Liberty on The Border Exhibit in Cincinnati, Reviewed in Wall Street Journal

As online coverage of local history and culture has gotten better, I feel a greater obligation to keep one connected to a wider region. Cincinnati isn't exactly close, but it's not that far. Also, Pittsburgh's position in the Civil War's border region makes this show seem relevant.

From The Wall Street Journal

"The museum is well-positioned not only intellectually but physically to tell this complicated story, and it does it well. For the museum sits on the north shore of the Ohio River, the dividing line set forth by the Northwest Ordinance in 1787, which attempted to balance the entry of free and slave-holding states into the union. It was on this border separating Ohio from Indiana and Kentucky that the racial politics and policies of early America met reality.

The main theme of "Liberty's Trials" is Kentucky's efforts to remain neutral during the war. It is often thought of as a Southern state, but slavery was not widespread there. Lexington was an important slave-trading market because of the nearby horse farms and plantations. But much of the rest of Kentucky was against slavery and strongly pro-Union at the start of the war. We see this through maps, biographies and plaques retelling some of the key events that pushed Kentucky from a largely pro-union state at the start of the Civil War to one that was mostly pro-Confederacy toward the end of the war."

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

Through Jan. 6

Who Knew? Steubenville, Ohio "City of Murals"

One of the big reasons I've tried to take the blog more towards a wider, more regional view is that a lot of the area is still a mystery to most of us, filled with all kinds of great secrets and changes. 10 years ago, most locals didn't know how great Pittsburgh was.

Who knew, this fellow steel town just to the east on the Ohio is becoming known as "the city of Murals", with 25 easily viewable in or near it's downtown?

A few of these lean towards the dry and boring but some look really stunning. Most, which are now old pay tribute to the area's unique history.

Check out this great post about them.

"Many of the murals were fading—the reds in particular—and recent extremes in Ohio weather haven’t helped. Other murals lie in rubble, like verdigris-covered Roman ruins. To some extent, weather and a shifting city scape are the hazards of public art. Just as a struggling economy helped birth the City of Murals tough times are encouraging people to rally in support of this part of Ohio history. Funds may be scarce, but in tough times public art helps communities maintain their unique identity and share that vision with the world. A small group of people are rallying to retain the City of Murals through audio tours, events and by raising funds for upkeep and preservation."

Check out a link and see more images.

Hat tip to Burgh Diaspora.

Idora Park Update: Carousel Finds It's New Home In NY

The last significant remnant of Idora Park may never come back to Youngstown but it sure will be a big star in the bright lights of NY.

"It’s a pretty dramatic location, between the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges, and the carousel will be sheltered in a pretty ritzy pavilion, a $9 million transparent acrylic jewel box by the French architect Jean Nouvel. The horses, originally installed in a theme park in Youngstown in 1922, are now looking pretty good themselves: Their glass eyes glitter; they have brass tags denoting their fine lineage, the Philadelphia Toboggan Company; they’re costumed in sweet sherbet colors of peach and tangerine. There’s a palomino here, a bay there, a line of ponies. Each is different: one, perhaps an American Indian pony, has two feathers on its decorative, or what carousel aficionados call its “romantic” side, the one that is visible to spectators. Another has a shawl across its back and a clutch of roses at the saddle. A Gypsy woman’s horse, no doubt."

Let Youngstown become the really livable, affordable, creative place NY once was. We take the people and the energy and they get the shiny museum pieces in plastic boxes for tourists too look at. Fair trade.

My previous posts about this.

See The Idora Park Carousel : In New York

Letter From Youngstown : Can The Idora Park Carousel Return?

Idora Park Carousel Update