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By Helen Bebbington Contributing Writer
Copyright 2006 Dayton Newspapers, Inc.
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
June 8, 2006
OAKWOOD - The boxes piled at the back of the Oakwood Historical Society hold
documents and photos of the nearly 100-year-old city in its infancy.
A 1920 photo of people strolling down Peach Orchard Road, when it was a dirt
road, fields and rows of trees. A 1929 May Day celebration at Smith School.
Hundreds of similar photos, as well as documents signed by notable Oakwood
people and copies of the high school's yearbook, The Acorn, that date to 1923,
are keeping lifelong resident and society member Harry Ebeling busy packing them
up, preparing to move them this summer to the city building.
Oakwood will spend about $6,000 to renovate part of the city building's basement
to store the photos and other irreplaceable information.
Ebeling has worried for years about the safety of the storage area, a wooden
porch addition at the back of the historical society building.
The Oakwood Historical Society, made up of volunteers, is not supported with tax
dollars, Mayor Judy Cook said.
The city wanted to make sure that the information would be in a safe place, but
where people could have easier access to it, she said.
Documents at the society include a copy of a 1908 petition to hold an election
in Oakwood, which was then a village.
It wasn't until 1930 that Oakwood had enough residents, more than 5,000, to
become a city.
As Oakwood prepares to celebrate its centennial in 2008, Ebeling intends to
expand and update a book written in 1982 called Oakwood: The Far Hills. The
book, by former residents Virginia and Bruce Ronald, recounts the history of the
city. There also will be a documentary made for the city's celebration by
filmmaker Roy Flynn. The documentary will likely air on cable television around
the time of the celebration. Flynn is using photos and other information from
the historical society to make the film.