LH/PRE. Preble County History

Papers include a diary and letters which recount the personal experiences of Civil War Private Overholser who served with General Sherman on his March to the Sea. Overholser enlisted with Company D, 81st Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The collection is available online at http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_ms5/ .

The collection contains 30 blueprints for renovations of four school buildings in Preble County’s Twin Valley Local School District: North High School (Lewisburg), Lewisburg Elementary School, Verona Elementary and Junior High School, and South High School (West Alexandria). They include floor plans, exterior views, and plans about heating, plumbing, and lighting.

A collection of papers from an early 19th century southwestern Ohio family containing letters, autograph books, and some related documents. The bulk of the letters were written to Rev. Mighill Dustin, a Methodist Episcopal minister, and his wife, Mary (Dana) Dustin, by various friends and family members. The letters discuss family affairs, religious life, politics, and business matters. Related documents include wills and excerpts copied from 19th century county histories.

Homer and Elsie Hardy lived in Dayton, Ohio, but travelled the world in the 1920s and 1930s, possibly as part of Homer's job as a manager in the foreign department of the Delco-Light Company. The Homer and Elsie Hardy Collection contains 8 scrapbooks and numerous other postcards and photographs documenting their family life and travels.

This scrapbook was created by Middaugh’s wife for his birthday in 1924. It highlights his activities as a jazz musician in the early 1920s. The Middaugh family are from New Paris, Preble County, Ohio. Kenneth played in a jazz orchestra which performed in Dayton at the Greystone Ballroom, Cincinnati, Terre Haute, and other locations. He also was employed at Wilbur Wright Field. There are pictures of the recording studio he used in Indiana, and Wilbur Wright Field and Country Club.

The United Way of the Greater Dayton Area (UWGDA) was founded shortly after the 1913 flood. The United Way fundraises through workplace payroll deduction campaigns, in support of local nonprofit affiliates, to support health and human services agencies. The collection includes minutes, financial records, news clippings, press releases and newsletters, camapaign marketing materials and reports, agency directories, photographs, and audiovisual materials.