THAT IF THEY WERE
THE SIZE OF PUPPIES
YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO GO OUTSIDE.
Narrator: FOR THE FIRST
SIXTY YEARS OF THE 19th CENTURY
THERE WAS ANOTHER PLACE
WHERE CERTAIN OHIOANS
WOULDN'T WANT TO GO--
JUST ACROSS THE OHIO RIVER.
OHIO WAS FREE;
KENTUCKY, ON THE SOUTH BANK,
WAS A SLAVE STATE.
THE JOURNEY NORTH
ACROSS THE RIVER
WAS FOR THOUSANDS
A VOYAGE TOWARD FREEDOM.
J. Lujuana Miller: THERE WERE
SEVERAL PATHS THAT SLAVES TOOK
AS THEY LEFT THE SOUTH.
CROSSING THE OHIO RIVER
INTO CINCINNATI
WAS THE MOST
HEAVILY TRAVELED ROUTE.
IT IS ESTIMATED THAT
SOME 30,000 PEOPLE
CROSSED THE OHIO RIVER
INTO CINCINNATI.
IT WAS KNOWN AS CROSSING
THE RIVER JORDAN INTO HEAVEN.
THERE WERE
MANY, MANY OTHER STATES
THAT WERE INVOLVED
IN THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD.
BUT OHIO WAS TRULY A KEY STATE
IN THAT MOVEMENT.
AND I DON'T THINK THERE'S
A COUNTY IN OUR 88 COUNTIES
THAT WAS NOT INVOLVED
IN THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD.
Narrator: IT WAS A RAILROAD
WITHOUT TRAINS:
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
WAS A NETWORK OF PATHS,
TRAILS, AND SAFE HOUSES.
RUNAWAY SLAVES
WERE CONDUCTED NORTHWARD
IN PLODDING WAGONS,
HIDDEN IN HAY,
OR ON RELAYS OF FAST HORSES,
TRAVELING BY NIGHT
AND ALWAYS HIDING.
OHIO WAS FREE, BUT IT WAS
NO PARADISE FOR THE RUNAWAYS.
OHIO HAD THE OHIO BLACK LAWS
THAT MEANT THAT ONCE A SLAVE
CROSSED OVER INTO OHIO
THEY HAD TO PAY $500
TO THE GOVERNMENT
TO SAY THAT THEY WERE GOING
TO BE GOOD CITIZENS.
THEY ALSO COULD NOT
GO INTO COURT
TO TESTIFY AGAINST
A WHITE PERSON,
AND THEY HAD TO CARRY
FREE PAPERS WITH THEM
ALL THE TIME.
Christopher Gillcrest:
SLAVES WOULD NOT BE FREE
IN THE NORTHERN STATES,
BUT THEY WOULD BE FREE
IN CANADA.
THE FINAL STOP
ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
IS A SCHOONER OR STEAMER
CROSSING LAKE ERIE.
OUT SANDUSKY, OHIO,
OUT OF HURON, OHIO,
OUT OF PAINESVILLE, OHIO,
CAPTAINS OF STEAMERS AND
SCHOONERS WOULD HIDE SLAVES AWAY
AND SAIL THEM ACROSS
THE GREAT LAKES, LAKE ERIE,
INTO CANADA WHERE THEY
EVENTUALLY WERE FREE.
Michael Follin: ś OH GIVE
THE SLAVES THEIR FREEDOM ś
ś YOU DO NO LONGER NEED THEM
ś NO LONGER CLOTHE
AND FEED THEM... ś
Narrator: IT WAS AGAINST THE LAW
TO HELP A SLAVE ESCAPE.
BUT MANY PEOPLE WERE WILLING
TO FACE THE RISK.
ABOLITIONIST SOCIETIES
FLOURISHED THROUGHOUT THE STATE.
AND ON THE BANKS
OF THE OHIO RIVER,
IN THE SMALL TOWN OF RIPLEY,
TWO MEN IN PARTICULAR
FOUGHT SLAVERY--
ONE WHITE, AND ONE BLACK.
REVEREND JOHN RANKIN
WAS A PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER.
HE LIVED FOR A TIME
WITH HIS FAMILY
RIGHT ON WHAT WE NOW CALL
LIBERTY HILL.
Edwin Rigaud:
HE PROVIDED A SAFE HOUSE
AT THE VERY TOP OF THE HILL.
FROM KENTUCKY YOU CAN SEE
THIS HOUSE FOR MILES.
JOHN RANKIN WOULD PUT A LIGHT
IN THE WINDOW
TO GIVE THE SLAVES
WHO WERE THINKING ABOUT ESCAPING
THE SIGNAL THAT IT WAS SAFE
TO CROSS AT THAT TIME
AND HIS HOUSE WAS INDEED
A SAFE HOUSE.
Kathy Nelson: HE AND HIS WIFE
AND HIS CHILDREN
KEPT AT BAY BOUNTY HUNTERS
AND MARSHALS AND SHERIFFS.
HE HELPED THOUSANDS OF RUNAWAYS
TO FREEDOM AND NEVER LOST ONE.
Edwin Rigaud: THERE WAS ANOTHER
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE RIVER
DOWN FROM JOHN RANKIN'S HOME.
IT BELONGED TO A FORMER SLAVE
BY THE NAME OF JOHN PARKER.
AND JOHN PARKER HAD PURCHASED
HIS FREEDOM FOR $1,800,
BUILT THIS HOUSE AND A FOUNDRY,
AND RAN A VERY SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESS.
JOHN PARKER WOULD,
WHENEVER HE COULD,
CROSS THE RIVER TO KENTUCKY AND
ACTUALLY HELP SLAVES COME OUT.
HE IS LITERALLY
HELPING RUNAWAYS
OFF OF PLANTATIONS
THERE IN KENTUCKY,
GETTING THEM BACK TO RIPLEY
AND SECRETING THEM UP TO PEOPLE
LIKE REVEREND JOHN RANKIN
UP ON THE HILL,
OR OTHER LOCAL CONDUCTORS
IN TOWN.
Narrator: ONE NIGHT JOHN PARKER
WENT DOWN THE OHIO
TO RESCUE A YOUNG FAMILY
IN KENTUCKY.
BUT THE MARRIED COUPLE
DID NOT WANT TO BE RESCUED.
THIS MOTHER
HAD A YOUNG INFANT
AND AS A DETERRENT
THE MASTER AND MISSIS
WOULD OFTEN KEEP THE BABY IN
A BUNDLE IN THEIR BED AT NIGHT.
THEY KEPT A CANDLE AND A GUN
BESIDE THE BED.
PARKER ASSURED HER THAT
HE WOULD GO IN THE HOUSE
AND CREEP UP THE STEPS
TO THE BEDROOM.
HE MADE ONE LEAP FOR THE CHILD
AND WAS GONE
BEFORE THE MASTER
COULD COME TO HIS SENSES
AND REALIZE WHAT HAD HAPPENED.
Narrator: A TEACHER AT THE
WESTERN FEMALE INSTITUTE
IN CINCINNATI
HEARD MANY SUCH TRUE STORIES.
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
LIVED IN OHIO FOR 17 YEARS;
WHAT SHE SAW OF SLAVERY NEARBY,
AND WHAT SHE HEARD
FROM ESCAPED SLAVES,
FORMED THE BACKGROUND
OF A NOVEL.
<i>UNCLE TOM'S CABIN,
PUBLISHED IN 1852,</i>
DID MORE THAN JUST SELL
MILLIONS OF COPIES:
IT INFLAMED BOTH
NORTH AND SOUTH.
PEOPLE IN THE NORTH HAD NO SENSE
OF THE ATROCITIES OF SLAVERY.
HER BOOK TOOK THE LID
OFF SLAVERY, IF YOU WILL,
AND IT ANGERED AN ENTIRE NATION.
Narrator: "GOD WROTE THAT BOOK,"
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE SAID.
"I MERELY TOOK HIS DICTATION."
Kathy Nelson: I CROSS THE BRIDGE
AND I GO OVER INTO KENTUCKY.
I STAND ALONG THE EDGE OF THE
RIVER FROM THE KENTUCKY SIDE.
I CAN CLEARLY SEE THE LITTLE
TOWN OF RIPLEY RIGHT IN VIEW.
I CAN EVEN SEE THE LITTLE HOUSE
ON THE HILL
WHICH BELONGED
TO REVEREND RANKIN.
AND I OFTEN STAND THERE
AND TRY TO IMAGINE
WHAT A SLAVE WOULD HAVE SEEN
WHILE HE OR SHE
WOULD HAVE BEEN STANDING THERE.
IF YOU CAN JUST GET
ACROSS THAT RIVER
YOU'LL FIND FREEDOM
ON THE OTHER SIDE.
MANY TRIED IT. MANY MADE IT.
MANY DIDN'T. MANY DROWNED.
MANY WERE TAKEN BACK.
I TRY TO IMAGINE
THE STRENGTH, THE COURAGE,
THE DETERMINATION
THEY HAD TO HAVE HAD
JUST TO MAKE IT
ACROSS THAT RIVER.
AS MUCH AS I RESEARCH
AND AS MUCH AS I READ,
I STILL CANNOT FATHOM
THAT JOURNEY.
Narrator: THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY
DIVIDED THE STATE,
JUST AS IT DIVIDED AMERICA.
BUT WHEN WAR CAME,
NO LESS THAN THREE
OUT OF EVERY FIVE MEN IN OHIO
RISKED THEIR LIVES
FOR THE UNION.
John Fleischman: OHIO SENT
340,000 MEN TO THE CIVIL WAR,
AND TEN PERCENT OF THEM DIED.
THERE WERE ONLY 2.1 MILLION
PEOPLE IN OHIO AT THE TIME
SO PROPORTIONALLY WE SENT
FAR MORE MANPOWER
THAN ANY STATE IN THE UNION.
WE WON THE CIVIL WAR.
OHIO WON THE CIVIL WAR
AND DOMINATED NATIONAL POLITICS
TILL THE TURN OF THE CENTURY.
Narrator: BETWEEN 1840 AND 1920,
OHIO SENT EIGHT MEN
TO THE WHITE HOUSE.
FIVE OF THEM FOUGHT
IN THE CIVIL WAR.
David Leland: BILL CLINTON
USED TO ALWAYS SAY
THAT IF YOU FOUGHT IN THE WAR
AS A UNION GENERAL
AND YOU WERE FROM OHIO,
YOU HAD A FIFTY-FIFTY CHANCE
OF BEING ELECTED PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.
Narrator:
THE OHIOAN WHO WON THAT WAR
WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT IN 1868.
HE WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY MAN,
U.S. GRANT;
HE JUST DIDN'T LOOK LIKE ONE.
HE WAS DRESSED BADLY,
SMOKED TOO MANY CIGARS,
AND DRANK TOO MUCH WHISKEY.
BUT HE HAD A BRILLIANT COMMAND
OF STRATEGY AS A GENERAL,
AND WROTE MEMOIRS THAT ARE
AN AMERICAN LITERARY CLASSIC.
Amos Loveday:
GRANT'S THE MILITARY MAN
WHO NEVER REALLY WANTED
TO BE A POLITICIAN
BUT IS THRUST INTO THAT OFFICE
BY HIS FAME AT THE CIVIL WAR.
HE CLEARLY DOESN'T HAVE
THE ADMINISTRATIVE CAPABILITIES
BECAUSE THE GRANT ADMINISTRATION
IS SO TAKEN WITH SCANDAL.
Narrator: GRANT SURROUNDED
HIMSELF WITH SCOUNDRELS,
AND STAYED LOYAL TO THEM--
THIS BLIND FAITH MADE HIS
PRESIDENCY AS MUCH A FAILURE
AS HIS MILITARY CAREER
HAD BEEN A SUCCESS.
RUTHERFORD HAYES,
BENJAMIN HARRISON,
JAMES GARFIELD
AND WILLIAM McKINLEY
WERE ALL FORMER SOLDIERS,
ABLE LEADERS AND MODEST MEN.
HAYES, A LAWYER
FROM CINCINNATI,
HATED THE IDEA
OF FIGHTING THE SOUTH.
"THE WAR IS FORCED ON US,"
HE WROTE. "WE CANNOT ESCAPE IT."
BUT HE VOLUNTEERED,
FOUGHT WITH BRAVERY,
AND BECAME A MAJOR GENERAL.
Neil Zurcher:
HE'S BURIED UP IN FREMONT,
THE HAYES PRESIDENTIAL CENTER.
YOU SEE THIS HUGE PIECE
OF GRANITE
THAT SAYS RUTHERFORD B. HAYES
ON IT.
BUT JUST OVER THE EDGE OF THE
IRON GATE IS A LITTLE BOULDER.
IF YOU GO LOOK AT THAT
IT SAYS "WHITEY, WAR HORSE."
THAT WAS HIS HORSE THAT HE RODE
IN THE CIVIL WAR.
THOUGHT SO MUCH OF IT,
HE BROUGHT IT BACK
AND GAVE IT A HOME
FOR THE REST OF ITS LIFE.
Narrator: JAMES GARFIELD
WAS A CLASSICS PROFESSOR
AT HIRAM COLLEGE IN OHIO.
THE WAR SCARRED HIM FOR LIFE.
"AT THE SIGHT OF THESE DEAD MEN
WHOM OTHER MEN HAD KILLED,
SOMETHING WENT OUT OF ME THAT
NEVER CAME BACK AGAIN," HE SAID.
"THE SENSE OF
THE SACREDNESS OF LIFE."
JAMES GARFIELD WAS SHOT
AND MORTALLY WOUNDED
JUST FOUR MONTHS
INTO HIS PRESIDENCY.
John Fleischman: IF YOU GO
TO ANTIETAM, MARYLAND,
THERE'S A MONUMENT
TO WILLIAM McKINLEY,
AND IT SAYS THAT ON
THE GLORIOUS DAY OF BATTLE
SERGEANT McKINLEY, WHO WAS
IN CHARGE OF THE COMMISSARY,
BROUGHT HOT COFFEE AND FOOD
TO THE TROOPS
AND IN DOING SO
PASSED UNDER FIRE.
SO, THERE'S A MONUMENT
TO A HOT CUP OF COFFEE
AT THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM.
Narrator:
WILLIAM McKINLEY CAMPAIGNED
FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 1896
ON A PLATFORM THAT INCLUDED
HIGH TARIFFS ON FOREIGN GOODS,
GIVING AMERICAN COMMERCE WHAT
IT MOST DESIRED: PROTECTION.
Ohio Village Singers: ś NOW DUST
OFF THAT OLD WHITE HOUSE CHAIR ś
ś SING GLORY HALLELUJAH
ś WE'LL PUT McKINLEY
RIGHT DOWN THERE ś
ś SING GLORY HALLELUJAH
ś P-R-O "PRO,"
T-E-C "TEC" ś
ś T-I-T-O-N "TION"
ś PROTECTION, PROTECTION
ś IT'S BOUND TO SAVE THE DAY,
YES, YES ś
ś PROTECTION, PROTECTION,
IT'S BOUND TO SAVE THE DAY ś
Interviewer:
WHAT'S THE STATE FLOWER?
THAT WOULD BE
A CARNATION.
MM-HMM.
Interviewer:
DO YOU KNOW WHY?
THAT WOULD BE BECAUSE
McKINLEY ALWAYS WORE ONE
IN THE LAPEL
OF HIS COAT.
Neil Zurcher: THAT WAS
HIS GOOD LUCK CHARM.
AND UNFORTUNATELY,
ON A DAY IN 1901
IN THE PAN AMERICAN EXPOSITION
IN BUFFALO
HE WAS AT THE TEMPLE OF MUSIC
RECEIVING VISITORS,
WHEN A LITTLE GIRL
CAME UP TO HIM
AND ASKED IF SHE COULD HAVE
HIS CARNATION.
AND HE TOOK THE CARNATION OFF
AND HANDED IT TO HER.
AND THEY SAY THAT
THE VERY NEXT PERSON IN LINE
WAS LEON CZOLGOSZ, WHO SHOT HIM
AND ASSASSINATED HIM.
Narrator: McKINLEY IS REMEMBERED
FOR USHERING IN AN ERA
OF AMERICAN INTERNATIONALISM
AND PAVING THE WAY
FOR YET ANOTHER OHIOAN
IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
YOU HAD TO HAVE OHIO
TO WIN THE ELECTION.
THE SOUTH WAS PRETTY MUCH
EXCLUSIVELY DEMOCRATIC,
OTHER STATES WERE PRETTY MUCH
EXCLUSIVELY REPUBLICAN.
OHIO COULD GO EITHER WAY.
SO WHAT YOU DID WAS TO TRY
AND PUT SOME LEADING POLITICIAN
FROM OHIO ON THE TICKET.
Newsreel announcer:
THE ONCOMING TUG IS BEARING
PRESIDENT WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT,
WHO IS MAKING AN INSPECTION
OF THE PANAMA CANAL.
HERE COMES THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE.
TAFT PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CANAL
WHICH LATER PROVED
ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST GIGANTIC
ENGINEERING FEATS.
Narrator: AS PRESIDENT, TAFT
WAS AN ACCOMPLISHED TRUSTBUSTER,
PRESIDING OVER THE BREAKUP
OF STANDARD OIL AND
THE AMERICAN TOBACCO COMPANY.
HE WAS THE FIRST AND ONLY
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
TO BECOME CHIEF JUSTICE
OF THE SUPREME COURT.
THE LAST PRESIDENT FROM OHIO
WAS WARREN G. HARDING.
A NEWSPAPERMAN
FROM MARION, OHIO,
HARDING WAS THE FIRST
U.S. PRESIDENT
TO USE RADIO AND THE NEWSREELS
TO HIS ADVANTAGE.
David Leland: ONE OF THE REASONS
THEY NOMINATED HIM
WAS THAT HE WAS
A HANDSOME FELLOW
AND THAT THE 1920 ELECTION WAS
GOING TO BE THE FIRST ELECTION
THAT WOMEN WERE ACTUALLY
GOING TO BE ABLE TO VOTE.
HE WON HIS ELECTION
BY A LANDSLIDE.
Narrator:
ONCE IN OFFICE, HARDING REVERSED
WOODROW WILSON'S PRACTICE
OF EXCLUDING AFRICAN-AMERICANS
FROM FEDERAL JOBS,
BUT THIS WOULD BE ONE
OF THE FEW BRIGHT SPOTS
IN HIS ADMINISTRATION.
LIKE GRANT, HARDING APPOINTED
CORRUPT ADVISORS.
CALLED THE "OHIO GANG,"
THEY MADE A MUD HOLE OF BRIBERY
OUT OF HIS ADMINISTRATION,
WITH SCANDALS
LIKE THE INFAMOUS TEAPOT DOME.
HARDING SEEMED BARELY AWARE
OF THE CORRUPTION.
"I AM A MAN OF LIMITED TALENT
FROM A SMALL TOWN,"
HE ONCE SAID.
"I DON'T SEEM TO GRASP
THAT I AM PRESIDENT."
BUT HE WAS PRESIDENT,
ELECTED IN 1920 OVER HIS
FELLOW OHIOAN, JAMES COX.
HARDING DIED IN OFFICE IN 1923.
NO OHIOAN HAS BEEN ELECTED
PRESIDENT SINCE.
THE OHIO PRESIDENTS WERE
ORDINARY MEN, BUT, AS A GROUP,
THEY WERE PART OF
A REMARKABLE TRANSFORMATION.
IN 1868, THE UNITED STATES
WAS A HOUSE DIVIDED.
BY 1920, THAT SAME COUNTRY
WAS THE MOST POWERFUL NATION
IN THE WORLD.
ORDINARY MEN, BUT PART
OF AN EXTRAORDINARY HISTORY.
Interviewer:
WHAT'S THE STATE BEVERAGE?
WELL, IT HAS TO BE BEER.
OVALTINE.
COLD WATER.
COCA COLA.
(together) TOMATO JUICE.
Interviewer:
HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?
Beauty Queen: BECAUSE WE'RE FROM
THE REYNOLDSBURG TOMATO FESTIVAL
AND WE MAKE THE BEST
TOMATO PRODUCTS.
Narrator: TOMATO JUICE IS IN
FACT THE STATE BEVERAGE TODAY.
BUT IN YEARS GONE BY,
MANY, IF NOT MOST OHIOANS,
HAD OTHER HABITS.
Michelle Stecker: WHISKEY WAS
THE DRINK OF CHOICE
FOR FOLKS IN THE 19th CENTURY.
ANY TIME YOU HAD A BARN RAISING
OR ANY TYPE OF OUTDOOR ACTIVITY
THERE WAS A BARREL OF WHISKEY.
I'VE SEEN FIGURES
FROM SOME OHIO COUNTIES,
FOR EXAMPLE, THAT SUGGEST THAT
THE ANNUAL RATE OF CONSUMPTION,
MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD
AND IT WAS HUGE.
I MEAN, AT ONE POINT, I THINK
IN ONE OF THE RURAL COUNTIES
EAST OF HERE
IT WAS LIKE TWELVE GALLONS
A YEAR MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD.
ś THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG
AND EVERYBODY SEES IT ś
ś AND ALONG WITH ALL
THE WOMEN IN OHIO ś
ś MOTHER'S GONE DOWN
TO THE BEER SALOON TO PRAY ś
Narrator: IN 1873, THE WOMEN
OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO,
TOOK TO THE STREETS
TO STOP THE DRINKING.
HUNDREDS OF WOMEN WERE INVOLVED
IN THE TEMPERANCE CRUSADE
IN SPRINGFIELD.
THEY WOULD GO OUT
IN THE STREETS AND SALOONS
AND PREACH AND SING HYMNS.
THEY BELIEVED THAT WOMEN
HAD A SPECIAL ROLE
IN PURIFYING SOCIETY.
SOME HISTORIANS SAY
THAT IT WAS A FERVOR
LEFT OVER FROM
THE ABOLITION MOVEMENT,
AFTER THE CIVIL WAR,
THIS FERVOR,
THIS IDEA YOU'RE GOING
TO CHANGE THE COUNTRY.
AND IN ONE LITTLE TOWN
AFTER THE NEXT,
THIS WOMAN'S CRUSADE
PICKED UP STEAM
AND THE NEXT THING YOU KNEW IT
ENDED UP SWEEPING THE COUNTRY.
Michelle Stecker: THE TEMPERANCE
CRUSADE SHUT DOWN SALOONS.
THERE WERE TOWNS
THAT WENT COMPLETELY DRY.
Ian Frazier:
THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST CHURCH
WENT THROUGH A CONFLICT
OVER WHETHER YOU SHOULD HAVE
WINE AT COMMUNION.
A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST SAID,
"SHOULD WE USE AS A SYMBOL
OF CHRIST'S BLOOD
A LIQUID 13 PERCENT OF WHICH
IS POISON?"
Narrator: SOME 54,000
AMERICAN WOMEN PARTICIPATED
IN THE NATIONAL TEMPERANCE
CAMPAIGN IN THE 1870s--
ASTOUNDINGLY, WELL OVER HALF
WERE FROM OHIO.
THE WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN
TEMPERANCE UNION
WAS FOUNDED IN CLEVELAND
IN 1874.
Andrew Cayton: OHIO WAS AS
THOROUGHLY A MIDDLE CLASS STATE
AS EXISTED IN THE UNITED STATES
IN THE 19th CENTURY.
AND SINCE THE TEMPERANCE
MOVEMENT WAS PARTICULARLY STRONG
AMONG MIDDLE-CLASS WOMEN,
IT'S NO SURPRISE THAT OHIO
WAS AT THE FOREFRONT
OF THE MOVEMENT.
Narrator: BUT OHIO'S
MIDDLE CLASS WAS CHANGING.
THE EARLY GERMAN AND IRISH
IMMIGRANTS WERE FOLLOWED
BY GROUPS FROM
ALL ACROSS EUROPE.
BY THE LATE 19th CENTURY,
NEARLY HALF THE POPULATION
OF BOTH CLEVELAND AND CINCINNATI
WAS FOREIGN-BORN.
Laura Pulfer: AMERICA WAS
THE PROMISED LAND.
MY GRANDFATHER CAME
TO THIS COUNTRY,
LANDED ON ELLIS ISLAND,
AND HE WAS ITALIAN.
WHEN HE GOT TO NEW YORK
IT WAS CROWDED AND DIFFICULT.
HE IMMIGRATED TO OHIO.
AND OHIO BECAME THE MOST
PROMISED OF THE PROMISED LAND.
OHIO, AFTER THE CIVIL WAR,
WAS ONE OF THE MOST RAPIDLY
INDUSTRIALIZING AND URBANIZING
REGIONS OF THE COUNTRY.
OLD INDUSTRIES JUST EXPLODED
WITH NEW GROWTH.
THEN A WHOLE HOST
OF NEW INDUSTRIES AROSE.
Narrator:
THE BOOMING NEW INDUSTRIES
INCLUDED GOODRICH, GOODYEAR,
FIRESTONE, SIEBERLING,
LIBBEY GLASS, QUAKER OATS,
REPUBLIC STEEL IN YOUNGSTOWN,
TOLITE IN TOLEDO.
Timothy Messer-Kruse: AUTOLITE
WAS THE MICROSOFT OF THE 1920s,
THE DYNAMIC CUTTING-EDGE
VENTURE CAPITAL COMPANY
THAT WAS SHOWING
TREMENDOUS SUCCESS.
Narrator:
BUT LIKE MANY COMPANIES,
AUTOLITE HAD SOME PRIMITIVE
PRACTICES WHEN IT CAME TO LABOR.
EVEN IN BOOM TIMES
THERE WAS NO JOB PROTECTION;
WORKERS COULD GET FIRED
FOR ANY REASON--
OR FOR NO REASON.
CONDITIONS DID NOT GET BETTER
WHEN TIMES GOT WORSE.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
COMPLETELY DEVASTATED TOLEDO.
Timothy Messer-Kruse: THE AUTO
PLANTS BEGAN LAYING PEOPLE OFF
BY THE THOUSANDS.
ALL THE BANKS FAILED IN 1931.
MOST PEOPLE LOST NOT ONLY
THEIR JOBS BUT THEIR SAVINGS.
WHEREVER YOU FIND WORKERS
WHO ARE EXPERIENCING
WRENCHING CHANGE
IN THE MASS PRODUCTION FACTORY
YOU'RE GOING TO FIND
A LABOR MOVEMENT.
Narrator: LABOR UNIONS BEGAN
IN OHIO AS EARLY AS 1813.
THE AFL WAS FOUNDED
IN COLUMBUS IN 1886,
THE UNITED MINE WORKERS
IN THE SAME CITY IN 1890.
IN TOLEDO, UNIONS HAD
RELATIVELY LITTLE SUCCESS.
BUT IN THE SPRING OF 1934,
MASSIVE LAYOFFS CHISELED A CRACK
IN THE SOLID ANTI-UNION WALL.
Timothy Messer-Kruse:
A FEW INSIDE ORGANIZERS
BEGIN RECRUITING FELLOW WORKERS
TO SIGN UP TO THE UNION.
THEY HAD ORGANIZED MAYBE A THIRD
OF THE WORKERS AT THE PLANT.
THEY WENT ON STRIKE
AND WITHIN A FEW DAYS
THE STRIKE WAS AN UTTER FAILURE.
Narrator:
THERE WERE MANY SCABS
EAGER TO TAKE PLACES
THAT STRIKERS VACATED.
THE STRIKE WAS DOOMED.
BUT ITS FAILURE, ODDLY,
WAS NOT THE END.
THE UNION GOT
SOME UNEXPECTED HELP--
FROM THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE.
Timothy Messer-Kruse:
THE LUCAS COUNTY
UNEMPLOYED LEAGUE,
UNAFFILIATED WITH
THE AUTOLITE PLANT,
BEGAN TO ORGANIZE PICKETS,
BEGINNING WITH
A FEW HUNDRED EVERY DAY,
DOUBLING, TRIPLING THE NUMBERS
UNTIL THEY WERE ABLE TO MOBILIZE
UPWARDS OF 10,000 PEOPLE.
AT THAT POINT THE PICKET LINE
BECAME EFFECTIVE.
AT THAT POINT THE STRIKE
WAS NEAR WINNING.
Narrator: AT THAT POINT, THE
STRIKE BEGAN TO RESEMBLE A WAR.
THE COMPANY HIRED A SMALL ARMY
OF GUN-TOTING
PINKERTON DETECTIVES.
AND IN THE LARGEST
PEACETIME MOBILIZATION
IN OHIO'S ENTIRE HISTORY,
THE STATE CALLED IN
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
BRUTAL FIGHTING BROKE OUT
ON THE PICKET LINE.
TWO STRIKERS DIED.
TWO HUNDRED MORE WERE INJURED.
AFTER SIX WEEKS OF VIOLENCE,
THE STRIKE WAS FINALLY SETTLED.
THE STRIKERS WON
UNION RECOGNITION,
A SMALL INCREASE IN PAY, AND
A LARGE MEASURE OF NOTORIETY.
Timothy Messer-Kruse:
WELL, THE AUTOLITE STRIKE
VERY QUICKLY LEADS
TO THE ORGANIZATION OF UNIONS
AT ALL OTHER MASS PRODUCTION
PLANTS IN THE CITY OF TOLEDO.
IT INSPIRES WORKERS ALL ACROSS
AMERICA TO TRY THE SAME THING.
IF WORKERS IN A PLANT
LIKE AUTOLITE IN TOLEDO
CAN WIN A CONTRACT
FROM A POWERFUL CORPORATION,
WHY CAN'T WE?
Newsreel announcer: THAT'S
JOHNNY CHONKO ON THE SNORT VALVE
CONTROLLING THE BLAST.
MIKE KUBINSKI IS
THE HEADMAN ON THE SHIFT.
EARL STRONG IS HIS ASSISTANT.
MIKE'S PEOPLE CAME HERE
FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA;
EARL'S ANCESTORS
CAME FROM ENGLAND.
FRANK CAME HERE FROM ITALY
45 YEARS AGO;
JOHN CAME HERE FROM CROATIA.
Narrator: 1920: CLEVELAND'S
POPULATION NOW INCLUDES
46,000 CZECHS,
19,000 SLOVENES,
19,000 SLOVAKS,
AND 49,000 POLES.
YOUNGSTOWN IS
60 PERCENT FOREIGN-BORN.
SOON THEREAFTER, A NEW KIND
OF IMMIGRATION BEGINS:
A WAVE OF AFRICAN AMERICANS
COMES UP FROM THE SOUTH.
BY 1930, CLEVELAND
IS KNOWN AS "ALABAMA NORTH."
Spencer Crew:
AFRICAN AMERICANS CAME NORTH
LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITY
JUST LIKE OTHER GROUPS
WHO CAME FROM EUROPE
OR OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
CAME HERE LOOKING
FOR OPPORTUNITY,
JUST AS RURAL WHITES
FROM THE SOUTH
CAME NORTH TO OHIO
TO FIND NEW OPPORTUNITIES
AND NEW POSSIBILITIES.
Narrator: IN THE THIRTIES,
OHIO'S POPULATION
INCLUDED 390,000 PEOPLE BORN
IN THE APPALACHIAN PARTS
OF TENNESSEE, KENTUCKY,
AND WEST VIRGINIA.
AKRON BEGAN TO BE CALLED
"THE CAPITAL OF WEST VIRGINIA."
Katie Laur:
I WAS BORN IN THE SOUTH,
MY FAMILY MOVED NORTH BECAUSE
THAT'S WHERE THE MONEY WAS,
THAT'S WHAT WE HAD HEARD.
WE HAD FRIENDS
AND RELATIVES THERE.
I EVENTUALLY FOUND MY WAY
TO CINCINNATI.
IT'S A HANDY PLACE TO BE
IF YOU'RE A SOUTHERNER
BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT
THAT FAR FROM HOME.
Newsreel announcer:
CINCINNATI, QUEEN CITY
ON THE MIGHTY OHIO RIVER,
AND SOUTHERN CITADEL
OF THE STATE.
ANOTHER GREAT AMERICAN
AIRWAYS CITY IS CLEVELAND,
CHIEF PORT OF ENTRY
OF THE GREAT LAKES.
Spencer Crew: MY FAMILY
WOUND UP IN CLEVELAND, OHIO,
WITH THE OLDEST CHILDREN
GETTING THERE FIRST
AND THEN FINALLY
THE MOTHER AND THE FATHER
AND THE YOUNGER CHILDREN
FOLLOWING.
AND THEY'VE BEEN IN CLEVELAND
PRETTY MUCH SINCE THE 1920s
AND IT'S SORT OF BEEN HOME
FOR ALL OF US FOR A LONG TIME.
WE COME HERE BECAUSE HERE
THERE ARE A LOT OF SOMALIS,
ALMOST 20,000, 30,000 SOMALIS.
THAT'S WHY WE'RE MOVING HERE.
ORIGINALLY WE'RE
FROM SOMALIA.
COLUMBUS, AS YOU SAID,
IT'S AN IMMIGRANT CITY,
AND PEOPLE COME HERE
AT DIFFERENT TIMES.
THE GERMANS AND THE IRISH
AND THE SCANDINAVIANS,
THEY USED TO COME
DIFFERENT TIMES.
AND WE ARE THE NEW FACES
OF THE CITY.
Maryan Warsame: WE LIKE
TO CONTRIBUTE WHEREVER WE GO,
AND IT SHOWS TO YOU
LESS THAN THREE YEARS
HOW MANY SHOPS, HOW MANY STORES,
HOW MANY BUSINESSES
THAT SOMALI PEOPLE CONTRIBUTED.
PLEASE ACCEPT US AS WE ARE,
BEFORE LOOKING
AT OUR HAIR COVERS,
BEFORE LOOKING AT OUR COLOR,
OR OUR BIG ACCENT.
WE ARE HERE. WE ARE HAPPY
THAT WE ARE AMERICAN.
Teacher: YOU ARE
WRITING ENGLISH.
August Pust: IF YOU WANT
TO REALLY STUDY ETHNICITY
THERE IS NO BETTER PLACE
IN AMERICA BUT HERE IN OHIO.
THIS IS WHERE THE BASE WAS,
THE SURVIVAL SHIP OF ETHNICITY.
LIKE IN EUROPE THERE WERE WARS,
FIRST, SECOND WARS,
ALL TYPES OF MASSACRES AROUND
THE WORLD, ETHNIC CLEANSING.
HERE WE SURVIVED; NOT ONLY THAT,
BUT WE SURVIVED TOGETHER.
WE ARE A MULTITUDE
OF CULTURES AND PEOPLE.
AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME
AND YOU HEAR ME DO THIS SONG,
IF IT RAISES ANY SENSE
OF PRIDE WITHIN YOU
MY JOB IS DONE, I THINK.
BECAUSE YOU SEE SOMEONE
THAT LOOKS LIKE ME
DELIVERING OUR SONG,
THE COUNTRY'S SONG.
ś O SAY, CAN YOU SEE
ś BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT
ś WHAT SO PROUDLY...
Narrator: FOR TWO CENTURIES,
THE SUCCESSIVE WAVES OF
IMMIGRATION HAD PEOPLED OHIO,
JUST AS THEY HAD AMERICA.
BUT OHIO HAS DONE MORE
THAN SIMPLY FOLLOW THE GRAND
MOVEMENTS AND LARGE-SCALE DESIGN
OF AMERICAN HISTORY.
FROM THE LATE 19th CENTURY ON,
THE STATE BEGAN
TO HELP CREATE THAT HISTORY--
AND THE AMERICA WE HAVE TODAY.
Newsreel announcer: OHIO HAS
MANY FAMOUS NATIVE SONS,
AMONG THEM THOMAS A. EDISON.
TODAY, EDISON'S GENIUS
IS APPROPRIATELY REFLECTED
BY THE WORLD'S LARGEST
LIGHT BULB,
HERE SHOWN IN CLEVELAND'S
GENERAL ELECTRIC
LIGHTING INSTITUTE.
Narrator: THOMAS ALVA EDISON,
BORN IN MILAN, OHIO,
IS A FAMILIAR AMERICAN ICON--
THE MAN RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE LIGHT BULB,
THE PHONOGRAPH,
THE MOTION-PICTURE CAMERA.
BUT OTHER OHIOANS HAVE CREATED
AN AMAZING AMOUNT OF
THE TECHNOLOGY WE USE EVERY DAY.
Newsreel announcer: GOODYEAR'S
STRIKING NEW PRODUCT, PLIOFILM,
IS PUT TO A NEW USE
BY THE MANUFACTURERS
AND BROUGHT TO YOUR ATTENTION BY
SOME BEAUTIFUL GOODYEAR GIRLS.
INTO PLIOFILM BAGS,
MILADY PUTS HER SWIMSUIT...
Narrator: LET'S TAKE YOUR HOUSE.
IN THE KITCHEN, OHIO INVENTIONS
ARE EVERYWHERE--
THE PAPER BAG,
THE GALLON MILK JUG,
CRISCO, QUAKER OATS,
THE FREON IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR,
THE FORMICA ON YOUR COUNTER.
IN YOUR BABY'S BEDROOM,
PLAY-DOH AND DISPOSABLE DIAPERS,
FROM OHIO.
YOU HAVE A VACUUM CLEANER
AND A STEPLADDER--OHIO--
LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAYS
ILLUMINATE YOUR DIGITAL WATCH
AND POCKET CALCULATOR--OHIO.
IN THE DRIVEWAY
THERE ARE TUBELESS TIRES,
WINDSHIELD WIPERS,
SHOCK ABSORBERS, SAFETY GLASS--
ALL FROM OHIO.
[GUNSHOT]
Narrator: THE BULLETPROOF VEST
AND THE GAS MASK
WERE DEVELOPED IN OHIO.
OF COURSE THIS WAS AFTER
DR. RICHARD GATLING
OF CINCINNATI
HAD INVENTED
THE FIRST MACHINE GUN.
OHIOANS INVENTED THE BAR CODE,
THE SWITCHBOARD,
THE POP TOP, READY MIX CEMENT.
FIBERGLASS COMES FROM TOLEDO,
ROLLED SHEET METAL
FROM MIDDLETOWN.
BUT THE GEOGRAPHICAL HEART
OF OHIO'S INVENTIVE SPIRIT
WAS DAYTON.
IN 1880 THE U.S. PATENT OFFICE
DETERMINED THAT DAYTON
RELATIVE TO POPULATION
PRODUCED THE THIRD MOST PATENTS
OF ANY CITY IN THE COUNTRY.
AND BY 1900 IT RANKED FIRST.
AND IT RANKED FIRST,
INCIDENTALLY,
BEFORE THE AUTO INVENTOR
CHARLES KETTERING CAME ALONG.
Narrator: CHARLES KETTERING
WAS A GENIUS, PURE AND SIMPLE.
IN 1908, HE WAS MOONLIGHTING
IN A BARN BEHIND HIS HOUSE,
WORKING ON A KNOTTY PROBLEM
CALLED THE "AUTOMOBILE."
Mark Bernstein:
IN 1908 AN AUTOMOBILE
DIDN'T WORK VERY WELL.
TO START IT YOU HAD TO
CRANK IT BY HAND.
THE IGNITION SYSTEM
RAN OFF A BATTERY,
WHICH WOULD BE DEPLETED
QUITE RAPIDLY.
AND THE HEADLIGHTS
WERE ACETYLENE LAMPS
USED BY MINERS AT THE TIME.
KETTERING TOOK
THOSE THREE PROBLEMS
AND CAME UP WITH ONE SOLUTION
WHICH WAS THE INTEGRATED
STARTING LIGHTING
IGNITION SYSTEM,
WHICH YOUR CAR HAS TODAY.
Narrator: KETTERING'S UNIFIED
SYSTEM STARTED THE CAR,
LIT THE LIGHTS AND
IGNITED THE GAS, ALL AT ONCE.
AND IT DID SOMETHING THAT WAS
EVEN MORE REVOLUTIONARY.
HOW SHALL WE PHRASE THIS ONE?
MIDDLE CLASS WOMEN IN 1908
WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE
MECHANICALLY VERSED.
IF A CAR WAS GOING
TO BE HAND CRANKED,
THEN IT WAS NOT GOING TO BE
DRIVEN BY A WOMAN.
THE SELF STARTER COULD ALLOW
A CAR TO BE DRIVEN BY ANYONE.
Narrator: KETTERING HAD INVENTED
THE SOCCER MOM.
BUT HE WASN'T QUITE DONE.
HE DEVELOPED
THE FIRST GUIDED MISSILE,
THEN WENT ON
TO OVERSEE THE INVENTION
OF MODERN REFRIGERATION,
BALLOON TIRES,
THE HIGH COMPRESSION ENGINE,
AND HIGH-OCTANE GAS.
IN ONE QUIET LIFETIME
THIS OHIOAN HAD DONE
AS MUCH AS ANYONE
TO DRIVE AMERICA INTO THE AGE
WE LIVE IN NOW--
THE AGE OF THE AUTOMOBILE.
Narrator: LIKE KETTERING,
JOHN H. PATTERSON
WAS FROM DAYTON.
LIKE KETTERING,
HE WOULD HAVE A GREAT--
AND GREATLY UNACKNOWLEDGED--
EFFECT ON OUR WORLD.
HE'S OFTEN REMEMBERED NOW
BECAUSE HE WAS ODD...
VERY ODD.
HE WAS NUTS.
PATTERSON TOOK FOUR BATHS A DAY.
AND THEY WERE TIMED BATHS.
HE WOULD TAKE A TEN-MINUTE BATH,
A TWELVE-MINUTE BATH,
AN EIGHT-MINUTE BATH.
HE WORE UNDERWEAR
MADE FROM POOL TABLE FELT
AND HE SLEPT WITH HIS HEAD
HANGING OFF THE SIDE OF THE BED
BECAUSE IF YOU SLEPT
LIKE A NORMAL PERSON
YOU WOULD USE UP
ALL THE OXYGEN NEAR YOU
AND YOU WOULD DIE
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT,
WITHOUT EVEN GETTING REVENGE
ON ALL THE PEOPLE
YOU PLANNED TO GET REVENGE ON
THE FOLLOWING DAY.
Narrator: PATTERSON WAS FAR
FROM THE CORPORATE TYPE--
YET HE WOULD CHANGE
THE WAY CORPORATIONS EVERYWHERE
WOULD DO BUSINESS.
Mark Bernstein: IN 1884,
PATTERSON WAS NEARLY BANKRUPT
AND NEARING 40,
HE SPENT $6,500
TO ACQUIRE THE RIGHTS
TO A DEVICE KNOWN
AS A CASH REGISTER,
WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN VALUABLE
HAD ANYONE AT THE TIME WANTED
ONE, WHICH NO ONE DID.
Narrator: THE YEAR HE BOUGHT
THE COMPANY,
NATIONAL CASH REGISTER
SOLD ABOUT 300 MACHINES.
ITS BANK BALANCE? 91 CENTS.
Mark Bernstein: PATTERSON WAS
PERSUADED THAT THE CASH REGISTER
WAS THE GREATEST MACHINE
EVER INVENTED,
AND THAT PEOPLE WOULD BUY IT
IF ONLY THEY KNEW ABOUT IT.
SO HE INVENTED
DIRECT MAIL ADVERTISING.
HE WROTE OUT TWELVE SEPARATE
ADVERTISEMENTS
ON THE MARVELS
OF THE CASH REGISTER,
GOT TOGETHER A LIST
OF 5,000 PROSPECTS,
AND MAILED EVERYBODY ON THE LIST
ONE OF THE SHEETS
EVERY DAY FOR TWO WEEKS,
NOT COUNTING SUNDAYS.
HE OPENED THE FIRST
SALES TRAINING FORCE,
ESTABLISHED THE FIRST
SALES TERRITORIES.
SALESMEN WERE SUPPOSED TO DRESS
WITH A SORT OF
FASHIONABLE DIGNITY.
NO CIGARS. NO BACKSLAPPING.
NO FEET ON THE COUNTER.
THEY WERE TO BE ALL BUSINESS.
Narrator:
HIS SALES TECHNIQUES WORKED.
OVER THE NEXT TWO DECADES,
NCR WOULD SELL AN AVERAGE
OF 50,000 MACHINES A YEAR.
Mark Bernstein: PATTERSON
CREATED IN DAYTON
WHAT HE MODESTLY CALLED
THE MODEL FACTORY OF THE WORLD.
HIS EMPLOYEES
HAD PROFIT SHARING,
FREE MEDICAL CARE
AND DENTAL CARE.
EVERY SIX MONTHS EVERYONE
WHO WORKED AT NCR WAS WEIGHED,
AND IF THEY WERE UNDERWEIGHT,
A GLASS OF MALTED MILK
WAS BROUGHT TO THEIR WORKPLACE
EVERY MORNING
UNTIL THEIR WEIGHT CAME UP
TO THE NUMBER PATTERSON
THOUGHT IT SHOULD BE.
Narrator: BUT PATTERSON
STILL HAD CERTAIN TICS.
ONE OF THEM WAS THE OVERWHELMING
IMPULSE TO FIRE PEOPLE.
AT ONE TIME, CHARLES KETTERING
HAD WORKED FOR PATTERSON.
PATTERSON FIRED HIM SIX TIMES.
ONE EXECUTIVE
LEARNED HE WAS FIRED
WHEN HE SAW HIS DESK
BEING BURNT ON THE LAWN.
THERE WAS A SAYING
ABOUT PATTERSON
THAT HE FIRED SOME PEOPLE
BECAUSE THEY BORED HIM,
SOME PEOPLE BECAUSE
THEY THREATENED HIM
AND SOME JUST FOR PRACTICE.
ONE OF THE PEOPLE THAT
COLONEL PATTERSON HIRED
WAS A GUY NAMED THOMAS WATSON.
AND HE WAS
AN UP-AND-COMER OF NCR
AND FINALLY THE COLONEL DECIDED
HE DIDN'T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES
SO WATSON WENT AND FOUNDED
A COMPANY CALLED IBM.
Newsreel announcer:
DAYTON, OHIO--
WORKERS BACK ON THE JOB AT THE
NATIONAL CASH REGISTER COMPANY,
PRODUCING AT FULL CAPACITY.
Narrator: PATTERSON ALWAYS KEPT
A LIST IN HIS OFFICE:
"THINGS TO DO IN THE NEXT FIVE
YEARS BY MR. PATTERSON."
HIS CHORES INCLUDED:
"HELP OTHER NATIONS
GET OFF THEIR FEET,"
"STOP SOCIAL DISEASE,"
"BETTER LAWS,"
"LESS SNOBBERY."
IN 1922, PATTERSON DIED AT 78,
WITHOUT ACCOMPLISHING
THESE LOFTY GOALS.
BUT HE HAD CHANGED
THE CORPORATION IN AMERICA--
THE WAY IT SOLD THINGS,
THE WAY IT TREATED EMPLOYEES.
JOHN H. PATTERSON
CREATED THE FORERUNNER
OF THE MODERN COMPANY,
AND HE DID IT IN DAYTON, OHIO.
Mark Bernstein: OHIO IS A KIND
OF EARTH-BOUND PLACE, YOU KNOW.
IT'S AGRICULTURAL,
AND IT'S JUST THERE.
AND YET FOR SOME REASON IT HAS
BEEN THE BIRTHPLACE OF AVIATION.
Ian Frazier:
THE FIRST MAN TO FLY,
THE FIRST AMERICAN
TO ORBIT THE EARTH,
AND THE FIRST MAN
TO STEP ON THE MOON,
THEY'RE ALL FROM OHIO,
ALL THREE.
Man: "IF I WERE GIVING
A YOUNG MAN ADVICE
AS TO HOW HE MIGHT
SUCCEED IN LIFE,
I WOULD SAY TO HIM, PICK OUT
A GOOD FATHER AND MOTHER,
AND BEGIN LIFE IN OHIO."
WILBUR WRIGHT.
Narrator:
ORVILLE AND WILBUR WRIGHT,
THE BACHELOR SONS OF A BISHOP
OF THE UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH,
GREW UP IN DAYTON, AND RAN
A MODEST BICYCLE SHOP THERE.
John Fleischman: THEY COME OUT
OF THIS 19th CENTURY TRADITION
OF "YOU CAN DO ANYTHING."
THEY DECIDE AROUND 1900
THAT THEY'RE GOING TO FIND OUT
HOW TO FLY.
THEY'RE GOING TO READ
ALL THE AVAILABLE LITERATURE
AND LEARN HOW TO FLY.
THERE ARE THREE PROBLEMS
THAT HAVE TO BE SOLVED
BEFORE YOU CAN FLY.
YOU HAVE TO DESIGN
A WING FOR LIFT,
YOU HAVE TO DESIGN
A SYSTEM OF CONTROL,
AND YOU HAVE TO DESIGN
AN ENGINE FOR PROPULSION.
PRIOR TO THE WRIGHTS,
NO ONE HAD GOTTEN ANYWHERE
ON THESE PROBLEMS.
THE WRIGHTS SOLVED ALL THREE
IN FIFTY-FOUR MONTHS
WORKING PART TIME
FOR UNDER $900.
Man: "WE WORKED OUT A THEORY
AND SOON DISCOVERED,
AS WE USUALLY DO,
THAT ALL THE PROPELLERS BUILT
HERETOFORE ARE ALL WRONG.
AND THEN WE BUILT A PAIR OF
PROPELLERS BASED ON OUR THEORY,
WHICH ARE ALL RIGHT."
ORVILLE WRIGHT.
Mark Bernstein:
PRIOR TO THE WRIGHTS,
NO ONE DID ANYTHING CORRECTLY
AND AFTER THEM NO ONE DID
ANYTHING DIFFERENTLY.
NO AIRPLANE HAS LEFT THE GROUND
EXCEPT BY THE SYSTEMS
AND DESIGNS
BASICALLY ESTABLISHED
BY ORVILLE AND WILBUR WRIGHT.
KITTY HAWK, NORTH CAROLINA,
IS OBVIOUSLY WHERE
THE FIRST FLIGHT OCCURRED.
THE WRIGHT BROTHERS FLEW
AT KITTY HAWK IN 1903,
BUT THEY FLEW 125 FEET
AND BASICALLY CRASHED THE PLANE.
AND THEN THEY CAME
BACK TO DAYTON
AND THEN THEY REALLY
INVENTED THE PLANE.
Narrator: IN DAYTON
ON SEPTEMBER 20, 1904,
WILBUR FLEW THE FIRST CONTROLLED
CIRCLE EVER MADE BY AN AIRPLANE.
A YEAR LATER, THEY COULD
KEEP THEIR PLANE ALOFT
FOR 38 MINUTES.
John Fleischman: THE DAYTON
NEWSPAPERS DID NOT REPORT THIS.
THE MANAGING EDITOR OF ONE OF
THE DAYTON NEWSPAPERS SAID
THEIR FATHER, BISHOP WRIGHT,
WAS REALLY WORRIED
THAT THE BOYS WERE LETTING THEIR
BICYCLE BUSINESS GO TO HELL.
Narrator: IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE
THE WRIGHTS HAD COMPANY
IN THE AIR ABOVE OHIO.
AMERICA'S FIRST AIR FREIGHT
TOUCHED DOWN IN COLUMBUS
IN 1910;
THE FIRST CROP DUSTER
DRONED OVER TROY IN 1921.
THE AKRON RUBBER COMPANIES
JUMPED INTO THE PRODUCTION
OF DIRIGIBLES;
BUT A SERIES OF SPECTACULAR
CRASHES DOOMED THE BLIMP--
EXCEPT, OF COURSE,
FOR THE PROMOTIONAL
GOODYEAR BLIMP OF TODAY.
IN THE LATE 1950s,
AN AKRON ENGINEER
DESIGNED THE FIRST
PRESSURIZED SPACE SUIT,
BASED ON THE FLEXIBLE ANATOMY
OF THE TOMATO WORM.
IN FEBRUARY 1962,
AN OHIOAN WORE SUCH A SUIT
AS HE ORBITED THE EARTH.
Ed Herlihy:
THE RETURN OF A CONQUERING HERO.
THE FAMILY OF
THE MAN OF THE HOUR.
Narrator: TO MILLIONS,
JOHN GLENN EXEMPLIFIED
WHAT WAS GOOD ABOUT AMERICA.
HE WAS AN HONOR STUDENT
FROM NEW CONCORD, OHIO,
A THREE-SPORT LETTERMAN,
PRESIDENT OF HIS CLASS.
Astronaut: OK, ENGINES STOPPED.
<i>HOUSTON, TRANQUILLITY BASE HERE.
THE EAGLE HAS LANDED.</i>
Houston: ROGER, TRANQUILLITY,
WE COPY YOU ON THE GROUND...
Narrator: IN 1969,
ANOTHER OHIO NATIVE--
NEIL ARMSTRONG,
FROM WAPAKONETA--
STEPPED ONTO THE MOON.
Neil Armstrong:
THAT'S ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN,
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND.
Ian Frazier:
WHAT IS HARDER THAN THINKING UP
SOMETHING INTERESTING TO SAY
AS YOU'RE HEADING TO THE MOON?
AND HE THOUGHT IT UP HIMSELF,
YOU KNOW.
ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN,
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND.
THAT'S A GREAT THING TO THINK OF
ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE YOU
HAVE TO DO FLYING TO THE MOON.
Narrator: BACK ON EARTH,
NEIL ARMSTRONG SAID,
"I'M AFRAID I DID A GREAT MANY
ORDINARY THINGS."
[APPLAUSE]
Carl Stokes: SO LET ME THANK ALL
OF YOU FOR COMING OUT TODAY.
Narrator:
ARMSTRONG'S MOONWALK WAS NOT
THE ONLY EXTRAORDINARY EVENT
IN OHIO IN THE 1960s.
IN 1967, CLEVELAND ELECTED
CARL STOKES;
HE WAS THE FIRST
AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAYOR EVER
IN A MAJOR AMERICAN CITY.
BUT ANOTHER PLACE
IN NORTHEASTERN OHIO
WOULD BE REMEMBERED FOREVER
FOR A MOMENT WHEN POLITICS
TURNED INTO TRAGEDY.
IN APRIL 1970, STUDENTS AT
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY GATHERED
TO PROTEST THE EXPANDING WAR
IN VIETNAM.
Protestor:
THAT'S THE POINT! LET'S GO OUT
ON CAMPUS, LET'S START RAPPING,
LET'S START GETTING IN THE DORMS
AND ALL THOSE BOARDING HOUSES
AND BRING EVERYBODY OUT...
Narrator: WHEN THE CAMPUS
ROTC BUILDING BURNED,
GOVERNOR JAMES RHODES
CALLED OUT THE NATIONAL GUARD.
ON MAY 4th,
HUNDREDS OF DEMONSTRATORS
FACED OFF AGAINST
113 GUARDSMEN.
THE STUDENTS THREW ROCKS;
THE SOLDIERS RESPONDED
WITH TEAR GAS.
THE PROTESTORS MOVED FORWARD;
THE GUARDSMEN RETREATED--
THEN, SUDDENLY, THE SOLDIERS
TURNED AND FIRED THEIR RIFLES.
FOUR STUDENTS DIED.
TWO OF THEM WERE PASSERS-BY.
Andrew Cayton:
THIS IS TAKING PLACE
IN A BUCOLIC LITTLE
COLLEGE TOWN IN OHIO.
A PLACE THAT NOBODY ASSOCIATED
WITH REALLY EXTREMES
OF ANY KIND.
AND I THINK WHAT IT DID FOR
AMERICANS IN GENERAL WAS TO SAY
IF THE WAR CAN SO DISRUPT
THE FABRIC OF AMERICAN LIFE
IN A PLACE LIKE KENT, OHIO,
THEN IT HAS PERMEATED
IN SOME KIND OF WAY
TO THE VERY HEART
OF WHAT THE UNITED STATES IS.
<i>Man: HOMAGE TO THE CORN.</i>
"IT'S SWEETNESS, LIGHT,
ALL OUR LIVES.
80,000 YEARS
WE'VE WORSHIPPED,
YET YOUNG AS JUNE IT STAYS.
KERNELS LEFT IN EARTH
1,000 YEARS
PUT TO FLAME TODAY
STILL POP THEIR BLOSSOMS.
WHEN I GO,
PUT ME IN A SHALLOW MOUND,
LIKE THE RUDDY ONES WHO NAMED
THIS TASSELED, RUSTLING OHIO."
DAVID CITINO.
Kathy Wade: MY DAUGHTER ATTENDED
HIGH SCHOOL IN MASSACHUSETTS.
ONE OF THE QUESTIONS
SHE WAS BEING ASKED WAS,
"DID YOU GROW UP ON A FARM?"
WHAT DO YOU MEAN,
DID YOU GROW UP ON A FARM?
SOMEBODY ASKED YOU, DID YOU
GROW UP ON A FARM IN CINCINNATI?
SHE SAID, "YEAH, BECAUSE
THEIR IMPRESSION OF OHIO
IS THAT IT'S ALL FARMLAND
AND COWS AND CORN."
I THINK THAT
THE REST OF THE COUNTRY
IS NOT QUITE SURE ABOUT US.
I THINK THAT THEY THINK
WE'RE ONE OF THOSE STATES
SOMEWHERE OUT THERE
IN THE MIDDLE
WITH A LOT OF VOWELS.
I THINK THAT THEY DON'T THINK
THAT WE'RE DIFFERENT
FROM IOWA OR ILLINOIS.
Interviewer:
WHAT'S THE STATE ROCK SONG?
Singers: ś HANG ON SLOOPY,
SLOOPY HANG ON ś
<i>[BAND PLAYING HANG ON SLOOPY]</i>
Newsreel announcer: COLUMBUS,
OHIO, HAS LONG BEEN NOTED
AS ONE OF THE NATION'S
MOST FANATIC FOOTBALL TOWNS.
THE FANS DEMAND PERFECTION.
[CROWD ROARS]
<i>Jeff Robinson: THERE WAS JUST AN
ARTICLE IN THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH</i>
ABOUT A GIRL WHO SAID SHE WOULD
NEVER MARRY A NON-BUCKEYE,
BECAUSE THEY WOULD NEVER
UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE
OF OHIO STATE FOOTBALL.
Neil Zurcher:
I HAVE NEVER SEEN A STATE
THAT'S MORE SPORTS-CRAZY.
CLEVELAND, CINCINNATI, COLUMBUS,
SPORTS BECOMES JUST
ALL ENCOMPASSING IN THESE TOWNS.
Woman: ś TIME AND CHANGE
WILL SURELY SHOW ś
ś HOW FIRM THY FRIENDSHIP
ś O-HI-O
GO BUCKS.
Ed Herlihy: A SHRINE
TO THE MEMORY OF THE GREATS
OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL
IS DEDICATED IN CANTON, OHIO.
IT WAS HERE THAT
THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
WAS FOUNDED IN 1920.
Neil Zurcher: FOOTBALL,
OF COURSE, STARTED HERE IN OHIO.
I'M SURE JIM THORPE,
SOME OF THOSE, PLAYED A ROLE
OVER IN PENNSYLVANIA,
THAT OTHER STATE NEARBY.
BUT IT WAS PAUL BROWN
THAT REALLY INVENTED
PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL
THE WAY IT IS TODAY.
HE'S AN OHIO PRODUCT.
I MEAN, RIGHT OUT OF MASSILLON,
OUT OF THE CLEVELAND BROWNS.
Newsreel announcer: THEN THE
BROWNS BUST THINGS WIDE OPEN
WITH O'CONNELL THROWING STRIKES.
THIS LONG ONE
BREWSTER COMPLETES FOR 32 YARDS.
Narrator: BASEBALL, TOO,
IS LARGELY AN OHIO PRODUCT.
IN 1869, A JEWELER
NAMED HARRY WRIGHT
ESTABLISHED THE FIRST
PRO TEAM IN AMERICA,
THE CINCINNATI RED STOCKINGS
BASEBALL TEAM.
Announcer:
SO WE HAVE TWO CONTESTANTS
WITH THE VERY SAME PULL...
Narrator: BUT SPORT, PERHAPS,
IS MERELY A SYMPTOM OF
A WIDER TENDENCY: COMPETITION.
OHIOANS COMPETE IN EVERYTHING.
Announcer: 720 POUNDS
ON THE SLED RIGHT NOW.
WE'LL BE ADDING PROBABLY
ANOTHER 25 TO 30 POUNDS.
AARGH!
Woman: AND IF WE CAN HAVE
THE LITTLE GIRLS 7 TO 12 MONTHS,
GO AHEAD AND LINE UP.
NUMBER THREE IS GRACIE LOU HEIN,
AND SHE'S THE DAUGHTER
OF MIKE AND KIM HEIN.
Woman, laughing: WE'RE NOT
WAVING AT YOU, JIMMY.
<i>THE STATE SONG
IS BEAUTIFUL OHIO.</i>
NOBODY KNOWS HOW IT GOES.
I COULDN'T HUM IT
IF I HAD TO.
DRIFTING WITH THE CURRENT
DOWN THE MOONLIT STREAM...
ś WHILE ABOVE THE HEAVENS
IN THEIR GLORY GLEAM ś
THAT'S WHY I HATE IT.
Park Ranger:
WELCOME, EVERYONE,
TO PERRY'S VICTORY AND
INTERNATIONAL PEACE MEMORIAL.
THIS IS A MONUMENT THAT HONORS
OLIVER HAZARD PERRY'S
VICTORY OVER THE BRITISH FLEET
AT THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE
DURING THE WAR OF 1812.
Narrator: OHIO--
AN ORDINARY PLACE
WHERE THE ESSENCE OF AMERICA
HAS BEEN BOTH FOUND AND FORMED:
AMERICAN INVENTIVENESS,
PLURALISM, EXPERIMENTATION,
INDUSTRIAL MIGHT, RACIAL STRIFE
AND RACIAL HARMONY.
MUCH OF THE TECHNOLOGY
OF THE PRESENT AGE
HAS BEEN INVENTED HERE--
AND OHIOANS HAVE TAKEN US
OUT OF THE WORLD,
INTO SPACE AND INTO THE FUTURE.
NO, NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT THAT.
A STORY, AS NEIL ARMSTRONG SAID,
OF A GREAT MANY ORDINARY THINGS.
Ohio Village Singers:
ś THE HILLS OF OHIO
ś HOW PROUDLY THEY RISE
ś IN THE WILDNESS OF GRANDEUR
TO BLEND WITH THE SKIES ś
ś WITH FAIR AZURE OUTLINE
AND TALL ANCIENT TREES ś
ś OHIO, MY COUNTRY
ś I LOVE THEE FOR THESE
Priscilla Hewetson:
ISN'T THAT PRETTY?
THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN
OUR STATE SONG.
VISIT OHIO ON THE WEB
AT www.ohio200.com.
<i>OHIO: 200 YEARS</i>
IS AVAILABLE ON VIDEOCASSETTE
FOR $19.95 PLUS $4.95 SHIPPING.
TO ORDER CALL 1-877-305-9138
OR VISIT US ON THE WEB.
<i>[BAND PLAYING HANG ON SLOOPY]</i>
AS AN IMPORTANT PART OF OHIO'S
PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE,
KEY BANK IS A PROUD SPONSOR
OF THIS DOCUMENTARY
THAT PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE PEOPLE,
PLACES, AND THINGS
THAT HAVE HELPED OHIO
ACHIEVE A RICH PLACE
IN AMERICAN AND WORLD HISTORY.
KEY. ACHIEVE ANYTHING.
HONDA OF AMERICA MANUFACTURING--
OVER 20 YEARS IN OHIO AND PROUD
TO BE PART OF SOMETHING GREATER:
OHIO'S BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
FROM THE PEOPLE OF OHIO
AND THE OHIO BICENTENNIAL
COMMISSION.
This page was last edited on 8 June 2022, at 22:06