Description: This photograph shows a portion of Birchard Park in Fremont, Ohio, along a residential street, probably McPherson Boulevard. A note on the reverse of the photograph reads "McPherson Blvd street parks." Dedicated October 19, 1871, the land that now constitutes Birchard Park was donated to the city by Sardis Birchard. Birchard was the uncle of President Rutherford B. Hayes, brother of Rutherford B. Hayes Senior. After the death of his brother, Birchard took an active role in his nephew's life, including overseeing his education and purchasing Spiegel Grove for Hayes' home, now the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. Birchard settled in Sandusky, Ohio, now called Fremont, where he became a successful banker and merchant. Birchard made many public donations to the city, including the building and endowment for the public library (Birchard Public Library) as well as two public parks, one of which is Birchard Park. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B06F07_027_1
Subjects: Fremont (Ohio); Sandusky County (Ohio); Parks; Entrepreneurs
Places: Fremont (Ohio); Sandusky County (Ohio)