Announcements

Blog offers inside look at collections and preservation

Off the Shelf

With millions of collection pieces at their fingertips, Cincinnati Museum Center's curators have more stories to tell than can fit on the museum floor. Off the Shelf is a tour inside the stacks of Cincinnati Museum Center, a closer look at the tools and techniques of preservation and research.

Cincinnati Museum Center's collections include Archaeology, Archives and Manuscripts, Ethnology, History Objects and Fine Art, Invertebrate Paleontology, Mineralogy, Moving Images and Sound Recordings, Photographs and Prints, Printed Works, Vertebrate Paleontology and Zoology. Join the curators as they pull items off the shelf and reveal the stories behind them.

Catch up with Off the Shelf at www.cincymuseum.org/blog.

Temporary Library Closure

The Cincinnati History Library & Archives at Cincinnati Museum Center is temporarily closed to the public to facilitate the restoration of historic Union Terminal. As a result, guests will be unable to visit the Cincinnati History Library but may still access the library's online catalog, digital journals and other local history resources at library.cincymuseum.org. Limited service via telephone and email are available, but the library will remain closed to the public throughout the duration of the restoration project.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause but hope that you will explore our online resources to support your research needs. We look forward to seeing you in the library again when the restoration project is completed. Please visit the library website at library.cincymuseum.org for updates and additional information.

Chocolate: The Exhibition is a sweet treat for the mind

From kings to kids, rainforests to candy wrappers, experience the global journey of everyone's favorite treat. Chocolate: The Exhibition traces the evolution of the cacao bean from a divinely bitter Mayan drink fit for royalty to the various sweet varieties marketed to the masses. Shade yourself beneath the canopy of a rainforest as you learn about the science behind the cacao tree, its cultivation and the chemistry that makes chocolate so irresistible.

Chocolate: The Exhibition is the story of a simple bean with global economic and cultural impact. The exhibition opens June 29 at Cincinnati Museum Center. Visit www.cincymuseum.org/chocolate for more information.

WWI Photography Exhibit Opens at The Filson

From April 6 through July 27, 2018, The Filson Historical Society will exhibit a selection of World War I images from its Speed family photograph collection. Through a Soldier's Lens: Jack Speed's WWI Photography features images taken by Louisville native John "Jack" Speed, an officer in the 150th Field Artillery. Speed's prior service with the Indiana National Guard made him an ideal candidate for military service when the United States entered WWI. He was among the first 40,000 Americans sent abroad, arriving in France in September 1917, a mere five months after the U.S. declared war. His regiment saw action on the Western Front in some of the most lethal battles in which American soldiers fought: Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

Speed was not only a soldier, but also an amateur photographer. During his training and time abroad he snapped numerous photographs, most likely with "the soldier's camera," a Vest Pocket Kodak. Speed and his fellow soldiers had cameras that were more portable and accessible than ever before; they documented their wartime experiences with numerous candid shots. The Speed family photograph collection at the Filson contains several hundred images from Jack Speed's WWI service. Through a Soldier's Lens features Speed's images of war, exploring the experiences of one Kentuckian afield during global conflict.

Please visit www.filsonhistorical.org/exhibits for more information.