| Name | Marion County Historical Society Museum at Heritage Hall |
| Brief Description | W. G.Harding Presidential collection, Wyandot Popcorn Museum |
| Type | Attraction |
| Category | Ohio Museum |
| Description | Visit the Marion County Historical Society and see the 2017 exhibit, The German-American Experience: 1820-1920, this tells the story of how people of German heritage were among the earliest white settlers of Marion County and the rest of Ohio and how they helped create the cultural identity we now have as Americans.
German immigrants tended to establish their own communities where their customs and language were kept alive. The coming of World War I brought with it a backlash against German culture in the United States. Despite the fact that a large number of Ohioans had German ancestry, they faced an enormous amount of anti-German sentiment.
When the U.S. declared war on Germany in 1917, anti-German sentiment rose across the nation, and German-American institutions came under attack. In some areas German street names are changed, the teaching of German banned in schools, and German-language publications removed from libraries. For German-American culture, the new century was a time of severe setbacks--and a devastating blow from which it has never fully recovered.
Some discrimination was hateful, but cosmetic rather than physical: The names of schools, foods, streets, and towns, were often changed, and music written by Wagner and Mendelssohn removed from concert programs and even weddings. Physical attacks, though rare, are more violent: German-American businesses and homes vandalized, and German-Americans, accused of being "pro-German," were tarred and feathered, and, in at least once instance, lynched.
This exhibit tells the story of the impact German–Americans had on the early growth of Marion County and the effect World War I had on the local German-speaking communities.
Visit Heritage Hall before the end of December when the exhibit will close.
As usual, Marion County Historical Society members get in free! Heritage Hall, the Marion County Historical Society Museum is open Saturday and Sundays 1-4 PM November, December, March and April and open 1-4 PM Wednesday through Sunday from May -October. Open by appointment only through January and February. Call 740-387-4255 for more information or to schedule a tour.
The Marion County Historical Society (MCHS), nurtures interest in local history through publishing, lectures, special events, children’s programming and the operation of The Marion County Historical Society Museum located in Marion’s “Old Post Office,” renamed “Heritage Hall” and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Society’s collections which include artifacts, documents, and photographs, are used in exhibitions and programs which enhance understanding of Marion County’s rich history, from prehistoric times to the present day. MCHS’s Harding Presidential Collections chronicle the life and career of Warren G. Harding of Marion, 29th President of the United States.
Also in Heritage Hall:
Rinker/Howser Resource Ce |
| Address | 169 East Church Street |
| CSZ | Marion Ohio 43302 |
| Phone 1 | (740) 387-4255 |
| Email | mchs@marionhistory.com |
| Handicapped Accessible | Yes |
| Time Allowance | 1-2 hours |
| Website | www.marionhistory.com |
| Get Tickets |  |
| Last Updated | 1/17/2017 |
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