Alliance Memory : About Alliance Memory

In July 2009, Alliance Memory reached several milestones: the project had its fifth anniversary, the site moved to a new hosting service, and the 2500th item was added to the collection. Read more about it...

Alliance Places

The Alliance Places Collection includes various historic buildings, parks, and communities in Alliance, Ohio. Many of the photographs have been supplied by the Alliance Historical Society.

Of special interest is a collection of 44 photographs documenting the construction of the Alliance Post Office from 1916-1918. The original photographs were printed in sepia toned emulsion on linen paper to enhance the stability and longevity of the photographs.

Alliance People

The Alliance People Collection includes photographs of residents of Alliance and historical figures. Many of the photographs are of groups of people and include sports teams, military units, school groups, and others. Portraits of prominent Alliance residents, including Underground Railroad conductors Jonathan and Sarah Haines.

Morgan Engineering

The Morgan Engineering Collection includes more than 500 photographs, negatives, glass plate negatives and memorabilia donated to Rodman Public Library by Morgan Engineering.

The collection encompasses all facets of the company's life from the early days in the late 1800s, equipment used in the factory, cranes manufactured by the Morgan Engineering Company, employees and their families.

Taylorcraft

The Taylorcraft Collection includes photographs and negatives donated to Rodman Public Library by the Taylorcraft Corporation. Taylorcraft airplanes were manufactured in Alliance, Ohio from 1935 to 1946. At one time, the company employeed 1,800 people. It was founded by C. G. Taylor.

The photographs are from the Taylorcraft Corporation and Aircraft Products Company. They include views of airplanes, the factory, employees, and the manufacturing process including stress and load tests.

Further information on Taylorcraft can be found on the Taylorcraft Owner's Club and Foundation web site at taylorcraft.org.

Voices of Alliance

The Voices of Alliance Collection includes oral history sound recordings, transcripts of the interviews, video recordings and photographs of those interviewed. The audio or video recordings can be viewed through the use of RealPlayer. The transcriptions require Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have these free plug-ins, you may download them from RealNetworks or Adobe.

Included in the collection are the Oral History Project from Rodman Public Library and the Veteran's History Project from Copeland Oaks.

The original oral history project was funded through a revenue sharing budget approved by the Alliance City Council on September 4, 1973. Rodman Public Library was the city's agent in compiling a history of early Alliance as recalled by some of its oldest residents. N. Yost Osborne, librarian of Mount Union College coordinated the project and conducted many of the interviews. Lyle Crist and Harriet (Miller) Clem conducted many of the other interviews.

Topics include recollections of Mount Union professors, industrial leaders, local sports figures, business persons, and the life and times of an Alliance centenarian. Noteworthy is a letter written by William H. Morgan regarding the Olive Poisoning Tragedy of 1919 when seven Alliance residents including Col. Charles C. Weybrecht died from botulism poisoning.

The project was rejuvenated in 2006 by Forrest Barber and Rodman Public Library. A grant was received from the Greater Alliance Foundation in 2008 to purchase video equipment and supplies to further support the efforts of the project.

Copeland Oaks Veteran's History Project

The Copeland Oaks Veteran's History Project Collection includes video recordings of residents from Copeland Oaks, a retirement community in nearby Sebring, Ohio. The materials can be viewed through the use of RealPlayer. If you do not have this free plug-in, you may download it from RealNetworks.

The interviews include oral history recollections of the experiences of World War II veterans ranging from the attack of Pearl Harbor to VJ Day.

The series was video taped by WOCC TV for broadcast on the campus cable network. The interviewer is Dan Mannion.

Alliance Libraries

The Alliance Library Collection offers views of the public library of Alliance from its beginnings in 1900 as the Alliance Public Library located in Alliance High School to its change to the Carnegie Free Library of Alliance to its present form as Rodman Public Library.

The Alliance Memory project was originally funded in part through an Institute of Museum and Library Services LSTA grant awarded by the State Library of Ohio. The project is currently funded by our Alliance, Ohio historical partners: Alliance Historical Society, Haines House, and Castle Crusaders and maintained by Rodman Public Library.

For further information on reproduction of these images or the project in general, use our information request form.