History of the Toledo Society – The Middle Period (1953-1982)

The October 1953 issue of the AIA Bulletin (vol. 44, p. 14) lists Toledo along with other sites as “new societies formed during the period covered by this report” (i.e., October 1952 to September 1953). An AIA document from 1999 gives the Toledo Society’s year of formation as 1952, but this must be a mistake. The October 2, 1953 issue of the Toledo Blade (p. 34) reported:

“A Toledo Society of the Archaeological Institute of America was formed last night with the enrollment of 43 members and an election of officers. Meeting in the Museum of Art, the new chapter chose Mrs. Ward M. Canaday, wife of the chairman of the board of Willys-Overland Motors Inc., as its president. Others named to office were Dr. C. Umhau Wolf, vice president, and Dr. Robert Kinsey, secretary-treasurer.” The remainder of the short article described the Society’s 1953-54 lecture series.

Ms. Canaday, of course, was the Society’s secretary from 1934 to 1941. Dr. Wolf was the pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Toledo and had an interest in Biblical archaeology with excavation experience in Iraq, Jordan and Turkey. Dr. Kinsey was also a Lutheran pastor in Toledo and apparently was an associate of Dr. Wolf’s. Among the new members, according to the 1953 AIA Bulletin (vol. 44), were Randolph C. Downes, PhD (Professor of American History at the University of Toledo), Lucille B. Emch (Rare Books Librarian at the University of Toledo), and Otto Wittmann, PhD (Director of the Toledo Museum of Art) and his wife, Margaret Hill Wittmann. Ms. Emch and Ms. Wittmann subsequently served as the Society’s secretary.

The reformed Toledo Society thrived, and on December 28-30, 1966, it had the distinction of hosting the 68^th annual national meeting of the AIA with the Society’s president, Robert R. Buell, PhD chairing the local organizing committee.

Following the 1981-82 lecture season, the Toledo Society ceased to function. The reason for this is not known. Oddly, the July 1980-June 1981 issue of the AIA Bulletin (vol. 72) reports the Toledo Society as “inactive” as of June 1981, although the same issue also identifies the Society’s 1981-82 president and secretary as Basil A. Collins, PhD and Karen A. Young, respectively. In any case, unlike 1941 when the Society was disbanded, in 1982 it merely became dormant with future members able to resuscitate it in 1995.

Toledo Society Officers, 1953 to 1982^1
Year	President	Vice President	Treasurer	Secretary
1953-54	Mariam C. Canaday	C. Umhau Wolf	Robert S. Kinsey
1954-55
1955-56			Margaret Hill Wittmann
1956-57
1957-58
1958-59^2	C. Umhau Wolf	?	?	Lucille B. Emch
1959-60	?	?	?	C. Umhau Wolf
1960-61	?	?	?
1961-62	?	?	?
1962-63	?	?	?
1963-64	?	?	?	Lois Bickelhaupt^3
1964-65	Mariam C. Canaday	David O. Voss^4	Lois Bickelhaupt
1965-66	C. Umhau Wolf	?	?	Lucy I. Fellows^5
1966-67	Robert R. Buell^6	?	?
1967-68		?	?	“Mrs. James H. Miller”^7
1968-69		Richard M. Krill^8	?
1969-70			?
1970-71	Robert R. Buell^9		?
1971-72	Kurt T. Luckner^10		?	“Mrs. H. E. Salley”^11
1972-73			?
1973-74			?	“Mrs. William J. O’Neal”^12
1974-75			?
1975-76	Basil A. Collins^13	?	?^14	Peggy Walczak^14,15
1976-77		?	?^14
1977-78		?^14	?^14	Joan W. Bennett^14,16
1978-79	Richard M. Krill^17	?^14	?^14
1979-80		?	?	Lucille B. Emch
1980-81	Basil A. Collins	Richard M. Krill?^18	?	?^18
1981-82		?	?	Karen A. Young^19

¹ There are no known trustees-at-large of the Toledo Society for this period.

² From 1958 to 1964 the AIA Bulletin only identified the society secretaries, and thereafter also the presidents, but not the vice presidents and treasurers. Some of these officers for the Toledo Society, however, are known from other sources.

³ Ms. Bickelhaupt was a Latin and Classics teacher at Clay High School in Toledo.

⁴ Mr. Voss was a Latin and Classics teacher at DeVilbiss High School in Toledo.

⁵ Ms. Fellows was a Mathematics Instructor at the University of Toledo.

⁶ The AIA Bulletin identifies Dr. Wolf as the president for 1966-67, but a more credible document in the University of Toledo’s Canaday Center archives for Dr. Buell indicates that he was the president at this time. Dr. Buell was a Professor of Science Education at the University of Toledo.

⁷ Ms. Miller might be either Harriet Michalak Miller or Mary Longmore Miller, both Toledo women married to a James H. Miller. In the AIA Bulletin she is identified only by her husband’s name. Nothing more is known about any of these individuals.

⁸ Dr. Krill was a Professor of Foreign Languages (Classics) and History at the University of Toledo.

⁹ Dr. Buell died unexpectedly in July 1971 at the age of 58. For some years afterward, the Toledo Society offered an annual ‘Robert R. Buell Memorial Lecture.’

¹⁰ Mr. Luckner was Curator of Ancient Art at the Toledo Museum of Art.

¹¹ Ms. Salley was probably the wife of a Homer E. Salley, Professor of Library and Educational Media at the University of Toledo. In the AIA Bulletin she is identified only by her husband’s name.

¹² Mrs. O’Neal was the wife of William J. O’Neal, PhD, Professor of Ancient History at the University of Toledo. In the AIA Bulletin she is identified only by her husband’s name.

¹³ Dr. Collins was a Professor of Geography at the University of Toledo.

¹⁴ According to the recollections of Lucille B. Emch (a document from 1979 in the Canaday Center archives for the Toledo Society), she was the secretary in 1978-79 with Ms. Bennett the vice president and Dr. Collins the Treasurer. She also thought she was secretary in 1975-76, and that Ms. O’Neal was vice president in 1977-78 and Ms. Fellows was treasurer during 1975-78. Ms. Emch recollections, however, are not reliable and are mostly in contradiction to the AIA Bulletin on which the information in the table is mostly based. For example, during the 1953-1957 period, when the AIA Bulletin identified all the officers, Ms. Emch thought she was the secretary-treasurer and Dr. Wolf was the president.

¹⁵ Peggy Jo Walczak (later Carey) was a graduate student at the University of Toledo at the time of her service and subsequently was a public school teacher in Oregon and Columbus, OH.

¹⁶ Nothing more than Ms. Bennett’s name is known.

¹⁷ The AIA Bulletin identifies Dr. Collins as the president for 1978-79, but more credible documents (University of Toledo Canaday Center archives for the Toledo Society and Dr. Krill’s obituary) indicate that Dr. Krill was the president at this time.

¹⁸ The AIA Bulletin lists Dr. Krill as the secretary for 1980-81 but a University of Toledo press release identifies him as the Society’s vice president, which seems more likely.

¹⁹ Nothing more than Ms. Young’s name is known.