Part of Our RTHS Database is Called ZOTERO
Here at RTHS, we often get emails and phone calls from people who want to find out more about a Reynoldsburg ancestor, learn the history of their house, or pursue some other corner of our local history. We try to help where we can, but it can sometimes be pretty time-consuming, and as research bugs know, sometimes you don’t realize you’ve been looking for a particular photo, letter, or news article until you see it for yourself.
We are proud to introduce a new online addition to the RTHS Database, a collection of 3500+ items (and counting) that any RTHS member can access as part of their membership benefits. What’s in it, you ask?
Government Documents
Scanned images of almost all Reynoldsburg annexation ordinances and maps; Franklin County tax maps from 1895 to 1940; listings of Franklin County tax districts from 1879 onwards; hundreds of “parcel sheets” from Franklin County Auditor’s office, showing ownership history of land parcels in the City of Reynoldsburg, the Reynoldsburg School District, and areas of Truro Township between 1920 and 1988.
Reynoldsburg School District Images
Never-before-digitized images of school board minutes from 1912 to1951; photographs of all building plaques in RSD buildings; treasurer 5-year forecasts from 2010 to the present; and unexpected delights, such as handwritten sheet music to the RHS alma mater dating to 1962.
Newspaper & Magazine Articles
Hundreds of articles from the Columbus Dispatch online archives relating to Reynoldsburg, Reynoldsburg Schools, or Truro Township; clipped articles, entire issues, and occasionally entire volumes of selected issues of local Reynoldsburg historical newspapers, such as the Reynoldsburg Press, ThisWeek Reynoldsburg, and the Eastside Messenger.
Photographs
Digital copies of photographs of many figures in Reynoldsburg history, including persons such as Hannah J. Ashton, former City Councilman and RHS Band director Daniel Nawrocki.
Research Done by RTHS Members
Issues of RTHS’s bimonthly magazine The Courier; articles written by Reynoldsburg historian and RTHS co-founder Connie Parkinson; Neal Whitman's history of Reynoldsburg School District bond issues and tax levies; various other original analyses and data sets.
Items in the RTHS Museum
Descriptions (sometimes with accompanying photographs) of objects housed in the RTHS Museum, such as farm tools, a spinning wheel, or Reynoldsburg’s first traffic light, dating from 1927.
Whether you're a history buff or just looking for a fun day out, Reynoldsburg-Truro Historical Society has something for everyone.
Links to Web Resources
Web links to exclusively digital items, such as the RTHS YouTube channel; the online interactive maps “Reynoldsburg City, Reynoldsburg Schools” and “Reynoldsburg through the Years”; and more recent Columbus Dispatch articles about Reynoldsburg that were published online.
What IS This Database?
The RTHS Database is set up in Zotero, an open-source, bibliographic management platform intended for academic researchers to help manage the many articles, theses, or primary documents they create or refer to in doing their research. I teach academic writing at Ohio State University and insist that all my students create a Zotero account—I wish Zotero had existed back when I was writing my own dissertation! But it has been an amazing tool for helping me do my local history research here in Reynoldsburg.
Like many online apps, Zotero is free for some activities but requires a subscription for others. The free version lets you store the information for as many sources as you want; with the paid version, you can also store digital versions of those items. So with the free version, you can learn about an interesting article on page B4 of the May 7, 1961 issue of the Columbus Dispatch, but you’re on your own to find a copy of it. With the paid version, a double click will bring it right up for you to view or download. RTHS has had a paid subscription for almost three years now.
Volunteer opportunities! Service hours!
The RTHS Database is growing, and there are still thousands of items that we’d like to add to it. To name just one, there’s the McNaghten Collection, a collection of several hundred binders containing genealogy notes and materials donated by a Reynoldsburg descendant of the McNa(u)ghten family (whose name is memorialized in one of Reynoldsburg’s main north-south thoroughfares). If you’re interested in local history, technology, or both, there’s a great volunteer opportunity here. If you’re a student looking for service hours for an honor society, or a high-school senior pursuing a graduation seal or in search of a history/government capstone project, come talk to us. One RHS alumna of the Class of 2024 added hundreds of items during her final semester of high school. We appreciate her so much, and she seems to have had a good time doing it!
We’re looking forward to seeing our collection grow and serve as a resource for students, history enthusiasts, and anyone who’s curious about Reynoldsburg’s past!
Who can ADD TO the database?
RTHS Database administrators can add items, as well as update and correct data about the items. For example, hundreds of items are waiting to be tagged with labels that are of interest to YOU. If you’d like to get administrative privileges, you need to talk to
Mary Stoots or Neal Whitman.
WHO can search the database?
Any RTHS member can search the database as part of their membership benefits. Just ask one of the database managers (Mary Stoots or Neal Whitman) to be added, and you’ll receive your invitation and instructions soon after.
Any guest (whether in-person or online) can purchase a temporary pass for a nominal fee.
To utilize our Zotero database for research, the Non-Member fees are:
$20.00 for one week
$50.00 for One Month (or 4 Weeks)
The Zotero User Request Form can be downloaded below
RTHS Members Search for FREE!
If you choose to join the Reynoldsburg-Truro Historical Society, our Dues Structure has several options:
$20 – Individual Membership per year
$25 – Family Membership per year
$30 – Sustaining Membership per year
$50 – Contributing Membership per year
$300 – Lifetime Individual or Family Membership (this membership runs through the lifetime of the Member)
All yearly memberships run from
January 1st through December 31st.
Please Note: If dues are paid after June 30th, they will reflect as paid through December 31st of the following year.
You can download a Membership Form below