Cooperative Dayton History Project Records

In December of 1968, Professors Carl M. Becker, Jacob H. Dorn, and Paul G. Merriam submitted a research proposal to the National Science Foundation requesting funding for a three-year study of the growth and development of Dayton, Ohio, from 1850 to 1950. The first goal of the project was to prepare a preliminary inventory of the historical sources relating to Dayton and its history. The second goal was to write a scholarly history of Dayton, based on the completed inventory of sources. A grant was received from the National Science Foundation in order to complete the first goal, which was to be completed in the period between September 1, 1969 and August 30, 1970. This period was later extended until April of 1971. Funding for the second phase of the project would depend upon submission of an additional grant application at a later date.

The purpose of the inventory itself was to identify and locate the widely scattered and largely un-catalogued or indexed records which relate to the history of Dayton. A second purpose of the inventory was to make a preliminary evaluation of the physical condition of the records inventoried, but due to time and other limitations, this goal was achieved to a much lesser degree. A copy of the inventory produced by the Cooperative Dayton History Project is included in this collection.