Ohio’s native sons honored
Events planned at presidential museums and libraries
Of the 11 men who served as president from 1869 through 1923, seven were born in Ohio.
They apparently wore out our welcome.
It’s now been a century since the last president from Ohio, Warren Harding, sat in the White House.
Harding died in office in 1923, apparently taking other Buckeyes’ chances with him.
But whatever the state’s political future, its past is still celebrated at several presidential libraries and museums.
Most of those sites will be open for Presidents’ Day, Feb. 20.
A special President’s Day celebration will be hosted by the James A. Garfield National Historic Site (nps.gov/jaga/) in Mentor.
Activities include an open house at the Garfield home, where Garfield made speeches during the first “front porch” presidential campaign in 1880.
The celebration also includes children’s crafts and activities plus trivia games at noon and 1:30 p.m.
Also in attendance will be costumed versions of Garfield’s wife and his daughter, Lucretia and Mollie Garfield; as well as Abraham and Mary Lincoln, Theodore and Edith Roosevelt and George Washington.
In addition to Presidents’ Day, the Garfield site is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through April 30. Admission is free.
The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums (rbhayes.org/) will also throw a party on Presidents’ Day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Hayes’ home at his Spiegel Grove estate in Fremont will be open for 30-minute tours beginning every 15 minutes during the celebration. Visitors who want to tour must check in at the museum to reserve a tour
time.
The museum will also host craft activities, scavenger hunts, an artifact display and presidential trivia games throughout the day.
Admission is free for the Presidents’ Day event. Regular admission is $20 for adults or $13 for museum admission only; $10 for students ages 13-18; and $5 for children ages 6-12.
Except for Presidents’ Day, the Hayes site is closed Mondays and Wednesdays through April.
Benjamin Harrison is the only Ohio-born President without his own Ohio museum. Harrison moved from the Buckeye State after he attended Miami University – but not too far. His home in Indianapolis is now preserved as the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site (bhpsite.org/).
For Presidents’ Day, the site will host interactive tours re-creating a visit to the Harrison House circa 1891. Costumed reenactors, including President Harrison and his wife Caroline, will greet the guests.
Advanced registration is required. Tickets are $12 for adults, and $7 for children ages 5 and older and for college students with ID.
Last month, the site also debuted a new exhibit, “Residential to Presidential: 150 Years with the Harrisons,” that explores the history of the Italianate Victorian mansion, its residents and its transformation into a presidential museum.
The site is open daily.
General admission is $14 for adults, and $9 for children ages 5 and older and for college students with ID.
On President’s Day, the William Howard Taft National Historic Site (nps.gov/wiho/) in Cincinnati will host a program that includes a reenactor demonstrating the life of a Buffalo Soldier, the nickname given to African American members of the Army cavalry regiments that served in the American West after the Civil War. The soldiers later served as some of the first caretakers of U.S. national parks at a time when Taft was secretary of war and then president.
Another Buffalo Soldier reenactment will also take place at the museum Feb. 11.
The site is open daily. Admission is free. Ohio’s last (at least for now) native-born president, Warren Harding, is celebrated at the Warren Harding Presidential Sites (hardingpresidentialsites.org/), which includes Harding’s historic home in Marion.
For Presidents’ Day, the site will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with free special family and children’s programs including presidential crafts and story time.
Admission to the presidential library and museum, including a home tour, is $16 for adults and $8 for students ages 6-17.
The site is open Thursdays through Sundays through February.
The William Mckinley Presidential Library and Museum (mckinleymuseum.org/) in Canton will be open on Presidents’ Day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a turtle parade (yes, you read that correctly) from 10 to 11 a.m.
Visitors can learn about Mckinley as well as Summit County history and also visit the site’s science exhibits and planetarium.
The site is normally open Tuesdays through Saturdays. Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for children ages 3-18.
Ulysses S. Grant is memorialized at his birthplace in Point Pleasant and his boyhood home and school (https://usgrantboyhoodhome.org/) in Georgetown. Those sites are closed for the season and will reopen May 1.
Steve Stephens is a freelance travel writer and photographer. Email him at sjstephensjr@gmail.com.