The Reeder Endowment in History

The annual Reeder Distinguished Lecture is right around the corner! Click “Distinguished Lecture” above to learn more.

My deepest appreciation goes to the Reeder Family, the YSU Foundation, and Dean Howell for renewing my appointment as the Robert W. Reeder I Memorial Endowed Professor of History for another three-year term. Read the announcement here.

Mark your calendars! The YSU history program is proud to welcome Dr. Jonathan S. Jones to deliver the 2023 Distinguished Lecture in Nineteenth Century History on April 27, 2023. More details to come in the New Year!

Dr. Jones is an assistant professor in the Department of History at the Virginia Military Institute. He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters exploring the history of Civil War veterans’ struggles with addiction. His forthcoming manuscript, Opium Slavery: The Civil War, Veterans, and America’s First Opioid Crisis will appear in 2023 from the University of North Carolina Press. His lecture will be drawn from his second book project, tentatively titled “A Great American Fraud: The Civil War and the Development of Medical Capitalism.”

The YSU History Program, the Center for Working Class Studies, and the Youngstown Solidarity Network warmly invite you to attend a roundtable discussion on Labor and the Working Class in U.S. History. The roundtable will feature Dr. Kenneth Bindas (Kent State University), Dr. Stephanie Shaw (The Ohio State University), and Dr. Gregory S. Wilson (University of Akron). These experts will share their insights into the history of labor and activism in working class communities in the United States, the links between scholarship and activism, and the relevance of these subjects to our region.

This event is free and open to the public. It will be held November 18 at 6:00 pm, at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor.

Speaker Bios:

Dr. Kenneth Bindas is a Professor of History at Kent State University. Being born and raised into a working-class family in Youngstown and witness to the decline of steel encouraged Dr. Bindas to study the negotiation of power between governments, business, and the people. His research focuses on the Depression era and the 1960s, exploring how the people redefined themselves, their government, and society in this era of change. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including Modernity and the Great Depression: The Transformation of American Society (Kansas Press, 2017).

Dr. Stephanie Shaw is a Professor of History at The Ohio State University. Her research and teaching fields focus on women and Black Americans. She is an award-winning author of numerous publications, including What a Woman ought to Be and Do: Black Professional Women Workers during the Jim Crow Era (University of Chicago Press, 1996) and W.E.B. DuBois and The Souls of Black Folk (University of North Carolina Press, 2015). She is currently completing a book tentatively titled “Grandmothers, Granny Women, and Old Aunts: Rethinking Slave Families and Communities in the Nineteenth Century South.”

Dr. Gregory S. Wilson is a Professor of History at the University of Akron. His research and teaching interests include modern U.S. history, especially public history, political economy, environmental history, Ohio history, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Along with various articles, he is the author of Above the Shots: An Oral History of The Kent State Shootings (Kent State University Press, 2016), Communities Left Behind: The Area Redevelopment Administration, 1945-1965 (University of Tennessee Press, 2009) and the co-author of Ohio: A History of the Buckeye State (Wiley, 2013).

We’re excited to present the preliminary program for the upcoming Reeder Symposium, October 26-28 at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry & Labor. Check it out under the “Symposium” tab above. All events are free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

Proposals for the 2022 Reeder Symposium are due Saturday. Visit “Symposium” for more details.

Please join us April 12 at 12:00 pm for the next event in the Reeder Speaker Series

Join us on Zoom

The Sutliff Museum interprets the history of the antislavery movement and the Victorian era from the perspective of the Sutliff family. Arriving in Trumbull County as pioneers, the Sutliffs rose to local, state, and national prominence. They were activists, educators, and politicians who made remarkable contributions to American history and especially to the antislavery movement.

Melissa Karman is the Director of the Sutliff Museum in Warren, Ohio, and serves as the Region 4 Representative of the Ohio Local History Alliance. She received her MA degree in Applied History from YSU (2011).

“History Happened Here” is an ongoing series that explores subjects in local and regional history, highlighting the contributions of Ohio and Ohioans at important moments in national and world history. For more information, contact alfluker@ysu.edu

The annual Reeder Distinguished Lecture is right around the corner! Click “Distinguished Lecture” above to learn more and register here

Please join us February 24 at 1:00 pm for the next event in the Reeder Speaker Series

Join us in person at the Steel Museum or online via YouTube

The Wilson Bruce Evans Home Historical Society is dedicated to the conservation of the Wilson Bruce Evans Home in Oberlin. Evans (1824-1898), an African American abolitionist, and his family helped make Oberlin a refuge for freedom-seekers. The Evans HHS is committed to developing public space and educational resources focused on the history of Wilson Bruce Evans family and the home’s historical significance as an integral part of African American history and culture.

Phyllis Yarber Hogan is a life-long resident of Oberlin and a founding member of the Oberlin African-American Genealogy History Group.

Dr. Gary Kornblith is Professor of History Emeritus at Oberlin College and the co-author of Elusive Utopoia: The Struggle for Racial Equality in Oberlin, Ohio. He is a forty-year resident of Oberlin and a founding member of the Evans HHS.

Dr. Carol Lasser is Professor of History Emerita at Oberlin College and the Manager of the Evans HHS. She is a forty-year resident of Oberlin and also the co-author, with Dr. Kornblith, of Elusive Utopia.

“History Happened Here” is an ongoing series that explores subjects in local and regional history, highlighting the contributions of Ohio and Ohioans at important moments in national and world history. For more information, contact alfluker@ysu.edu

Please join us January 31 at 4:00 pm for the next event in the Reeder Speaker Series

Join us in person at the Steel Museum or online via Zoom.

Bill Lawson is the Executive Director of Mahoning Valley Historical Society since 1991, and has worked for the Historical Society since 1987. Lawson is a past President, Trustee-at-Large, and Regional Representative of the Ohio Local History Alliance. He is the author of numerous articles and book reviews on history for local and professional periodicals, and is co-author of Mahoning Memories: A History of Youngstown and Mahoning County. Lawson holds BA and MA degrees in History from YSU.

“History Happened Here” is an ongoing series that explores subjects in local and regional history, highlighting the contributions of Ohio and Ohioans at important moments in national and world history. For more information, contact alfluker@ysu.edu