ARTICLES / INTERVIEWS

Welcome to Dayton History Books Online articles page, where you'll find hundreds of historical newspaper articles on people and communities in and around the Gem City.  Due to the increasing number of items being offered on this site, the articles have been separated into five sections.  Please use the Search button to the right if you are looking for a particular subject matter.

Our thanks to Dayton Daily News for graciously allowing us to place articles written by Howard Burba and Roz Young on our site.

Howard Lincoln Burba Articles 
From 1923 to 1937 Howard Burba wrote a weekly column in the Dayton Daily News that told wonderful stories of Dayton's past.  His tales include when Lincoln visited Dayton, the burning of the Dayton Journal during the Civil War, the day they opened the Miamisburg Mound, and the days when the city had a "hobo" epidemic.

Claudia Watson Interviews 
In the 1990s Claudia Watson interviewed several people from Dayton about their lives.  Her interviews make interesting reading.

Roz Young Articles 
One of Dayton's greatest writers was Roz Young. As a columnist for Dayton Daily News she kept us abreast on what was going on in the Gem City, as well as gave us a personal glimpse of it's past, telling stories of her many years spent in the city.  Her columns include what the Gem City was like in 1940, how a picnic led to the invention of the pop-top can, how a student of hers grew up to be President, and a final, fond farewell to Rike's.

Charles Ferguson Sullivan Articles
Charles Ferguson Sullivan had a great love for history. After retiring from the Dayton Post Office, Sullivan spent two years as a curator at Newcom Tavern. It was also around this time that Mr. Sullivan began writing articles on Dayton’s history. Most were written between 1938 and 1951. The articles are part of the Montgomery County Historical Society Collection at Dayton Metro Library.  

Did You Know? - Articles by Ken Carr
Ken Carr spent 40 years with the NCR Corporation at NCR World Headquarters in Dayton, Ohio. In early 2001 he began helping with the documentation and preservation of the NCR Archive.  It was while working with this collection that Ken began to discover the many facts and stories about NCR that were not generally known. A couple years later, he became active with the NCR Retired Employees Association. The NCR-REA quarterly newsletter began publishing Ken’s articles written about NCR in 2006. Ken has been kind enough to allow DHBO to republish them here.

Patrolling Dayton- Writings by Sgt. Grismer (ret.)
 Sgt. Stephen Grismer (ret) is a 25-year veteran of the Dayton Police Department.  In 2008 he helped produce a police exhibit at Carillon Park, Patrolling the Streets of Dayton.  It was the largest temporary exhibit held at the park’s newest museum facility at that time, the Dicke Family Transportation Center,and visited by 20,000 school students.  Steve also founded Dayton Police History Foundation, Inc. which was chartered by the State of Ohio on 1-1-2010 and is dedicated to the preservation of our local law enforcement past.  Steve explores Dayton police history and kindly provides some of his research writings to DHBO for publication

Miscellaneous Articles 
A wide variety of subject matter taken from magazines, newspapers, newsletters, government documents and diaries, all pertaining to the history of the Gem City. Stories include Daytonians running off to get rich during the Gold Rush of 1849, personal accounts of the 1913 Flood, poems and praise for Paul Laurence Dunbar, and the first article ever written on the Wright Brothers.