Living in the County Archive: Licking County Children's Home Visitor Log

 

We return to records from the Licking County Children’s Home for April’s “Living in the County Archive”. This month we are looking at one of our more fragile books from 1889-1901, “Licking County Children’s Home Visitor Log”.

Many records from the 19^th and 20^th century were made with wood-pulp paper, a highly acidic material, which is likely to deteriorate more rapidly over time unless handled properly. Acids tend to break down in the presence of heat, light, and moisture in the air. Combine that with years of oils from the different hands that wrote in the pages in the record, and the general wear-and-tear of being used more frequently, this record requires a little more care than some of the Archive’s other materials. Keeping the record in our archive, which is temperature controlled and maintained by a dehumidification system, helps to keep this record from further decline. However, due to this book’s already fragile state it is kept in an archival box designed to fit the record’s exact dimensions.  This type of precaution is used so that other books, people, bugs, and dust don’t damage the record or cause any further deterioration from outside contamination. An archival box is unique because the material it is constructed from will ensure the container remains neutral, or in some cases alkaline, while containing an acidic record. 

Below is a photo of the box which stores the Visitor’s Log:

 

The tissue paper surrounding the volume helps to create a removable buffer so that if/when the book needs to be removed from the box fingers can easily come between the box and the record to gently remove the book without additional force or trauma.

Now to get to the contents of the Visitor’s Log! This register was used, as the title suggests, as a record of people who came to visit the Children’s Home. The date, visitor’s name, place of residence, and “remarks” were documented in this book.

 

 

We have a fairly consistent “residence” of Newark, Ohio, or at least Ohio in general. But, we also have the intermittent out of state visitor. Some from New York, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and even Alabama.

 

While the majority of visitors didn’t leave comments, the ones who did often made remarks such as, “much pleased with our visit at the Home” as we can see in the image below. Occasionally, visitors would make note of why they were visiting: “Thanksgiving”, “grandma”, etc. but on the whole, we are left wondering why these people came to visit or who they came to visit.

Below is one of the more interesting remark entries:

This record is a unique look into the running of the Children’s Home in its early establishment. Although there weren’t many remarks left by the people passing through, the ones that were left show a positive view of the Home from the outside.

 

If you wish to learn more or conduct your own research and would like to view these records, please feel free to stop by or set an appointment by contacting 740-670-5121 or email at archives@lcounty.com.