The Ohio Story was a scripted American radio and made-for-television film series broadcast in Ohio from 1947 to 1961. At the time, the series held the record for the longest-running regional scripted program in the nation. When the series ended, 1,309 radio and 175 TV episodes had been produced."Ohio Story Starts Its Eleventh Year on Channels," Columbus Dispatch. November 3, 1957

The series provided engaging overviews of a variety of local topics that were off the beaten path for many Ohioans. Some episodes provided information on industries and businesses that were significant at the time of recording, but have since faded into obscurity. A number of episodes focused on important people in Ohio history, including sharpshooter and exhibition shooter Annie Oakley; famed African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar; the abolitionist and author Harriet Beecher Stowe; President William McKinley; Victoria Claflin Woodhull, the first woman to run for president; Civil War-era financier, Jay Cooke, and cartoonist Milton Caniff.

Frank Siedel created the series and wrote most of the scripts. Scripts were also written by William Ellis, known for his Rivers of America series, Lee Templeton, and Jan Hostetter. Stuart Buchanan of McCann-Erickson Advertising Agency in Cleveland produced the series. Ray Culley of Cinécraft Productions in Cleveland directed the television film series.

The first Ohio Story radio episode, Knowest the Land, aired on January 6, 1947, and introduced what the series would be about.

"The Ohio Story, then, will be a record of achievement, a narrative account of a free and progressive people. Its purpose: to provide good listening, to increase understanding, to promote a respect for the past, an appreciation of the present, and a hope for the future. In the weeks and months to come, we hope to earn a regular welcome into every Ohio home. We promise to be a polite and interesting guest."Tod Raper, TV-Radio Editor, "'Ohio Story' Producer Is His Own 'Ohio Story,'"(Columbus, Ohio) Dispatch, June 22, 1958

Great care was taken to balance the episodes geographically and report carefully. Before each episode was run, the Ohio State Historical Society reviewed the scripts for accuracy.Radio script #37 (March 31, 1947) said "Historical facts have been authenticated through the cooperation of the Ohio State Archeological and Historical Society." Script #757 (November 7, 1951) said, "Facts of tonight's story were authenticated by the Ohio State Historical Society."

In an interview with the television & radio editor of the Columbus Evening Dispatch, Siedel was asked how he could possibly come up with so many scripts on Ohio. Siedel said:

"There are nearly 9 million people in Ohio, and every one of them is worth a story. Most of our leads, though, are more obvious. If you keep your eyes open. One of the best leads is the plaques you see in public buildings. Usually, they go unnoticed by the passerby, but they were put up there for a reason. Generally, there's a story behind them."

Siedel cited the bronze locomotive on the wall near the High Street entrance of the Ohio Statehouse. Very few people ever notice it, but Siedel did. It led to his writing a radio and TV episode titled "The General," the story of Andrews' Raiders, a group of Ohioans who stole a locomotive and raised havoc throughout the South during the Civil War. Siedel said the Walt Disney film, The Great Locomotive Chase, was about the same historical event, but the story was first told as an Ohio Story episode.Tod Raper, "'Ohio Story' Turns Out Total of 2,500 Scripts," Columbus Evening Dispatch, January 19, 1958, p. 162

Siedel loved to tell the Tale of Lottie Moon, a Confederate spy from Ohio. The first time Lottie's story appears is in a 15-minute Ohio Story radio episode broadcast live in 1945. In 1950, Siedel reworked the story for a live June 13, 1950 broadcast of the Cavalcade of America radio show. Lucille Ball read the part of Lottie Moon. Siedel included the tale of Lottie Moon along with a number of Ohio Story episodes in his 1950 book, The Ohio Story. Siedel told the tale one last time in the television version of the programme, The Taming of Lottie Moon, which aired on November 22, 1957.

The Ohio Story and Out of the Midwest, two of Frank Siedel's books, and The Bounty Lands, a book by Bill Ellis, were offshoots of the radio series.

Stuart Buchanan, the series producer, said. "There never has been-or will be-a radio series that commanded the respect and attention of this state or, for that fact, the nation. The Ohio Story reached its peak in the heyday of radio… the late 1940s. Only one show in the nation had a higher rating — that was the Jack Benny Show. I guess of all the things I've done in my lifetime, I'm most proud to have had a hand in developing and producing The Ohio Story."

In later years, Nelson Olmsted, a California-based actor, narrated about 300 radio shows and almost all of the television episodes.

Anson Hardman, General Advertising Manager of Ohio Bell Telephone, coordinated the first five years of the radio series. Ohio Bell sponsored the entire series run and used it to launch many new telephone features.The Anson Hardman papers held by the Western Reserve Historical Society consist of scripts and script drafts, administrative papers, correspondence, story ideas and suggestions, research articles, subject lists, broadcast material, clippings, music scores, photographs, and biographical information relating to the radio series, from original idea to final casting, broadcast, and publicity. https://catalog.wrhs.org/collections/search?keyword=anson%20hardman;smode=advanced

The Ohio Story radio series (1947–1955)

The radio series began in 1947 as a three-times-a-week evening radio show broadcast live from the WTAM studios in Cleveland to a statewide network of radio stations.Evalena H. Caton, "A Critical Analysis of "The Ohio Story," A thesis. The Ohio State University, 1949

In 1947, Robert Waldrop left his job as a staff announcer with NBC in New York to become the radio series announcer. Waldrop announced the series for nine years, 1947 to 1955. John Shurtleff, who previously worked on the Jack Benny and Gene Autry radio shows, handled the sound effects for the radio series. Tom Field read the Bell Telephone commercials embedded in the radio episodes.

The radio episodes opened and closed with the Di Provenza score from Verdi's opera La Traviata. Earl Rohlf played the score on a Hammond organ on every live episode for the first five years. After the radio series switched to a pre-recorded format, Rohlf was no longer mentioned in the show credits.

In June 1952, the radio episode format was changed from 15 minutes to 10 minutes a night, and the scripts indicated the shows were pre-recorded instead of broadcast live for distribution over a 26-station network.

A 1953 Ohio Bell press release claimed the radio series earned more awards than any other regional program nationwide.The radio show received many awards, including the Freedom Foundation Award, the Annual Advertising Award, the American Association for State and Local History Award, the Ohio Governor's Award, and the Ohioana Library Award.

The last Ohio Story radio episode, Captain Dodge's Uncommon Courage, aired on December 29, 1955.

Although all 1,309 radio scripts are preserved, few recordings of radio episodes have been found. In 2026, Hagley Library posted 40 digitized radio episodes of The Ohio Story on the Hagley digital archive.

Representative radio episodes

The Ohio Story television series (1953–1961)

The Ohio Story television series began its run with a show titled "The House that Jack Built," the story of a man's devotion to his mule. The 10-minute episode premiered on October 4, 1953.

Moving from a radio program to a television format required a lot of additional but necessary effort. Whereas the radio programs merely needed a writer, a narrator, a cast, a researcher, and someone to distribute the shows, the latest TV format also required sets, a director, camera operators, sound technicians, props, film editors, and labs to process the film. TV added considerable cost and time to produce a story.

By 1958, The Ohio Story was broadcast over an 8-station television network. The episodes were often used to fill airtime after a 20-minute news block.

Jan Hofstetter, a scriptwriter with Storycraft, Frank Siedel's writing firm, noted that The Ohio Story television episodes consistently earned "an 18 rating across the state," as high as the series did in its heyday in the days of radio.""Ratings" are the % of total TV's. "Share" is % of TVs turned on at any given time. An 18% Rating is impressive. She attributed the success of the TV series to the fact that the program has evolved with the changing techniques used on Television.

"The men behind the Ohio Bell series have always been willing to experiment with better production techniques. Early television episodes used a form of still animation with voice-over narration. "While the show itself achieved a good audience, the artwork method was rather inflexible to produce. Shortly thereafter, the animation method was dropped in favor of an all-dramatic presentation, using local talent, including Cleveland Play House personnel, in the featured roles.Maurice Van Metre, "Ohio Story Keeps on Rolling," T-V & Radio Section, Cleveland News, May 30, 1958, p. 20

Twenty-six Ohio Story television broadcasts were produced annually in the first few years, dropping later to 13 per year. Only six television shows were made in 1960. The last Ohio Story television episode aired on WSTV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio, in May 1961.

In 1957, Ohio Bell aired a 10-minute television episode titled "Ohio Story Anniversary" during "Ohio Story" week in Ohio. The episode highlights how the series began and what kind of stories they planned to tell in the future. Nelson Olmsted, host of some radio episodes and almost all television episodes, noted that the children who were two years old when the series began are now in college and starting to write their own version of The Ohio Story. The 10th anniversary episode is on the Hagley Library website.Link to The Ohio Story Anniversary episode on the Hagley Library website - https://digital.hagley.org/FILM_2019227_FC447

In March 1961, The Ohio Story radio and television series came to an end. C.O. Poleni, Assistant VP of Ohio Bell Telephone, explained it this way: "The time has come to change the direction of our television programming. The advantages gained by our co-sponsorship of the Bell Telephone Hour and by use of more flexible, local television attractions are among the major considerations in this decision."C. O. Poleni, Assistant VP of Bell Telephone, "Ohio Story Series Ends," Ohio Bell Magazine, March 20, 1961

The television programs continued to be available for loan through libraries and shown at Rotary, Elks, Lions, and other fraternal group meetings, as well as in-school classes, for years after.In December 2020, Hagley Library (Hagley.org) began a project to preserve, digitize, and post online the Ohio Story radio and TV scripts and shows.

Television episodes

References

Further reading At least two libraries in Ohio, the Columbus Public Library and the Ohio Genealogical Society Library, have digitized the radio scripts and posted them on their websites.https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/memory/id/109235/ https://ogsarchive.org/collections/show/1

External links

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