Westerville History Museum

08/27/2026

We are starting to process Gary Gardiner's massive photography collection, which he is donating to the museum. This month we’ve been going through some photographs from his days with the Associated Press. Turns out Gary’s been finding adventurous ways to make pictures for a long time!

08/25/2026

As families are wrapping up their back-to-school shopping and settling into their school year routines, we’re looking back to see what one student bought more than 150 years ago!

In 1870, Horace Ragan juggled laboring on a local farm with attending school, according to census records. Like other Black young people living in Westerville during that time, he was a first-generation student. His parents were from Virginia, where state law had prohibited enslaved people from attaining literacy. So as a 21-year-old, he found himself in the local school, making the most of the opportunity that had been denied to his parents.

Receiving an education took significant financial investment. A local pharmacy ledger records him buying a fifth reader, part of a six-textbook series that had progressively more advanced grammar and reading lessons, for a dollar in October 1871. A month later, Ragan bought a book for another dollar. In January 1872, he bought a dictionary for 65 cents. Ragan’s investment paid off, because later census records indicate that as a middle-aged adult living in Delaware County, he could both read and write.

Pictured: page from pharmacy ledger showing Ragan's purchase of a fifth reader

08/21/2026

Edit: We will now be open until 4:30 on Monday.

Please note - we will be closing at 3pm on Monday, August 24 due to staffing availability. The museum will be open during its normal hours the rest of the week.

08/11/2026

The museum is closed today as well. Stay safe in this wet weather and we will see you soon!

08/06/2026

07/31/2026

It's your last chance to catch the American Revolution Experience at the Westerville Public Library! Learn about the choices ordinary people were faced with as it became increasingly clear that the colonies were at a tipping point: would they risk their lives and livelihoods in pursuit of liberty, or would they remain loyal subjects of the British crown?

This exhibit will be available to view until mid-afternoon on Monday. More exhibit details: https://westervillelibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6a021f4143b41b3d0065bd0c

07/28/2026

Next Friday afternoon (August 7), join us to view a rare and fascinating collection of temperance posters and the stories that surround them. These posters were researched, cataloged, digitized, and organized this summer by museum interns Izzy Bettinger and Emily Voneman.

Supported in part by an award from the Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board, through funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), National Archives and Records Administration.

Event details: https://westervillelibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6a4d29ed383e9cca07c3ed4f

07/25/2026

On display now! We’re hosting the exciting new traveling exhibit the American Revolution Experience in partnership with the American Battlefield Trust. The exhibit will be in the library atrium until Monday, August 3.

The American Revolution Experience invites visitors to consider the choice faced by members of the revolutionary generation as tensions mounted in the 1770s: Would these ordinary citizens risk their lives and livelihoods in pursuit of liberty? Or would they remain loyal subjects of the British crown, coming into conflict with neighbors and family? What would you choose?

07/21/2026

In January 1860, two Westerville men were traveling around Tennessee, distributing tracts encouraging the abolition of slavery. One of them was George Meeker, an Otterbein student who went on to have a successful career in law and politics. The other was likely Sereno M. Streeter (called “Serem” in newspaper articles), the 20-year-old son of minister and Otterbein professor Sereno W. Streeter. The elder Streeter had established a reputation as an ardent abolitionist.

It was a volatile time in American history, just three months before the outbreak of the Civil War. Tensions ran high across the country. According to newspaper accounts, the men decided it would be safer for them to hide their true identities. They began telling people they were from St. Louis as they journeyed around the state, but a couple of newspapers caught on and published articles revealing their connection to Westerville.

Their fears of violence were not unfounded. One person threatened them with vigilante rule, writing, “If they are not very careful, the first thing they know they will be the principal parties to a hanging. Just at this particular time they might with as much safety be walking through a powder magazine with lighted torches in their hands.”

Pictured: Sereno W. Streeter, who passed his contempt for slavery down to his son, Sereno M. Streeter. Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

07/17/2026

We are honored to be one of just seven Ohio locations to host the American Revolution Experience by the American Battlefield Trust, which examines the causes, experiences, and impacts of the American Revolution. Visitors will see this exhibit at the Westerville Public Library from July 25 through August 3 in the atrium during the library's open hours.

https://www.battlefields.org/american-revolution-experience-traveling-exhibit-tour