Goal & Partners

The goal of the UA Archives digital library program is to preserve original documents, photographs, maps, and other media related to the history and culture of Upper Arlington, Ohio, while offering increased visibility and improved access to these valuable primary reference sources. The Upper Arlington Public Library initiated the program in November 2002. Soon afterward, the library approached the Upper Arlington Historical Society with an offer to digitize and provide online access to the Historical Society’s holdings, which include community documents and photographs. In 2009, the library formed a partnership with the Upper Arlington City School District and the Upper Arlington Alumni Association, which allowed the library to digitize and provide online access to the Upper Arlington High School’s Norwester yearbooks. As part of the library’s agreement with the schools, there will always be a ten-year delay for any yearbooks presented online, so the collection initially included all yearbooks from 1923–1999 with a new volume added each year. More recently, the library has partnered with the City of Upper Arlington to digitally preserve and present volumes of historic minutes from Upper Arlington’s Village Commission and City Council. Through the UA Archives, the Upper Arlington Public Library will continue to lend its expertise to an increasing number of community organizations and individuals by digitizing, cataloging, and providing access to items of historical interest.

Content

The UA Archives website currently includes over 17,000 pages of Norwester yearbooks, chronicling eight decades of Upper Arlington history through text and photographs. In addition to student, faculty, and staff photos, each issue contains articles about school sports, organizations, and activities as well as information on local businesses, current events, and trends. More recent additions to the UA Archives website include the Record of Proceedings of the Village (City) of Upper Arlington, Ohio, which begins in 1918 when the village was first formed. These valuable primary documents bear firsthand witness to the creation of our community. The UA Archives also features approximately 2,000 pages from the Norwester magazine. The magazine was published monthly by the Upper Arlington community from November 1917 through March 1922 and is a rich resource for historical, cultural, architectural, and genealogical information. Each issue includes photographs and articles covering local architecture, residents, domestic life, schools, sports, gardening, and nature, among other topics. Additionally, the Norwester magazine contains several first-hand accounts of World War I, which were sent to the magazine from local residents stationed in Europe.

Development & Community Involvement

As the UA Archives website evolves, it will include oral histories recorded by some of the earliest residents of the community, as well as a wide variety of other materials. Further items from the collections of the Upper Arlington Historical Society will be added, such as blueprints of homes, photos and slides, personal histories, letters, maps, and genealogies of early Upper Arlington residents. The library also plans to include additional material from the city government, schools, churches, and other community organizations, as well as private collections from local residents and businesses. Visit our How to Participate page to learn how you can get involved.