The Over-the-Rhine Museum is delighted to announce the next installment in our lecture series, “Three Acts in Over-the-Rhine” on Thursday, April 4, at First Lutheran Church, 1208 Race Street in Over-the-Rhine. Doors will open at 6 PM and the program will begin at 6:30 PM.
We are looking back at how Over-the-Rhine has changed. Our speakers will explore physical space in Over-the-Rhine and the ways buildings and streetscapes can act as storytellers. Each of our three speakers will use their own lens to explore historical people and events as revealed by changes in the neighborhood’s built environment.We hope you will join us for this deeper dive into the history of the ever-changing Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.
Ann Senefeld, Anne Delano Steinert, and Jim Tarbell will speak at this April 4 program.
Ann Senefeld
Ann Senefeld is a well-known local historian and the research powerhouse behind the much-loved local architecture blog, Digging Cincinnati History. Ann is the author of Finding Your Home’s Ancestors: A Guide to Researching Properties in Hamilton County, Ohio and a recent winner of the Griffin Yeatman Historical Achievement Award. A Cincinnati native, Ann loves to share her passion for her hometown and its history through her blog and Facebook page. She believes buildings have their own family trees and learning their stories adds a human face to history.
Senefeld will share the history of 1906 Elm Street (near Findlay Market and Rhinegeist) where German landscape murals dating to 1892 were discovered hidden under drywall during a recent renovation. Senefeld will trace the history of the building and tie the murals to the people who lived in it.
Anne Delano Steinert
Anne Delano Steinert is an urban historian and Board Chair of the Over-the-Rhine Museum. Steinert is currently pursuing a PhD in urban American and public history at the University of Cincinnati. She holds a BA and MS in historic preservation and an MA in urban American history. Steinert is curator of the award-winning Finding Kenyon Barr: Exploring Photographs of Cincinnati’s Lost Lower West End. Her other recent exhibitions include 'Schools for the City' and 'Look Here!'
Steinert will tell the story of Webster School, formerly located on Findlay Street between Vine and Race Streets, and designed by local architecture Henry Siter. Steinert’s talk will trace Webster School from its grand opening parade in 1898, to an arson fire in the 1970s and explore the ways one building can be used as an illustration of larger patterns of neighborhood change.
Jim Tarbell
Jim Tarbell is a well-known, long-time resident of Over-the-Rhine. Jim first moved to the neighborhood in 1971 and is a witness to fifty years of neighborhood change. In the late 1960s, Tarbell owned a community center/music venue in Clifton’s Ludlow Garage. More recently, he was a champion of the “Baseball on Broadway” campaign and served on Cincinnati City Council from 1998 to 2007. He served as Vice Mayor from 2005 to 2007. Tarbell is a fixture at local parades where he can often be seen pushing Jim Seldon’s peanut cart.
Tarbell will explore a story he believes to be the “biggest game changer” in the history of Over-the-Rhine - the 221(d)(3) Project-based Section 8 legislation of the late 1960s. Tarbell will share his recollections of the waves of neighborhood change brought about by this sweeping legislation and the ways we still feel its influence in the neighborhood today.
Doors will open at 6:00 PM for appetizers before the event, with speakers starting at 6:30 PM. The Museum suggests a $5 donation for this evening of provocative stories. If you would like to reserve a free ticket, you can do so by emailing us at hello@otrmuseum.org or by calling 513-659-5680 and we will add your name to our attendee list.
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Three Acts in Over-the-Rhine is an innovative series designed to expose attendees to stories of the Over- the-Rhine neighborhood. Each event features three fifteen-minute talks on the history of Over-the-Rhine. All three presenters answer questions together about their presentations.
The Over-the-Rhine Museum inspires understanding and respect for the people who have created and lived in Cincinnati’s historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood by working with visitors and community members to uncover, present, and preserve their stories in an immersive experience.