Invisible Ground: The Andrew Jackson Davison Club Presents

04/25/23 • 35 min

Invisible Ground is a podcast series that explores the history of Southeast Ohio communities by telling the stories of its people, places, and events.

In this episode, learn a bit more about Athens, Ohio, and its residents and places: the Berrys, the Davisons, Mount Zion, and the Westside of Athens from students in the Andrew Jackson Davison Club at Athens Middle School who researched, written, recorded, and produced these short stories.

Funded by Ohio Humanities and the Ohio University College of Fine Arts Community Fund, this episode is part of a project for Tantrum Theater and their debut play Hotel Berry and is a collaboration with Invisible Ground, the Andrew Jackson Davison Club, Mount Zion Baptist Church Preservation Society, the Southeast Ohio History Center, and Athens Photographic Project.

And, later this year, join us for The Ohio Country, a forthcoming series from WYSO Public Radio and funded by Ohio Humanities. Native men and women from different tribes and their allies—plus teachers, artists, scholars, parents, landowners, foresters, young people, and historians, too—will tell their stories about the about the lands above the Ohio River, known as the Ohio Country. You can listen in this feed, at WYSO.org, ohiohumanities.org, and in all those other places where you get podcasts.

Invisible Ground is a podcast series that explores the history of Southeast Ohio communities by telling the stories of its people, places, and events.

Previous Episode

Amended Episode 1: Myths and Sentiments

Amended, a podcast from our friends at Humanities New York, asks how we tell the story of the (unfinished) struggle for women’s voting rights. Who gave us the dominant suffrage narrative? And who gets left out?
In this episode, Laura Free, a historian of women and politics, reflects on the suffrage story she learned as a child, one that centers a few white women. She speaks with historians Bettye Collier-Thomas and Lisa Tetrault about the work they’ve done to show there is much more to the story. Next, Laura travels to Seneca Falls, New York, site of the 1848 women’s rights convention, with historian Judith Wellman. Dr. Wellman describes a movement that was both complex and diverse, and helps us to see an old story in an entirely new light.
This episode serves as the prologue to the series, inviting listeners to amend their understanding of women’s suffrage history.
Listen to Amended in full on the HNY website or in the Humanities New York feed wherever you listen.
And, later this year, join us for The Ohio Country, a forthcoming series from WYSO Public Radio and funded by Ohio Humanities. Native men and women from different tribes and their allies—plus teachers, artists, scholars, parents, landowners, foresters, young people, and historians, too—will tell their stories about the about the lands above the Ohio River, known as the Ohio Country. You can listen in this feed, at WYSO.org, ohiohumanities.org, and in all those other places where you get podcasts.

Next Episode

May 4th Voices: Kent State, 1970

On May 4, 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of demonstrators, killing four students and wounding nine on the campus of Kent State University. The impact of the event reverberated nationwide, triggering a dramatic increase in the ongoing student strike against US involvement in Vietnam and eventually shifting public opinion against the war.

This week marks the 53rd anniversary of the shootings. In 2020, we spoke with poet and playwright David Hassler about, “May 4th Voices: Kent State, 1970,” a play based on the university’s oral history archive, and Mindy Farmer, Director of the May 4 Visitor’s Center on the Kent State campus.

Listeners can watch a recorded student production of Hassler’s play at youtube.com/watch?v=Q-gOyP9TAmo. A one-hour radio special of the play is available on Public Radio Exchange and at may4voices.org.