Scope: This is a union bibliography of materials written about the history of Cincinnati’s larger ethnic groups from the city’s founding to the celebration of its bicentennial. These abbreviations indicate library holdings: CHS (Cincinnati Historical Society Library); UC (University of Cincinnati Libraries); PL (Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County); XAV (Xavier University); HUC (Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Klau Library); AJA (American Jewish Archives); Mt.SJ (College of Mount St. Joseph Library). Library holdings change over time. Check each library’s online catalog before visiting. Additional library holdings may be identified through searching WorldCat
There is no single history of all of Cincinnati’s ethnic groups.
This bibliography lists information on many of Cincinnati’s ethnic communities:
Simon, Paul. Cherish Our Differences: A Source Book for Cincinnati’s Ethnic Heritage: A Bibliographic Guide. Cincinnati: Xavier University, 1978. 121 pages. CHS; UC; PL; XAV
These general histories include some mention of at least one of the city’s ethnic groups:
Ford, Henry A. and Kate B. History of Cincinnati, Ohio. Cleveland: L. A. Williams and Company, 1881. 534 pages CHS; UC; PL (facsimile reprint: Ohio Bookstore, 1987. 534 pages UC; XAV)
Contains a chapter on the Germans. The Cincinnati Historical Society Library maintains a card index to Ford’s history. Entries in Ford are indexed in the Cincinnati Historical Library’s Index to Local History Resources
Goss, Rev. Charles Frederic. Cincinnati: The Queen City, 1788-1912. Cincinnati: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912. 4 vols. CHS; UC; PL
Includes chapters on the Germans (2:9-20) and the Jews (2:21-52). Volumes 3 and 4 are biographical. The Cincinnati Historical Society includes Goss in its Index to Local History Resources
Greve, Charles Theodore. Centennial History of Cincinnati and Representative Citizens. Chicago: Biographical Publishing Company, 1904. 2 vols CHS; UC; PL View book on Google
The Cincinnati Historical Society Library maintains a card index to Greve and includes this publication in its Index to Local History Resources The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County published and owns Index to Greve’s History of Cincinnati. Cincinnati: Public Library of Cincinnati, 1904. 12 leaves.
Hurley, Daniel. Cincinnati the Queen City. Cincinnati: Cincinnati Historical Society, 1982. 224 pages CHS; UC; PL
Includes information of the Germans, Irish, Jews, and African Americans. The section on corporate sponsors identifies immigrant founders of these companies. Use in conjunction with Cincinnati Corporation Histories Connect compiled by Wahib Nasrallah, Business and Economics Bibliographer University of Cincinnati Libraries.
Kenny, D.J. Cincinnati Illustrated: A Pictorial Guide to Cincinnati and the Suburbs. Illustrated by Nearly Three Hundred Engravings. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1879. 204 pages CHSD; UC; PL
Kenny includes much information on Cincinnati’s ethnic groups listing, for example, 113 building associations, complete with addresses and officers, many of which are associated with a particular ethnic group such as Allemania Nos. 1 & 2 and Irish Nos. 1 & 2. Kenny also mentions a number of ethnic societies such as the Caledonian Society and the German Pioneer Association, providing for each the organization’s purpose and when and where the society holds its meetings.
Leonard, Lewis Alexander. Greater Cincinnati and its People; A History. Editor-in-chief Lewis Alexander Leonard…staff historian Will L. Clark. New York; Chicago, etc.: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1927. 4 vols. CHS; UC; PL
Scattered references to ethnicity. Includes a separate chapter on “Fugitive Slave Law and Underground Railway” (pp. 648-654). Volumes 3 and 4 are biographical. The Cincinnati Historical Society Library includes this publication in its Index to Local History Resources
Shapiro, Henry D. and Jonathan D. Sarna. Ethnic Diversity and Civic Identity: Patterns of Conflict and Cohesion in Cincinnati since 1820. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992. 269 pages (Greater Cincinnati Bicentennial History Series ) UC
This series of essays written to celebrate Cincinnati’s bicentennial includes Germans, Jews, and Appalachian ethnic groups.
Silberstein, Iola Hessler. Cincinnati Then and Now. Cincinnati: Voters Service Education Fund, League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area, 1982. 319 pages CHS; UC; PL
Includes African Americans, Appalachians, Germans, Irish, and Jews. The table on page 306 gives Cincinnati’s population from 1800 to 1980, total numbers and percent of increase, for the entire population, for African Americans as a separate group, and for the foreign born, but without distinction as to country of origin.
Several works have treated the subject of nativism in Cincinnati:
Baughin, William A. “Bullets and Ballots: the Election Day Riots of 1855,” Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio Bulletin, 21, no. 4 (October 1963), 267-272. CHS; UC; PL Connect to resource online
Nativist-inspired riot over rumors of stuffed ballot boxes. Mobs of nativists, Germans, and Irish rioted for three days.
__________________. Nativism in Cincinnati before 1860. Cincinnati: Unpublished Masters Thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1963. 219 pages CHS; UC
Comment (Cincinnati, Ohio) CHS
A weekly magazine published in Cincinnati 1918-1919, this “one hundred percent American” publication was anti-German in its content.
Dannenbaum, Jed. “Immigrants and Temperance: Ethnocultural Conflict in Cincinnati, 1845-1860,” Ohio History, 87, no. 2 (1978), 125-139. CHS; UC; PL Ohio History
Perko, F. Michael. Bushfire Wars: Religion, Politics, and Education in Cincinnati, 1836-1854. 1982 ED223506 1 microfiche UC
An ERIC document. Controversy between largely Irish and German Catholics and native-born Protestants over which translation of the Bible should be read in the public schools.
_________________. A Time to Favor Zion: The Ecology of Religion and School Development on the Urban Frontier, Cincinnati, 1830-1870. DeKalb, Illinois: Educational Studies Press, Northern Illinois University, 1988. 264 pages UC
Based on the author’s doctoral dissertation at Stanford University (1981). Traces the history of the use of the Bible in Cincinnati’s public schools, including the translation controversy between native-born Protestants and Irish and German Catholics.
Stritch, Alfred G. “Political Nativism in Cincinnati, 1830-1860,” Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, 48, no. 3 (September 1937), 227-278. CHS; UC
A Masters Thesis, 1935, Catholic University of America.
Attempts to Americanize immigrants are the subject of these reports:
Americanization Executive Committee of Cincinnati. Annual Report, 1923-1924. Cincinnati: n.p., n.d. (1924?). unpaged PL
Contains illustrations and portraits.
_________________________________________________. Annual Report for the Year Ending May 31, 1926. Dr. John L. McLeish, Director. Cincinnati: The American House, 1926? 16 pages CHS:pamphlet
Contains illustrations and portraits. Includes a special listing of citizenship pupils, 1925-1926, giving ethnicity, names, and addresses, and an approximation of the number of foreign-born persons living in Cincinnati in 1926 by place of birth.
In 1926 the Americanization Committee was completing nine years as an organization. Many of its members had previously been associated with the Immigrant Welfare Committee (January 1914-June 1917). A city-wide, non-sectarian movement, the Americanization Committee opened the first community center in the United States exclusively devoted to serving the foreign born on Thanksgiving Day 1918: The American House Dedication & Opening: Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28, 1918. Americanization Executive Committee of Cincinnati. Cincinnati: s.n., 1918. PL
Among its founders were the Romanian-born Alexander Landesco, Randall J. Condon, Judge Howard Hollister, and Rabbi David Philipson. A biographical sketch of a later director, Harry Delos Andrews, appears in Leaders in Education, a Biographical Directory. New York, Science Press, 1932. PL
Although its original work began among the Romanian and Serbian populations, working in close cooperation with the public schools, the American House soon expanded its list of clients, drawing from almost every section of the city, and from Covington, Kentucky. In 1920, the American House began maintaining complete files of family and individual case records for all accessible aliens entering the city. These files were organized by Mrs. Roy Fagaly. They have not been located but may be among the records of the Traveler’s Aid International Institute. The American House: Cincinnati’s Hospitality House for Foreign-Born Americans. American Executive Committee of Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati: The Committee, 1922. 6 pages CHS For the antecedents and history of Traveler’s Aid see: Finelli, Mary Theresa. The Historical Origins and Development of Travelers Aid-International Institute and its Present Functions Including the Teaching of English as a Second Language. Thesis (Master of Education)-University of Cincinnati, 1983. 67 leaves CHS; UC Connect to resource online
Anecdotal material about the immigrant experience in Cincinnati is related in:
McLeish, John Lewin. The Americanization Problem in Cincinnati. Cincinnati, Ohio: Press of American Art Printing Company, 1921. 12 pages CHS; UC; PL Includes stories such as “From Immigrant Boy to Cincinnati Merchant” relating the rise of the Serbian immigrant Miladin Banchevich to success in Cincinnati as a candy manufacturer.
Names and addresses of new citizens, and schools attended are given in:
The Citizen CHS: vol. 2, nos. 7, 8, 9, 10 (1929)
“Published in behalf of Good Citizenship in the Home, the School, the Shop, and the Office. Reports on the Activities of the American House and the Cincinnati Public Schools in the interests of Education for Americanization and Naturalization.” Issue no. 9 (September 1929) gives an account of the move of the American House into new quarters and the discontinuation of its public bath service that had been used by 5,000 persons in 1928. Also includes a description of the American House kindergarten maintained by an endowment from the Henrietta Fleischmann Foundation. Of particular interest is the report of the Naturalization Bureau for June 30, 1929 listing the number of persons (2,023) whose applications for citizenship had been accepted during the fiscal year, including ethnicity and gender. Issue number 10 (November 1929) includes a history and picture of the American House. See also: Souvenir Program of Americanization Meeting Celebrating “Patriots’ Day” Music Hall, April 19, 1918. CHS: Pamphlet
Bokum, Hermann. First Report of the Mission Among the German Population of the City of Cincinnati. With Especial Reference to Labors Performed in Commercial Hospital. For the Purpose of Spreading Sound Spiritual Instruction—Of Opening for Them Ways of Support, and Elevating Their Position as American Citizens. Cincinnati: Morgan and Overend, Printers, 1850. 16 pages CHS; PL
Bokum translated a number of works from German into English, delivered public lectures on the German language, and authored an introduction to the study of German. He also wrote an account of
the German population in the United States and an immigrant’s guide to Tennessee. For a listing of his writings both before and after his service as City Missionary in Cincinnati see WorldCat
______________. Third Report of the Mission Among the French and German Population of the City of Cincinnati… Cincinnati: Achilles Pugh, Printer, 1853. 8 pages CHS; PL
City Missionary Bokum acted as interpreter between the German and French immigrants and the English speaking population of Cincinnati.
Settlement Houses. 5 inches. UC: Archives and Rare Books USC76-1
A collection of information on various settlement houses in Cincinnati, including the Cincinnati Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers, the Emanuel Community Center, and the Santa Maria Institute. Also contains information on the National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers, the Cleveland Federation of Settlements and the Hull House Association.
Ethnicity among the Cincinnati working class and within Cincinnati trade unions is the subject of these works:
Morris, James M. “No Haymarket for Cincinnati,” Ohio History, 83, no. 1 (Winter 1974), 17-32. CHS; UC; PL Ohio History
_______________. The Road to Trade Unionism: Organized Labor in Cincinnati to 1893. Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati, 1969 441 leaves Connect
Musselman, Barbara L. “Working Class Unity and Ethnic Division: Cincinnati Trade Unionists and Cultural Pluralism,” Cincinnati Historical Society Bulletin, 34, no. 2 (Summer 1976). CHS; UC; PL Connect to resource online
Ross, Steven J. Workers on the Edge: Work, Leisure, and Politics in Industrializing Cincinnati, 1788-1890. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985. 406 pages CHS; UC; PL
A revision of the author’s dissertation, Columbia University (1980), this is a comprehensive study of the effects of industrialization on the working class population of nineteenth-century Cincinnati that examines ethnicity, race, and religion in shaping responses to trade unionism, particularly among German and Irish workers.
The ethnic composition of Cincinnati’s Catholics is addressed in these publications:
Bruning, David. Socioeconomic and Ethnic Composition of Catholic Parishes in Cincinnati and Norwood, Ohio. Cincinnati: Urban Appalachian Council, 1975. (Urban Appalachian Council Working Paper, no. 7) 27 leaves Urban Appalachian Council Frank Foster Library; Ohio Historical Society
Campbell, James H. New Parochialism: Change and Conflict in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, 1878-1925. Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati, 1981. 364 leaves UC Connect to resource online
Clerus Cincinnatensis; Official Publication for the Clergy of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Vol. 7, no. 1: “Silver Anniversary Edition,” April 26, 1977. CHS
“List of Parishes According to Year of Founding and Present Location of Records,” pages 91-95: a number of these parishes such as St. Willibord (Dutch); St. Joseph of Nazareth (Hungarian) were ethnic in their composition.
Numbers, settlement patterns, and acculturation of Cincinnati ethnic groups are included in:
Bastel, Frederick T. Report on the Survey of the Foreign Population in Cincinnati: Made for the Continuation Committee of the World in Cincinnati, Y.M.C.A. Building, Seventh and Walnut. Cincinnati: Continuation Committee of the World in Cincinnati, 1912? 24 pages CHS: Pamphlet; PL
Bastel, “…finding that the foreigners are so well distributed about the city…,” conducted a block by block census of Cincinnati’s foreign born population. He also drew sectional maps showing the locations of the different nationalities (unlocated). Detailed information is included for Italians; Romanians, Hungarians; Greeks; Poles—Jews; Syrians; Bulgarians and Macedonians; Serbians; Croatians; Russians; Ruthenians; Armenians; Norwegians-Swedes; Dutch; Dalmatians; Albanians, Turks; and Chinese. Foreigners living in Sedamsville are also included.
Bicentennial Guide to Greater Cincinnati: A Portrait of Two Hundred Years. Edited by Geoffrey J. Giglierano and Deborah A. Overmyer, with Frederic L. Propas. Cincinnati: Cincinnati Historical Society, 1988. 656 pages CHS; UC; PL
This guide to the city is arranged by neighborhoods. Use the index to locate references to ethnic groups and racial minorities.
Cist, Charles. Cincinnati in 1841: Its Early Annals and Future Prospects. Cincinnati: Printed and Published for the Author, 1841. 300 pages CHS; UC; PL Cincinnati in 1841 : its early annals and future prospects
Cist was the census enumerator for Cincinnati. His various publications provide information on the city’s ethnic composition. In this publication Cist comments on the mortality statistics of German and Irish immigrants (p.31); gives a census table for 1840 on which white males and females by age and wards and black males and females by age and wards are enumerated (pp.38-39; discusses the black population in 1826 and the German population by wards (p.37); lists the newspapers and periodicals published in Cincinnati, including those in languages other than English (pp.93-95); lists the city’s religious denominations and congregations, including Jewish, African, German, and Welsh (pp.96-99). Additional miscellaneous information on Cincinnati’s ethnic makeup is scattered throughout the remainder of the volume.
_____________. Sketches and Statistics of Cincinnati in 1851. Cincinnati: W. H. Moore, 1851. 363 pages CHS; UC; PL
Cist’s work offers a detailed picture of Cincinnati’s population. He enumerates by wards and townships the number of whites and African Americans living in each and indicates the nativities of the population according to State in the Union or foreign country (pp.44-48); the percentage of the population for selected ethnic groups; the number of African American schools, their teachers and pupils (p.62); lists periodicals published in Cincinnati (pp.74-77; and lists churches and religious societies in the city (pp.77-83), providing an estimation of the percentage of Cincinnati’s population affiliated with Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant congregations and the number of marriages, baptisms, and deaths recorded in Catholic churches from 1846 to 1850.
Other listings from which ethnicity may be drawn include charitable institutions (German Protestant Orphan Asylum; Asylum for Colored Orphans); benevolent societies; and the city’s foreign consulates (p.168). A history of Cincinnati’s water supply includes information on the English immigrant, Samuel Davies while discussion of the Licking Rolling Mill (pp.213-214) includes information about the Welsh in Cincinnati. Henry Boyd’s manufacturing concern is discussed without reference to Boyd’s race (p.204). Cist also includes a table of the 1850 census for Ohio that gives the number of whites and African Americans in Hamilton County. The Cincinnati Historical Society Library includes Cist’s 1851 publication in its Index to Local History Resources
______________. Sketches and Statistics of Cincinnati in 1859. Cincinnati: Printed and Published for the Author, 1859. 367 pages CHS; UC; PL Sketches and statistics of Cincinnati in 1859
Follows much the same format and contains much the same content as the author’s 1851 edition but updated. The city’s ethnic and racial composition is discussed on pages 164-166. The number of Jewish congregants living in the city is listed on pages 197-198. The Cincinnati Historical Society Library includes Cist’s 1859 work in its Index to Local History Resources
_____________. The Cincinnati Miscellany; or, Antiquities of the West and Pioneer History and General Local Statistics… Cincinnati: C. Clark, 1845-1846. 2 vols. CHS; UC; PL The Cincinnati miscellany, or, Antiquities of the West and pioneer history and general and local statistics. Volume 1; The Cincinnati miscellany, or, Antiquities of the West and pioneer history and general and local statistics. Volume 2.
Compiled from the Western General Advertiser, October 1, 1844 to April 1, 1846.
The City Directories CHS; UC; PL Consult each institution’s catalog for holdings
Oliver Farnsworth published the first Cincinnati directory in 1819 including in it considerable information on the composition of the population. Subsequent city directories continued throughout the nineteenth century to include information on the city’s ethnic and racial makeup.
The Cincinnati Directory. By a Citizen. Published by Oliver Farnsworth. Morgan, Lodge and Co., Printers. October, 1819. 156 pages CHS; UC; PL: 1819 Farnsworth Cincinnati Directory
Includes a Plan of Cincinnati in 1819 showing all additions and subdivisions and giving an account of the city’s early history. Items of special interest relating to the city’s ethnic and racial composition are:
Population characteristics (p.32) based on a census taken by Mr. Rice in the summer of 1818 in which the number of white males and females by age groups and the whole number of people of color are counted. This is followed by a general discussion of the foreign element in the population.
Female Association for the Benefit of Africans (p.42)
Population of Cincinnati especially taken for the Directory in July 1819 (p.151) counting the number of white males and females and the number of male and female persons of color.
African Church (p.154)
The Cincinnati Directory for 1825. Cincinnati: Printed by Samuel J. Browne, at the Emporium Office, 1825. 137 pages and 3 pages of advertisements. CHS; UC; PL: 1825 Hall Cincinnati Directory
Map engraved by Harvey hall. Items concerning the city’s ethnic and racial composition include:
Table Shewing The Number of Inhabitants From Each of the States, Kingdoms, and Countries, Whose Names Are Inserted In This Directory (p.7)
The Directory (pp.9-108) itself which lists name, occupation, address, and state or country of origin.
Places of Worship in Cincinnati (p.129), with ethnic composition indicated for some congregations.
The Cincinnati Directory for 1829. Cincinnati: Published by Robinson and Fairbank. Whetstone & Buxton…Printers, 1829. 201 pages and 1 leaf, followed by The Cincinnati Annual Advertiser unpaged. CHS; UC; PL: 1829 Robinson & Fairbank Cincinnati Directory
Ethnicity stops being indicated for the persons listed in the directory section. Items of interest include: population (pp. 154-155), which gives the whole number of white males and females, “…to which may be added black and mulattoes” (sex not indicated); provision of taxes for separate school for African Americans (p.186); listing of churches (p.186), some of which may be identified as serving an ethnic group or racial minority; religious and benevolent societies (pp.196; 199), some identifiable as ethnic in character.
The Cincinnati Directory, For 1831. Cincinnati: Published by Robinson Fairbank, South-East Corner of Main and Fifth Streets, 1831. 213 pages CHS; PL: 1831 Robinson & Fairbank Cincinnati Directory
The Cincinnati Directory for 1834. To Which Is Appended A Statistical Account Of The Towns Of Covington And Newport, Ky. Cincinnati: Published by E. Deming, No. 5, Johnston’s Row, 1834. 266 pages and 70 page Directory. CHS; UC; PL
Includes the population of Cincinnati taken Dec. 1833 (p.266). The city is divided into wards. The
population of each ward is given as the whole number of white males and white females, and the whole number of blacks.
The Cincinnati Directory, For 1836-7. Cincinnati: Published by J. H. Woodruff: A. Pugh & Co., Print. No. 106 Main Street, 1836. 252 pages CHS; UC; PL
Includes information on various ethnic benevolent institutions as well as information on the German school in the basement of the Church of the Holy Trinity (p.243).
The Cincinnati, Covington, Newport And Fulton Directory, For 1840. By David Shaffer. Cincinnati: J.B. & R.P. Donogh, No. 106, Main Street, 1840? 486 pages and unpaged advertising PL: 1839-40 Shaffer's Cincinnati Directory
Lists names of householders, heads of families, and includes residence, occupation, and place of birth. A separate listing of “Colored” (pp.465-475) gives residence, occupation, and State of birth. An additional census (p.483) gives the whole number of whites and African Americans residing in Cincinnati and the whole number of the German population. A separate Table of Nativity (p.484) gives a count of the foreign born by country of birth arranged in descending order from Germany (1,587) to Mexico (1).
The Cincinnati Directory, For 1842. Charles Cist, Compiler. Cincinnati: E. Morgan and Company, 1842. 456 pages and unpaged advertising CHS; UC; PL: 1842 Cist Cincinnati Directory
Arranged by wards giving name, address, and occupation of each inhabitant without reference to nativity. There is a separate section (pp.440-447) listing name, address, and occupation of the African American population.
The Cincinnati Directory, For 1843. Charles Cist, Compiler. Cincinnati: R. P. Brooks, Printer, 1843. 399 pages and unpaged advertising. CHS; UC; PL: 1843 Cist Cincinnati Directory
There is a separate section (pp. 391-399) for African Americans.
Robinson & Jones’ Cincinnati Directory, For 1846. …1st Annual Issue. Cincinnati: Robinson and Jones, 1846. 557 pages and unpaged index to advertising. CHS; UC; PL: 1846 Robinson & Jones Cincinnati Directory
Names are listed in one alphabetical sequence with African Americans indicated by the symbol + in front of their name. Includes addresses and occupations.
Williams’ Cincinnati Guide and General Business Directory For 1848-9. Cincinnati: C.S. Williams and Son, 1848. 208 pages CHS
Includes an illustrated map.
Williams’ Cincinnati Directory and Business Advertiser, For 1849-50. First Annual Issue. Cincinnati: C. S. Williams, 1850? 320 pages CHS; UC; PL:1849-50 Williams' Cincinnati Directory
Race of individuals is no longer given but persons indicated as African American in earlier directories can be identified by cross-checking names.
Subsequent editions of the city directory follow much the same pattern with minor variations such as the inclusion of Foreign Consuls from time to time.
The city directories are available online in the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Virtual Library. The city directories are also available in a microform set:
City Directories of the United States. Woodbridge, CT.: Research Publications, 1970- PL; Center for Research Libraries (CRL)
Segment 1: American Directories Through 1860
Segment 2: 1861-1881
Segment 2: 1882-1901
Segment 4: 1902-1935
Segment 5: 1936-1960
City directories of the United States, 1860-1901 : guide to the microfilm collection
Series Title:
Imprint: Woodbridge, CT : Research Publications, 1983, c1984
A listing of various city directories through 1860 may be had in:
Spear, Dorothea N. Bibliography of American Directories through 1860. Worcester, Massachusetts: American Antiquarian Society, 1961. 389 pages UC
Other profiles of Cincinnati with information about the city’s ethnic and racial makeup are:
Drake, B. and E.D. Mansfield. Cincinnati in 1826. Cincinnati: Printed by Morgan, Lodge, and Fisher, February, 1827. 100 pages CHS; UC; PL Connect to resource online
This description of Cincinnati in 1826 includes information on the city’s religious institutions and benevolent societies, some of which may be linked to ethnic or racial affiliation. The city’s various literary and scientific institutions are also included. A chapter on population includes totals by wards for white males and white females and for all African Americans. Items relating to ethnicity or race within the text may be identified through the general index (see African Church; Colonization Society for example). In general, Drake and Mansfield cover much the same material as do the early city directories.
Use in conjunction with Mansfield, Edward D. Memoirs of the Life and Service of Daniel Drake, M.D., Physician, Professor, And Author; With Notices Of The Early Settlement Of Cincinnati And Some Of Its Pioneer Citizens. Cincinnati: Applegate, 1855. 408 pages CHS; UC; PL
Includes information of various associates of Dr. Drake, some of whom, like Martin Baum and Alexander Kinmont, were foreign born. Of special interest are the statistics for death by cholera by nationalities (pp.220-222), which indicated that “death among the Germans and Irish is…four-fold that of the Americans, and double that of the entire population proportionally.” This fact Drake attributed to density of habitation, dirty habits, diet, and inferior medical treatment.
Glazer, Walter S. Cincinnati in 1840: A Community Profile. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International, 1979. 315 leaves UC; AJA
______________. Cincinnati in 1840: The Social and Functional Organization of an Urban Community During the Pre-Civil War Period. Forward by Carl Abbott; Afterword by John D. Fairfield. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1999. 184 pages CHS; UC; PL
Glazer’s original doctoral dissertation was completed at the University of Michigan 1n 1968. The work is both a qualitative and quantitative survey of Cincinnati covering the nativity, occupation, wealth, religion, residence, associational activity, and mobility of the city’s population.
Kocolowski, Gary P. Louisville at Large: Industrial-Urban Organization, Inter-City Migration, and Occupational Mobility in the Central United States, 1865-1906. Cincinnati: Unpublished Dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 1978. 203 leaves UC Connect to resource online
Chapter 5: “Foreign-born In-migration to Louisville, 1880-1906 and Comparative Cincinnati Data.” Uses information taken from naturalization records. For Hamilton County records see:
Hamilton County, Ohio, Citizenship Record Abstracts, 1837-1916. Prepared by Archives & Rare Books Department, University Libraries, University of Cincinnati; Compiled by Lois E. Hughes. Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, Inc. 1991. UC
Also see: Kocolowski, Gary P. “Stabilizing Migration to Louisville and Cincinnati, 1865-1891,” Cincinnati Historical Society Bulletin, 37, no.1 (Spring 1979), 23-40 CHS; UC; PL Connect to resource online
Lieberson, Stanley. Ethnic Patterns in American Cities. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1963. 230 pages UC
Based on an analysis of the decennial censuses, 1910-1950, this study of the assimilation and residential segregation patterns of first and second generation immigrant groups in ten American cities includes Cincinnati. Data is presented on immigrants to Cincinnati from these countries: England and Wales; Scotland; Ireland; France; Germany; Poland; Austria; Hungary; Russia; Rumania; and Italy. For each ethnic group the study measures residential segregation from native-born whites by wards and tracts, and from African Americans, by wards and tracts. Percentage of Cincinnati’s foreign-born population unable to speak English is also given, as is the percentage of those who are illiterate; those who arrived in the United States in 1900 or earlier; percentage who are home owners; the median value of their homes in dollars; the median rent in dollars for those who rent; the percentage of foreign born males 21 and older who remain aliens; and the occupational dissimilarity between foreign born males and other segments of the population.
Quinn, James A. et al. Population Characteristics By Census Tracts, Cincinnati, Ohio—1930 and 1935. By James A. Quinn, Earle Eubank, and Lois E. Elliot, Department of Sociology, University of Cincinnati. Columbus: Bureau of Business Research, College of Commerce and Administration, Ohio State University, 1940. 88 pages UC
Based on special tabulations for each census tract made by the Bureau of the Census from the 1930 Census of Population and on a special census taken in Cincinnati in 1935 (see Thompson, Warren S. The Population of Hamilton County, Ohio in 1935). The following information is provided for each Cincinnati census tract: age, race, sex, and nativity of the population in 1930 and 1935; changes in the population from 1920 to 1930; density of the population in 1930 and 1953; and the ration of females to males in 1930. Figures for race include African Americans and all other persons of color: “These latter (“other colored”) are so few in number as to be unimportant—less than 100 for the city as a whole. Therefore, data on the colored population…may be interpreted as practically synonymous with Negro population.” (p.7).
Use in conjunction with: Quinn, James A. Population Changes—Cincinnati, Ohio, and Adjacent Area, 1900-1940. By James A. Quinn, Earle Eubank, and Lois E. Elliot. Pub. By the Bureau of Business Research, the Ohio State Univ. in co-operation with the City of Cincinnati, and the Dept. of Sociology of the Univ. of Cincinnati as a report on official project no. 665-42-3-401 conducted under the auspices of the Works Projects Administration. Columbus: n.p., 1947. 34 pages UC
Simon, Paul. “Cincinnati’s Unique Immigrant Experience,” Illinois Quarterly, 34, no. 4 (April 1972), 30-41. UC
This study concludes that from 1820 to 1920 Cincinnati’s ethnic composition was chiefly made up of skilled laborers and middle class professionals of Northern and Western European stock.
Thompson, Warren S. The Population of Hamilton County, Ohio in 1935. Cincinnati, Ohio: The Cincinnati Employment Center, 1937. (The Regional Department of Economic Security Research Bureau. Studies in Economic Security: I) 118 pages CHS; UC
Sponsored by the Regional Department of Economic Security, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, and the Works Progress Administration to answer the questions “Who are the unemployed? How many are there, and to what extent can they be absorbed in industry?” (p.ii)
Undertaken in 1935 this census revealed the changed character of Cincinnati’s population once made up of many immigrants now increasingly composed of native born whites, a growing population of African Americans (barely 2 percent of the population in 1860 but nearly 12 percent of the population in 1935), and Appalachian in-migrants, chiefly from neighboring Kentucky. This detailed study of the elements in the city’s population includes chapters on the ethnic and racial composition of the population, including country-of-origin for the foreign born and an analysis of in-migration from other states; proportion of males and females, native born, foreign born, and African American; age of the population, native born, foreign born, and African American; employed and unemployed population; single, married, widowed, and divorced in the population; religious affiliation; births, deaths, and population growth; and assimilation of migrants. Detailed charts on pages 37-118.
The Decennial Census of the United States
Census Information: Research Guides : Government Documents Comp. by Lorna Newman and Karen Kottsy
Mandated by the United States Constitution for purposes of reapportionment of the House of Representatives the decennial censuses have little consistency from one decade to the next regarding what other enumerations Congress has decided to include. Although African Americans have always been counted as a group in every decennial census, nativity of the foreign born has not been consistently specified or included. For example, the 1820 census conducted a count of the number of free whites (males and females) who were “foreigners not naturalized;” the 1860 census gave statistics for nativity of the foreign born arranged by country of origin; the 1870 census included a table of occupations broken down by selected nativity; and so on from census to census.
The population of Ohio was first enumerated in the census for 1800. A general description of the contents of each census volume from 1790 to 1945 is in part I: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Catalog of Publications, 1790-1972. Washington, D.C.: Department of Commerce, 1974 UC Also see: Measuring America: The Decennial Censuses From 1790 to 2000
Other sources of information on ethnic groups and racial minorities in Cincinnati may be found in:
Hamilton County Citizenship Records (ca.1830-1920) UC: Archives & Rare Books Consult the Archives web site for online access
These records include declarations of intent and naturalization records, the former not restricted to declarations made in Hamilton County. Information includes applicant’s name; country of origin; port-of-departure and date of departure; port-of-entry with date of entry; and date of the document. The records do not include information on when the applicant arrived in Cincinnati, where domiciled in Cincinnati, or how long the applicant has been a Cincinnati resident. Use in conjunction with: Hamilton County, Ohio, Citizenship Record Abstracts, 1837-1916. Prepared by Archives & Rare Books Department, University Libraries, University of Cincinnati; Compiled by Lois E. Hughes. Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, Inc. 1991. UC This resource contains all of the pertinent information found in the original naturalization records in abstract form.
Index to Local History Resources
“This index to Local History Resources is an index of names, places, and topics from Cincinnati reference books and other resources. These resources are available at the Cincinnati Historical Society Library. (Some of the books may also be found at other libraries.)”—CHS database description
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1867-1970
History & Archives Database: Connect to resource online;
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1867-1970, Ohio: Connect to resource online
Produced to assist fire insurance agents assess the potential risk of insuring certain structures, these maps show the size, shape, and construction of each structure; the property boundaries; ;house and block numbers; location of water mains; fire alarm boxes and hydrants; and the use to which each structure was put for commercial, industrial, and residential buildings. These maps may be used to determine the general housing characteristics in sections of the city in which large concentrations of ethnic groups or racial minorities are known to reside. The first map for Cincinnati was produced in 1887.
Travelers Aid International
Richardson, Edgar M. Cincinnati International Sourcebook. Cincinnati: Travelers Aid International of Greater Cincinnati, c. 1990. 1991 edition UC
__________________. Ethnic-Nationality Communities of Greater Cincinnati: 1993 Update. Cincinnati: Travelers Aid International of Greater Cincinnati, 1993. PL
__________________. The Greater Cincinnati International Sourcebook. 2nd ed. Cincinnati, Ohio: Travelers Aid International of Greater Cincinnati, 1995. UC
__________________. The Greater Cincinnati International Sourcebook. 3rd ed. Cincinnati: International Family Resource Center, 2000.
Bardon, Geremy. The Greater Cincinnati International Sourcebook. 4th ed. Cincinnati: International Family Resource Center, 2004. UC
These publications list the various ethnic organizations and societies in Cincinnati, with contact information and an estimate of the size of each group.
See also: Finelli, Mary Theresa. The Historical Origins and Development of Travelers Aid-International Institute and its Present Functions Including the Teaching of English as a Second Language. Thesis (Master of Education)-University of Cincinnati, 1983. 67 leaves CHS; UC Connect to resource online
Newspaper Clipping Collection: Ethnic Groups CHS
Begun sometime in the 1930s, this file contains clippings of articles from various Cincinnati newspapers and is a source for information about ethnic groups about which little print information exists such as Iranians, Peruvians, etc. Use in conjunction with:
Cincinnati Newsdex Connect , the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s online index to Cincinnati’s newspapers.
Cincinnati Enquirer Index. Prepared by the Newspaper Index Project, Works Projects Administration in Ohio. [Cincinnati:] 1941 5 vols. [1934-1938] CHS; UC; PL
Sally Moffitt
Office hours by appointment: Sally.Moffitt@uc.edu
401M Langsam Library
June 2008