More Little Stories of the Great War
By Kristen Newby, Projects Coordinator, Ohio History Connection
September 13, 2018
When’s the last time you visited the World War I in Ohio Digital Collection on Ohio Memory to view recently added material? Through our Little Stories of the Great War project, generously funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Ohio History Connection is digitizing World War I collections from our archives as well as other cultural heritage institutions across the state! With the Armistice Day Anniversary quickly approaching, we invite you to visit Ohio Memory to learn more about the many ways Ohioans supported the national war effort.
Herve W. Miner ID card: Captain Herve W. Miner’s A.E.F. identification card includes his name, rank, and unit, along with his photograph. Courtesy of the Ohio History Connection. Via Ohio Memory.
Ohio native Herve W. Miner returned to the Buckeye State after his World War I service in Company C of the 146th Infantry Regiment, 37th Division. Miner was commissioned as a captain on July 7, 1917, and along with the rest of the 146th Infantry, trained at Camp Sheridan (Alabama) and Fort Dix (New Jersey) before sailing for France in June 1918. In France, the 146th Infantry saw combat in the Ypres-Lys, St. Michiel, and Meuse-Argonne offensives, and Miner was honorably discharged on May 1, 1919, as a Major. Before and after the war, Miner worked for the Canton Daily News in various editorial positions and in 1929 was promoted to publisher and general manager. When owner and former Ohio Governor James M. Cox sold the paper in 1930, Miner accepted a position with The Public Ledger in Philadelphia. In addition to his identification card, the Herve W. Miner Papers includes Miner’s Second Liberty Loan allotment form, proficiency certificate in field engineering, his honorable discharge, and combat instructions.
This photograph shows employees installing engines on DH-4 planes in the Fuselage Department at Dayton-Wright Airplane Company.
When many people think of Ohio history, we often look back to the Wright Brothers and Dayton, Ohio, where technological advancements were developed that would change the scope of travel and transportation for the world. Considering this, it might come as no surprise that Ohio played an important role in manufacturing aircraft during World War I. A group of Ohio businessmen, including Charles Kettering and Edward Deeds, founded the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company after the United States officially joined the war in 1917. Although the company’s name is misleading, Orville Wright did not have any direct connection to the company, but is included in the name to connect the company to Dayton’s aviation history. The Dayton factory was housed in the Wright Brothers’ old facilities, although the main factory was located in Moraine, Ohio, with another factory in Miamisburg. The federal government contracted work to Dayton-Wright to build DH-4 planes, an obsolete British observation plane. Although employees at the Dayton campus produced more than 4,500 planes, most of these were finished in mid-1918 and were not shipped overseas in time for use during the war. To learn more about aviation in Ohio during World War I, examine issues of The Flier or Aviation Weekly, newsletters produced for men training at Wilbur Wright and McCook Fields; pilot Major Doyen P. Wardwell’s uniform, equipment, photographs, and medals; this panoramic photograph of U.S. Signal Corps aviation mechanics in training at Rankin Technical College in St. Louis, Missouri; or the Eddie Rickenbacker Photograph Collection.
Check back with us soon to discover more little stories of the Great War!