AV 13 Howard Rossen Collection

              AV 13
Howard Rossen Collection
Page 1
OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Audiovisual Collections
AV 13
Howard Rossen Collection
( 1861- 1965)
OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION
Number:
AV 13
Title:
Howard Rossen Collection
Creator:
Howard Rossen
Dates:
1861- 1965
Media:
33 cartes de visite, 15 stereoviews, 1 cabinet card; 23 photographs; 31 items of ephemera
Quantity:
1 cubic feet
Location:
Ohio Historical Center
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE COLLECTION
The ship the U. S. S. Maine was built to modernize the U. S. Navy. It was under the command of Captain Charles D. Sigsbee when it was dispatched to Havana Harbor, Cuba on a mission of friendly courtesy and to protect American lives and property in the event that Cuba's struggle for independence from Spain might escalate into full- blown warfare. On February 15, 1898 the ship exploded, killing 266 of the 350 seamen on board. The newspapers printed that the explosion was due to an external source and hinted that the Spanish were at fault. An U. S. investigation also concluded that the ship was attacked. This event pushed the U. S. into war with Spain in 1898. In 1976 the U. S. Navy conducted another investigation into the explosion of the Maine and ruled that it was due to an internal source such as a coal- bunker fire, not an attack by the Spanish.
World's fairs and expositions held in the United States and abroad in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries celebrated the past while introducing visions of the future; both of which were highly idealized. The World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 was a showcase for new technology as well as a shining utopian community. Surrounding the grand structures of the formal center of the fair was an amusement park, featuring George Ferris' huge new wheel. The axle for the Ferris Wheel was the largest steel forging in the world. Utilizing the natural landscape of Jackson Park, A system of lagoons and waterways fed by Lake Michigan were created. These bodies of water served as decorative reflecting pools, waterways for transportation, and provided a place of respite necessary for weary summer visitors. The main buildings surrounding the waterways were in the Beaux- Arts style, with its emphasis on logic, harmony, and uniformity. The Court of Honor buildings, surrounding the Grand Basin with its massive gilded statue of the Republic, were covered with " staff," or stucco, giving the main