To have an Ohio Historical Marker made, Marion Voices’ members spent months researching the historical events. With the help of Marion Voices historian Jeff Nagle, the group collected about 70 pages of researched documentation which the group referenced to write the two 130-word inscriptions on the marker.
The group used archived articles from the Marion Star and other papers around Central Ohio.
“We usually do oral history as the main method, but obviously with something from 1919, you can’t necessarily interview very many people who remember that,” Jess Lamar Reece Holler, co-founder of Marion Voices said.
Every part of the inscription is meticulously fact-checked by Ohio History Connection and its panel of historians.
“They said we did a great job,” Reece Holler said. “They hardly had to do any work because we’ve got some really lovely both community and professional historians on our team.”
Once approved, the marker is cast in bronze and entered into the Ohio History database.
The marker at Martin Luther King Jr. Park joins a list of about 1,800 markers across the state of Ohio. A complete map of all of the markers in the program can be found at https://remarkableohio.org.
During the marker ceremony on June 28, Mayor Bill Collins and Mark Davis, Marion County commissioner, read proclamations celebrating the work of Marion Voices. A representative from Ohio History Connection, Neil Thompson, read proclamations from Gov. Mike DeWine.
“We have made great strides in this community as far as bridging that gap, but we all know there’s always more to do,” Collins said during the ceremony. “You know, it’s a never ending process. That’s why we’re here today.”
Thompson said one of the reasons the markers are valuable is they highlight Ohio history “right where it happened.”
“You’re able to better understand the present, you’re better able to understand where we are today, when you look at the past, whether that’s positive or whether that’s negative,” Thompson said. “It’s part of history and now we can understand where we are.”
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: How Marion Black history, cast in bronze, happened at MLK Jr. Park
Reporting by Abby Bammerlin, Marion Star / Marion Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
