SC&A Contact Information
Special Collections & Archives
401 Dunbar Library
Wright State University Libraries
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy.
Dayton, OH 45435-0001
library-archives@wright.edu
Monday-Friday 8:30am-5pm
Chat Monday-Friday 1-5pm
Ask an Archivist
What is a Primary Source?
A primary source is a rare, one of a kind item typically created by an eyewitness to an event. Letters, diaries, photographs, business records, church records, organizational records, and family papers are considered primary sources.
Secondary sources are published materials that often use primary sources for the background research. Books, journal articles, magazines, and blogs are considered secondary.
Citing Your Sources From SC&A
Be sure to always check with your professor on the preferred citation required for your paper. Purdue OWL is another great tool for citation information. Here are several examples of citations using the photograph of Katharine Kennedy Brown Papers.
Katharine Kennedy Brown Papers (MS-146), Special Collections & Archives, Wright State University
Katharine Kennedy Brown Papers (MS-146), box 82, file 1, Special Collections & Archives, Wright State University
Special Collections & Archives
Special Collections & Archives collects and preserves material related to the Wright Brothers, aviation, the history of the Miami Valley, and Wright State University. Our Miami Valley materials dates back to the early 1800s and includes letters, diaries, family records, business records, photographs, and so much more. In addition, we collect local government records for 11 counties in central, southwest Ohio. The county materials often include the county children's home, county home (infirmary), common pleas court, probate court, sheriff, and township/city records. Please visit the SC&A web site for more information on the archives and collections.
Our reading room also houses a large collection of published local history, genealogy, and aviation resources that can provide secondary sources for your research.
How to Use SC&A During the Spring Semester
SC&A staff members are available via email Monday-Friday from 8:30am-5pm and chat from 1-5pm Monday-Friday. You can use the Ask an Archivist page for questions. You can also email Bill Stolz, Archivist for Reference and Outreach, with questions you may have about the archives and your document analysis project.
Our web site is a great place to start with your research. A site search will list all collections and other material related to your topic. In addition, many of our collections, or portions of, have been digitized and available on CORE Scholar, the University Libraries' institutional repository. See below for a list of the Ohio history-related collections that are available on CORE Scholar or by contacting Bill Stolz.
A Finding Aid, also know as a collection guide or inventory, is a guide to a specific collection that provides detailed information on the contents and organization of the material. Each collection here at SC&A will have a finding aid and all finding aids are available on our web site.
Links to SC&A Digital Collections
SC&A has digitized select materials related to the Wright Brothers, aviation, local history, and Wright State University on CORE Scholar, Wright State Libraries' institutional repository. Below are links to the various digitized collections along with descriptions for each collection.
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Wallace Family Papers (MS-92)Includes the 1918 diary of Donald McKinney Wallace, of New Carlise, Ohio, with entries about his military service at the University of Cincinnati, and the Influenza (Spanish Flu) Pandemic. There are also several documents related to his WWI military service.
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Women's Suffrage CollectionsSelect materials from three collections commemorating the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment in 2020. Bill has also scanned additional documents, including speeches and correspondence for the 1920s-1940s, from the Katharine Kennedy Brown Papers (MS-146). Please contact him if interested.
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Miami County Manumission Record, 1834-1847In 1804, the Ohio General Assembly enacted the Ohio Black Codes to govern black and mulatto people living in the state. Under these Codes, free blacks and mulattos were required to register at their local court, proving they were free by providing emancipation papers or witnesses who could prove their “free” status and guarantee their good behavior with a monetary surety.
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Wright Brothers Collection (MS-1)More than 2,000 images of the Wright Brothers, family, and activities along with the newspapers they printed and the diaries of their father, Bishop Milton Wright.
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The 1913 Flood Survivors Oral Histories (Collection (MS-296)ten videotapes containing interviews with seven survivors of the flood. The participants tell their stories of survival as children during the flood. Each interview includes the video and typed transcript.
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Margaret Smell Diary (SC-85)Diary of Margaret Small who was visiting Dayton from Michigan during the 1913 flood. Transcription of flood related sections available.
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Dayton Family Photograph Album, Circa 1900This photograph album shows images from an unknown family in Dayton, Ohio circa 1900. The photographs show the family in various parts of Dayton and several local landmarks are visible including Sacred Heart Church on West Fourth Street. Other images show regional locations that the family visited such as Brookville, Indiana.
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Charles Wald Collection (MS-355)This collection documents the training of an early American aviator at the Wright School of aviation, Charles Wald, as well as the Wright Company’s early involvement in water-based aviation. The collection includes a flight diary and logs written by Charles Wald in 1912, and negatives taken by Wald.
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Andrew S. Iddings Wright Brothers Homecoming Collection (MS-192)Collection consists of negatives with accompanying contact prints, taken by Andrew S. Iddings, of the June 17-18, 1909, Dayton Homecoming Celebration to honor Orville and Wilbur Wright for their achievements in flight.
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Charles F. Horn (MS-629)Charles F. Horn was born in Bellefontaine, Ohio, in 1925. Horn served the public in many different local and state government roles, including Kettering councilman, Kettering mayor, Montgomery county commissioner, and Ohio Senator.
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National Military Home of DaytonThis series features a collection of images from the National Military Home of Dayton, now the Veterans Administration.
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Civil War CollectionsWe have digitized letters, diaries, and other material from 4 of our Civil War Collections.
Ohio History Collections available by Email
This list is comprised of collections, or portions of collections, that have been scanned by the Archives staff and available by contacting Bill Stolz or sending an email to library-archives@wright.edu.
- Patterson Family Papers, 1780-1970 (MS-236): A collection of correspondence, family histories, photographs, business records, and scrapbooks from two local pioneer families who played an important part in the early development of the Miami Valley: the Pattersons of Dayton and the Johnstons of Piqua. Three letters from John Johnston during the War of 1812 from box 1, file 4, are available.
- Katharine Kennedy Brown Papers (MS-146): The bulk of materials are connected with Brown's activities as the National Republican Party Committee Woman from Ohio. Her speeches for 1930-1943 from box 30, files 1, 2, and 4; correspondence related to the Dayton Republican Women's Club, 1922-1927, fbox 64, file 3; and Montgomery County Chapter of the Ohio Federation of Republican Women, box 64, file 4, are available in PDF format.
- Dayton Weather Bureau Records, 1883-1996 (MS-74): Daily, monthly and annual reporting records of the Dayton Weather Bureau. Weather entries for the 1913 flood from March 22-28, 1913, are available (Box 3, file 3).
- St. Elizabeth Hospital Records, (MS-497): Pages 60-62 showing the early admissions of Influenza patients for October 16-October 25, 1918 (Volume 18, Listing of Admissions, October 15-December 1921).
Links to Other Ohio History resources
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Dayton Metro Library "Dayton Remembers"Digital collections specific to Dayton history. The Library also has a variety of databases with historical documents that are accessible with a valid Dayton Metro Library card.
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Ohio History ConnectionOHC, based in Columbus, collects and preserves the history for the entire state of Ohio.
