MSS 220 AV Joseph Sullivant papers

              MSS 220 AV
Joseph Sullivant Papers
Page 1
OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Manuscripts/Audiovisual Collections
MSS 220 AV
Joseph Sullivant Papers
1796-1929
OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION
Number: MSS 220 AV
Title: Joseph Sullivant Papers
Creator: The Estate of Elizabeth U. Sullivant
Dates: 1796-1929
Media: Correspondence, manuscripts, maps,
newspaper clippings, journals, invitations,
programs, photographs
Quantity: 1.51 cubic feet
Location: The Ohio Historical Center
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE COLLECTION
Joseph Sullivant was born on December 3rd, 1809 in the village of Franklinton, Ohio. His first
educational experience was a small village school at the corner of Town and High street. In 1820, he
attended the Columbus Academy and then the Academy of Worthington, a boarding school under the
management of Rev. Philander Chase, Bishop of Ohio. Sullivant went on to attend the Ohio
University at Athens and Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Before the age of twenty-one he was
appointed by the legislature to create the Philosophical and Historical Society of Ohio. He acted as
the secretary and curator for many years. He started the Columbus Lyceum, a free literary, scientific
and library association and was extremely interested in the mounds and mound builders of Ohio.
Sullivant participated in early surveys and explorations of many of Ohio’s sites. He was an active
member of the Athenaeum and prepared the second course of lectures ever delivered on scientific
subjects in Columbus. Sullivant developed plans for Green Lawn Cemetery, adequate city water
supply for the city of Columbus, the Board of Education and was the initiator of a state-supported
college. This college became the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College, now The Ohio State
University (OSU). At the organization’s advent he took up the nature of the University’s curriculum
and developed a broad-based liberal theory of education. He developed not only a first plan for OSU
but a list of various professorships to be created and a fund of $25,000 to cover the costs of the early
organization. Sullivant was elected a member of the American Scientific Association and was a
Created with Print2PDF. To remove this line, buy a license at: http://www.binarynow.com/