Toledo's Attic has reached 25 years in 2022! Since 1997, Toledo's Attic has been Toledo's and Northwest Ohio's virtual museum focusing on the region's commercial, industrial, and social history from the late 19th through the late 20th centuries. It began as a co-operative project led by the Department of History at The University of Toledo in 1997 and joined by the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, the Maumee Valley Historical Society, WGTE Public Media, and the Ward M. Canaday Center of the University of Toledo afterwards. Today, it is a public digital history and storytelling project to connect visitors with the history of the city and surrounding communities.
Toledo's Attic has been completely redesigned, reorganized, and migrated to an updated content management system. It features several original exhibits and galleries from the 1990s and now, there are 63 exhibits, over 4,000 images, and dozens of virtual ours using HistoryPin created over the past 25 years by professional historians, UT students, and other history enthusiasts in the Toledo and Northwest Ohio communities. Use the menu above to view the exhibits, discover resources, interact on social media, or find out more about Toledo's Attic.
Toledo’s Attic: The Beginnings - A commemorative essay by Dr. Timothy Messer-Kruse (original project lead in 1997) on the 25th anniversary of the Toledo's Attic project.
1902 Walking Tour - an original Toledo's Attic project (from 1998) resurrected for new technology: Tour Downtown Toledo of 1902 using the Sanboanr maps and use the Google Street view links for present views.
...and at least a dozen other original Toledo's Attic exhibits were restored. See Exhibits and Collections
Passport project - in collaboation with the Northwest Ohio Cultural Heritage Group, a new resource has been added to raise interest in regional history and cultural heritage
Postcard Puzzles - an interactive feature engaging visitors with the large postcard collection on Toledo's Attic. Viewing recommendation: use a larger screen (tablet, laptop, or desktop). Viewing experience varies on smartphones...besides put it down while driving!
Recent Exhibits
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Try an exhibit below or explore the exhibit themes below.
Aerial view of the new university campus, 1938
Exhibit Gallery
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by Barbara Floyd, 1997
Introduction
As a person grows older and taller in stature, the shadow he casts upon the earth grows longer. His impact on the world becomes more profound as he matures and succeeds. The same can be said of a...
"Our Girls' Club Magazine"
Toledo working women banded together in the early twentieth century for support and camaraderie. Our Club Girls Magazine stood for the "social and commercial education of young wage-earning women." Experience life for young working women through its pages. This exhibit is drawn from four issues of Our...
Speech and Hearing Building
Exhibit Gallery
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Toledo Hearing and Speech Center: A Century of Service
by Lauren White, Manuscripts Librarian, Ward M. Canaday Center
Speech and Hearing Advertising Speech and Hearing Therapy
The Toledo Hearing and Speech Center (THSC) was born out of Bessie Dewey Anderson’s own experiences with hearing loss. In 1915, as...
William H. Scott - Jay K. Secor - James Secor - Joseph K.Secor - Gen. Isaac R. Sherwood - Spitzer Family - Gen. James B. Steedman - George Butler Storer - Robert A. and Frank D. Stranahan
William H. Scott
William H. Scott, a realtor by profession, helped to establish the second...
by Timothy Messer-Kruse
A monument is a curious way to record history. It is the oldest, most ancient form of history writing (what else is a pyramid or a statue but a memorial of some past?) and still remains a popular means of expressing historical ideas. Like the ancients, our society...
Women making glass
Exhibit Gallery
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In World War II, Toledo did its part to help the war effort. A silent, but equally important, part of that team was made up of local women who entered the workforce.
Poster of Rosie the Riveter.
Prior to the War
The Great Depression of the 1930s had thrown America...
Ford Model T
Willys Jeep
Exhibit Gallery
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Henry Ford, portrait
1908 was a pivotal year in the history of the American automobile. Events such as the introduction of the Model T Ford, the automobile that revolutionized the manufacture of the automobile and most mass marketed goods
The Model T affected all forms of industry and...
The Tiedtke Brothers - Sergeant Ernst Torgler - Thomas H. Tracy - Morrison Remmick Waite - The Walbridge Family - William Spooner Walbridge - Herbert Whitney - Alvin Mansfield Woolson - Samuel Young
The Tiedtke Brothers
The Tiedtke brothers were active members of the Toledo community and during their lives experienced financial success...
Richard Gosser, 1942
Exhibit Gallery
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by Timothy Messer-Kruse, October 1, 2002
Richard Gosser speaking on occasion of Army Navy production award given to Willys-Overland in 1942
In the history of labor in Toledo, no figure stands taller than Richard T. Gosser.
Gosser's life both spanned and reflected the major trends of labor in the Twentieth...
Chillicothe, first capital of Ohio
Exhibit Gallery
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"Another View of Ohio's Bicentennial": A Speech Given Before the Annual Dinner of the Lucas County-Maumee Valley Historical Society, June 11, 2003
by Timothy Messer-Kruse, Assoc. Prof. of Labor History, Univ. of Toledo [1]
Being a classroom lecturer I am accustomed to speaking extemporaneously but tonight I...
Over the past few decades, genealogical research has been revolutionized with the help of electronic databases, DNA analysis, and improved access to historical documents at libraries and archives. The growing number of Web resources and available volunteers have also made a considerable difference to those who could not find information...
Greater Toledo: The City in the World (case views and galleries)
By the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collection
Exhibit Case 1 -- Exhibit Case 2 -- Exhibit Case 3 -- Exhibit Case 4 -- Exhibit Case 5 -- Exhibit Case 6 -- Exhibit Case 7 -- Exhibit Case 8 --...
The History of the Toledo and Lake Erie Boating and Fishing Association and The Middle Bass Club
By Marie Demer Rader, July 2021
Original Club (1874-1922)
The Original Club consisted of the Toledo and Lake Erie Boating and Fishing Association (1874-1894) and the renamed Middle Bass Club (1894-1922). The prominent Toledo families...
Remembering Battery B
Sue Stankey, Editor Bill Hinsch, Art Director
In Today’s cover story, Robert G. Morris, a local attorney, writes about Toledo men, including his father, Tom Morris, who went into World War I together as members of Battery B. [Read the complete article in Toledo Magazine, March 27, 1988, p....
Aerial View of the University of Toledo Campus
Exhibit Gallery
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by Barbara Floyd
"...We believe you are going to respond to the challenge of a beautiful environment, that the traditions which have grown up about this noble architecture will stimulate you to greater efforts in learning, and to finer decorum, and to...
We are reviving an original exhibit from 2012 [archive link] an an effort to tap into local knowledge of people, places, and events to get more information on undescribed photographs. A collection of photographs is also on Pinterest: Exhibits Anonymous
UNDER RE/CONSTRUCTION
Valentine Theatre
Exhibit Gallery
Images (in order of appearance): Original stage curtain, original theater interior, original lobby, original stage, original ticket booth, exterior view by Milton Zink (1957), and Loew's sign (all courtesy of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library).
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Valentine Theatre Symbol
By Timothy Messer-Kruse, University of Toledo, 1998
In its pioneer decades, Toledo was, not...
« Historical Essay
Use the index on the right to view the individual archives. If you have questions about these photographs, can identify any people in the photographs/videos, or have photographs to add, please contact Marie Demer Rader at marie.rader@gmail.com.
Members
This archive contains photographs of Middle Bass Club members enjoying themselves...
Edwin F. Damschroder Sr. - Isaac Horning Detwiler - Henry Dodge - Charles C. Doolittle - John Hardy Doyle - John Felker - Stevens Warren Flower - George R. Ford - Albert V. Foster - John W. Fuller
Edwin F. Damschroder, Sr.
Edwin F. Damschroder Sr., was born in Elmore, Ohio, in...
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Exhibit Gallery
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By Timothy Messer-Kruse
February 2002
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar was a young man who witnessed firsthand the fruits of struggle. His father escaped slavery in Kentucky and made his way to Canada through Ohio, and then returned to fight with a Massachusetts regiment against the system that had...
Gustavus Ohlinger
Exhibit Gallery
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Essay by Patrick Cook (November 2013)
Gustavus Ohlinger was born into extraordinary circumstance. His parents, Franklin and Bertha Ohlinger, served as missionaries in Foochow, China. It was in Foochow on July 15, 1877, that Gustavus was born to his Methodist missionary parents more than seventy five hundred miles from...
The shield of Toledo, Spain
Exhibit Gallery
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The shield of Toledo, Spain
History of Toledo, Spain 540-1936
Photo of Toledo, Spain
Toledo, Spain has a much longer history than that of its sister city, Toledo, Ohio. Spanish tradition dates the founding of the city to 540 B.C.E., under the original moniker of Toledoth. The city...
Josina Lott
Exhibit Gallery
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By Mary Koslovsky (July 2004) and Cathy Seitz Whitaker (August 2005)
Josina Lott with Sheltered Workshop sign
Josina Lott, Part I: Lott Day School
Josina Jones Lott believed that every child, regardless of physical or mental limitations, had ability and could learn. She began Lott Day School in her apartment in September...
Project Description
The Northwest Ohio Cultural Heritage Group (formed in 2019) is a collaborative group of archives, museums, public and private libraries, historical societies and other cultural heritage institutions in NW Ohio and has just created its first project--a passport book featuring over 50 cultural heritage institutions throughout 19 counties of...
By Emily Ruckel, M.A. Public/Applied History
January 6, 2013 marked the 125th anniversary of the Toledo State Hospital (TSH), now known as the Northwest Ohio Psychiatric Hospital. The last 125 years have witnessed many changes including various names, buildings that have come and gone, shifting philosophies of insanity, and a variety...
An illustrated historical atlas of Lucas and part of Wood Counties, Ohio (Chicago : Andreas & Baskin, 1875) presents township maps and illustrations of homes and townscapes as they were seen in 1875. Most structures are gone but some of the landscape, water ways, and some roads are recognizable. You...
Pinterest: Toledo Sister Cities -- Libraries
In 1931, Toledo, Ohio and Toledo Spain forged the world's first sister-city relationship. While Toledo may have been named after the former capital of Spain, Toledo, on December 1, 1837, the latter responded with gifts of swords and other items in 1876. Toledo's steel industry...
Toledo Topics (cover)
Exhibit Gallery
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Toledo Topics: Life at the Top in Jazz Age Toledo
by Timothy Messer-Kruse
Cover of the November 1926 issue
For Toledo industrialists, times could not have been better. For Toledo, as for the nation as a whole, the 1920s were a time of great industrial expansion. In that decade, still...
Experiencing War
Exhibit Gallery
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Steven Pecsenye's Letters from the Front
Steven Pecsenye was a second-generation Hungarian who was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio. He attended Macomber High School and studied at the Toledo Museum of Art as well as in Salzburg, Austria.
Steven Pecsenye
Upon his graduation from high school, he entered the Army...
James Ashley, Sr. - Roy William Babcock - Marcus Barbour - Rudolph A. Bartley - James Baumgardner - Bentley Family - John Berdan - Charles H. Breyman - Otis Avery Browning
James Ashley, Sr.
James Ashley Sr.
James Ashley, Sr. was born in 1824 in Allegheny County Pennsylvania.Unless otherwise noted all information is...
By the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections
Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections
Introduction (Summary)
By choosing the name “Toledo,” the founders of the city in 1837 seemed interested in promoting it as a place with an international focus. It is uncertain why “Toledo” was selected as the name for...
The historical time presented first in 1999 has been re-created here, combining the original information and years with a new timeline module.
{loadposition timeline}
« Historical Essay
Use the index on the right to view the individual archives. If you have questions about these photographs, can identify any people in the photographs/videos, or have photographs to add, please contact Marie Demer Rader at marie.rader@gmail.com.
Club Grounds
This archive contains photographs of the Middle Bass Club including...
Medicine on the Maumee
Introduction
Clara Church, 8 years old, tetanus, January 29, 1859. Chris Fall, 35 years old, laborer, drinking ice water, May 15, 1860. Avery McCarthy, 19 years old, fits, September 20, 1860. John Ayers, 32 years old, bad whiskey, June 3, 1863. Theodore Hansen, 27 years old, soldier, starved...
Uhl Brothers Bicycle Emporium
Exhibit Gallery
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From Bicycles to Furniture: A Brief Historical Sketch of the Toledo Metal Furniture Company’s First Decade
Historical sketch by: Arjun Sabharwal, Marty Uhl*
Introduction
Capitalism in America was a robust system for enduring ideas, innovation, perseverance, and (of course) capital; from the 1890s through the 1920s, Toledo represented a...
by Mickiel Nathaniel Graves and Sean Sabo, Spring 2018 (Class Project for Public History Practicum, HIS 4980)
Introduction
University Hall has been an iconic part of the University of Toledo and the City of Toledo since its conception in 1929. The building utilizes collegiate gothic architecture and stands as an inspiration to students...
Toledo Fire Rescue Department Patch
Exhibit Gallery
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A Century of Fire: Toledo's Firefighting History
Bill O'Connor and Herb Zieman.Fire Rescue Department Patch 1936 Schacht Ladder Truck
The Toledo Fire Department dates back to 1837. This exhibit explores the rich and colorful history of the fire department, examining the firefighters, their equipment, and the fires...
"A picture is worth a thousand words" -- according to the adage attributed to advertising executive Frederick R. Barnard Frederick R. Barnard who authored his article in 1921 titled "One look is worth a thousand words." Some others attribute is to U.S. newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane in 1911. Going back, Henrik...
Bottle Machine
Exhibit Gallery
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The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections at the University of Toledo has recently received a collection of records and artifacts from the Owens-Illinois company. This large collection includes business documents, bottle catalogs, photographs, films, books, patents, stock certificates, company newsletters, press releases and two collections of...
John C. Gipe - Benjamin F. Griffin - John Gunckel - Arthur Hickock - Henry Hinde - Hugh Webb Hubbard - Thomas Hubbard - Samuel Milton Jones - Adrian "Addie" Joss - John Milton Killits
John C. Gipe
Born in Indianapolis on May 12, 1881, John C. Gipe attended Indiana public schools...
You can view recorded lectures and presentations focusing on the region's history--arranged alphabetically below. Many of these have been produced by WGTE/Knowledgestream. Toledo Stories is a separate series of documentaries also produced by WGTE.
Presentation Title, Presenter, Date
"The Blow is Struck: Northwest Ohio Goes to War", Bruce Way, September 24, 2011
"Development...
Alonzo Chesbrough - Albert "Bert" S. Close - Elmer Harry Close - Frank Collins* - John Craig - Frank, Howard and George Crosby/Crosby Brothers - Frances Crosby - William Culver - Judge Joseph W. Cummings - Robert S. Cummings - William Cummings
*The original list from 1995 (not used herein)...
Erwin P. Raymond - Colonel William H. Raynor - Frazier Reams - Dr. Calvin Hamilton Reed - S.C. Reynolds and W. B. Reynolds - Ramson Richards - William Edgar Richards - George W. Ritter - Jefferson D. Robinson - Horton C. Rorick
Erwin P. Raymond
Erwin P. Raymond was a prominent Toledo attorney,...
Blogs
Catholic Architecture and History of Toledo, Ohio
The Department Store Museum: Lamson’s Lasalle’s Lion Store
History in Your Own Backyard (Ohio)
Holy Toledo History
The Toledo Gazette
Retro Toledo Metro
Toledo History Box
Historical Societies and Museums
East Toledo Historical Society
Great Lakes Historical Society
Henry County Historical Society
Heritage Sylvania
Historic Old West End
Historic Perrysburg
Historic Vistula Foundation
Holland Springfield Spencer Historical...
Let's meet up on social media! Toledo's Attic visitors can explore local history information resources, meet local history enthusiast, and engage in discussions on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. You can share your photos and videos of historically significant places in the area with others or see what others have...
The list below includes archive websites and digital collections maintained by states and territories (marked by *) in the U.S. Many regional collections are jointly created and maintained by multiple states and these collections tell the stories of communities in those areas.
Arrangements: By State and Territories -- Diverse and Underrepresented...
Toledo Humane Society
Exhibit Gallery
All images were published here with permission from the Toledo Area Humane Society
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by Arjun Sabharwal
Toledo Produce Exchange
The Toledo Humane Society formed on January 29, 1884 and incorporated on February 14, 1884 , following meetings held at the Richard Mott's Home and Toledo Produce Exchange in Downtown Toledo...
Barney Oldfield
Exhibit Gallery
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Barney Oldfield
Barney Oldfield was born in a farmhouse on the outskirts of Wauseon, Ohio. In 1889, when he was 11 years old, he moved with his family to Toledo. By 1904, Oldfield was America's most famous race car driver, owning the most track wins and virtually all the...
War In Their Words
Exhibit Gallery
{gallery}exhibits/WarinTheirWords{/gallery}
War In Their Words
War in Their Own Words: Toledo’s Veterans Write Home
By Lauren White, Manuscripts Librarian, Ward M. Canaday Center
The best picture of the realities of war is painted by the words of those who lived it. The Ward M. Canaday Center is honored to hold...
S.S. Willis Boyer
Exhibit Gallery
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Side view of the S.S. Willis Boyer pilot house.
In the shadow of the downtown Toledo skyline, moored alongside the rolling landscape of International Park, a splash of history and romance awaits you on the S.S. Willis B. Boyer. Careful, authentic restoration has made the ship come alive!...
Acklin Plant Exterior, 1925
Exhibit Gallery
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By Benjamin Grillot, 2000
I. Early Days - "To such men as the late Grafton M. Acklin is the city of Toledo indebted for its prominence in the industrial world.." -The Story of the Maumee Valley, 1929.
A. Toledo, Ohio in 1911, A Backdrop
The story of Acklin Stamping,...
The first issue of the Quarterly Bulletins (1929, volume 1, number 1) published by the Historical Society of Northwest Ohio, the predecessor of the Maumee Valley Historical Society.
Northwest Ohio History - The journal (formerly known as the Northwest Ohio Quarterly and even before that the Quarterly Bulletins, starting in 1929)...
Moses Fleetwood Walker
Exhibit Gallery
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African-American athletes in Toledo sport history
From Moses Fleetwood and Welday Walker and the 1883 Toledo Blue Stockings, to the African American sparring partners who helped train Jack Dempsey for his crushing defeat of Jess Willard in 1919, to the various twentieth century football players at the University...
Samuel M. Jones
Exhibit Gallery
{gallery}exhibits/samjones{/gallery}
Timothy Messer-Kruse
Samuel Milton "Golden Rule" Jones was nominated for mayor of Toledo at a tumultuous Republican convention on February 25, 1897. That day would usher in a nearly two decade period of reform government in the city and would propel Mayor Jones to national, and even international...
Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship
Exhibit Gallery
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By Richard Kruzel
Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship
Toledo’s history and the history of commerce on the Great Lakes has been intertwined since the city’s inception. Toledo’s position on the Maumee River at the western end of Lake Erie has made it one of...
St. Patrick's Church
Exhibit Gallery
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Essay and photographs by Gregory Johnson, 2007 Revised by Tamara Jones, 2012
This is a brief history, in both pictures and text, of the creation and renovation of the Historic St. Patrick's Church of Toledo. Archival footage courtesy of The Historic Church of St. Patrick's and the Toledo...
"Faith, Vision and Hard Work: The University of Toledo, 1872-2022" (Exhibition focusing on the history of the University of Toledo) [More on this exhibition...]