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Showing posts from February, 2019

Wood County Historical Museum's 2019 Exhibit

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              The Wood County Historical Center (WCHC) operates out of the former Wood County Infirmary, (also known as the poor farm or county home).   Opening in 1869, this public charity building housed the elderly, infirm, insane, physically disabled, and children unti l the original ideas of public charity in Ohio gave way to the modern ideas of social welfare.             Our new exhibit For Comfort and Convenience:   Public Charity in Ohio By Way of the Poor Farm combines the modern photography of Jeffrey Hall with historical interpretation about the 88 former public charity sites in Ohio.   Over the past two years, Hall traveled over 5,000 miles in order to document the current condition of each county poor farm site.   This exhibit was made possible with grants from the Ohio Arts Council and the Ohio Humanities Council.               The WCHC maintains nearly 100 years of institutional documentation about the Wood County Infirmary inmates from 1869-1971; actu