C.F. Payne is an artist-illustrator whose artwork has graced the covers of Time Magazine, Readers Digest, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times Book Review and Sunday Magazine, MAD Magazine, der Spiegel, U.S. News and World Report, The Atlantic Monthly, Texas Monthly, Boys Life and more. He has been commissioned to paint countless politicians, authors and entertainers. He has illustrated ten children’s picture books, including The Remarkable Farkle McBride and Micawber, written by John Lithgow.
His artwork has been exhibited at The Cincinnati Art Museum, The National Portrait Gallery, The Norman Rockwell Museum, The Society of Illustrators Museum of American Illustration, The Selby Gallery at Ringling College of Art and Design and numerous college and university galleries.

​Internationally recognized artist, John Vakaleris, recently wrapped a month long show of his work, that was on display in the Mote Gallery, at Harmon Museum. To show his appreciation, the artist has donated his work, Vakaleris Vacation, to Harmon Museum, with the intent that the piece be sold and proceeds used to benefit the museum. The work is oil on canvas and measures 30" x 30". The painting is currently up for sale at the artist's suggested price of $3,600.

This morning (June 21st), the sun rose on summer and the longest day of the year. Solstice is Latin for "sun standing still," which references the sun's placement in the sky, in this case, at it's highest point of the year.
This day has been celebrated for thousands of years and is one of the first astronomical observations of humankind.
Long thought to be an ancient site for such observation, Stonehenge (5,000 years old) is visited each year by thousands to view this morning's sunrise. You can too with the new 360 degree camera they recently installed; just turn the clock back to sunrise by clocking the blocks at the top (23:54 our time and has a yellow box around it).
Happy Solstice and happy Summer!

-From the desk of John Zimkus-
​
"Today, the world honors and remembers that 50 years ago Apollo XI astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man ever to step foot on the moon. Neil, however, would want to be remembered for more than that lunar walk five decades ago. Neil was a more than that. He was more than a Korean War Naval fighter pilot who flew 78 combat missions, or the civilian test pilot of the X-15 rocket/jet. He was more than an aerospace engineer and a university professor.
He was a husband and a father. Neil Armstrong was also our neighbor. He was a citizen of Warren County, of Turtlecreek Township and of the Lebanon, Ohio area. For 23 years, Neil Alden Armstrong lived less than two miles from downtown Lebanon. He lived here longer than any other place during his 82 years on this earth.
Many magazine and newspaper articles written about Neil refer to him as a recluse, a person who prized his privacy overall and was reluctant to give interviews. But, as many of you know, Neil did not live a solitary life nor did he withdrawal from society here in Warren County. He helped build the Countryside YMCA by serving on its first board of trustees. He had an office in town for over 20 years. He loved eating at her Village Ice Cream Parlor in Lebanon.
As James R. Hansen author of First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, an authorized 2005 biography, pointed out in a speech in 2014 at The Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio. “The idea that he was a recluse and wanted to avoid the media was false. He did not want to be rich or famous based on being the first man on the moon alone. He left that part of his life for the history books.”
Perhaps the best way to describe Neil can be found in the statement his family released through NASA after he death on August 25, 2012. “Neil Armstrong was  . . . a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job.”
Neil, being a former Naval Aviator would probably have agreed with Admiral William “Bull” Halsey statement that, “There are no extraordinary men .  .  .  just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are forced to deal with.” Neil said multiple times that he was not an explorer. He was simply a pilot doing what he was trained to do.
Another part of the Armstrong family's statement read, “For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty.”
With that understood, I think he would have appreciated, that back on October 7, 2014, the City of Lebanon had a new 3/4 mile roadway dedicated as Neil Armstrong Way. It connects Ohio SR 123 and SR 63. This small but useful stretch of road serves his former neighbors of Warren County, Turtlecreek Township and Lebanon, Ohio. It makes their lives a little easier and safer. That would be The Neil Armstrong Way."

In continuing with the family tradition, Zach Lykins joined the Armed Forces. He chose the Marine Corps and was immediatly sent to Afghanistan right out of high school. Listen to his oral history in the interview below.

Harmon Museum's newest exhibit, "Brides of Yesteryear", is now open.  Featured are more than 25 wedding gowns worn by Warren County brides between 1870 and 1970.  This retrospective of wedding fashions includes photos of the brides wearing the gowns on their wedding day, along with information about the fabric and embellishments used to construct the dresses.
Lisa Holz, a Harmon Museum volunteer and costume historian curated the exhibit under the director of Textile Curator Jeanne Doan.  A team of volunteers worked with Holz and Doan to create the exhibit from early February until April 12 when the exhibit opened.
“We are very lucky to have a large collection of soft body mannequins made by past textile department staff and volunteers so we are able to display these fragile dresses without stressing the seams or otherwise damaging the clothing”, said Textile Curator Jeanne Doan. “Our textile collection is our single largest collection at Harmon Museum and we work very hard to preserve and conserve each piece so visitors can enjoy these beautiful creations for years to come”.
Holtz was also the speaker at an extremely well attended Lunch & Learn, of the same name, on June 12th. 
The exhibit is open through September 28, 2019.  Hours are Tuesday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission to the museum is $10.00.

Jonas Seaman traveled from New Jersey to the Ohio Country and bought a $4 license to operate a “house of Public Entertainment” on Broadway in the newly-founded village of Lebanon in 1803. He probably never have imagined that more than 200 years later his establishment would still be offering food and lodging for travelers. Today, the Golden Lamb is recognized as the oldest continually operating business in Ohio.
The Golden Lamb owes its early success due to location – halfway between the great river town of Cincinnati and the National Road (now U.S. Route 40). Seaman’s establishment got its name from the sign hung outside the business – an image of a golden lamb – because many early travelers could not read.
Robert Jones took over the property in 1926 and began transforming it into the restaurant and hotel that it has become. The Jones family still owns the Golden Lamb today. A fire at the Golden Lamb in 1928 forced the Jones’ to purchase second-hand pieces to replace furniture that had been lost. Little did they know their purchases would become a beautiful collection of Shaker artifacts and rare antiques that are still in use today throughout the restaurant and hotel.
Throughout its 200+ years, the Golden Lamb has hosted, entertained and provided lodging for many notable guests, but none more honorable than 12 United States presidents. From its early days as a stopping point between Cincinnati and the National Road to its historic legacy as a political stop in a battleground state, United States presidents have visited the Golden Lamb before, during and after their time in our nation’s highest office. Presidents that have visited the Golden Lamb include:

• John Quincy Adams, 6th U.S. president (1843)
• Martin Van Buren, 8th U.S. president (1842)
• William Henry Harrison, 9th U.S. president (1825, 1840)
• Ulysses S. Grant, 18th U.S. president (1839)
• Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th U.S. president (1867)
• James A. Garfield, 20th U.S. president (1871)
• Benjamin Harrison, 23rd U.S. president (1883)
• William McKinley, 25th U.S. president (1889,1893)
• William Howard Taft, 27th U.S. president (1898)
• Warren G. Harding, 29th U.S. president (1910, 1914)
• Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. president (1968)
• George W. Bush, 43rd U.S. president (2004)

Today (June 8th) in 1867, American architect, interior designer, writer, and educator, Frank Lloyd Wright was born. Even while his mother carried him, she believed he would become an architect. Little did she know, he would go on to become one of the most brilliant and sought after in American history, even being named the American Institute of Architects’ “greatest American architect of all time.”
During his career, spanning over seven decades, Wright designed 1,114 architectural works (532 were realized) including Falling Water, Taliesin West and the Guggenheim Museum. Warren County actually boasts one of Wright's designs as well.
"I believe in God, only I spell it Nature." Wright had a spiritual and romantic view of nature. This philosophy was the basis of all his work and can be seen throughout his designs. "The good building is not one that hurts the landscape, but one which makes the landscape more beautiful than it was before the building was built."
In a time of heavy pollution due fossil fuel emissions, destruction of once preserved land for immediate gain, floating islands of trash in the ocean, and the of re-evaluation of what constitutes an "endangered species," Wright's views and designs are more relevant than ever.
"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you."


Other Frank Lloyd Wright facts:

• His mother decorated his childhood nursery with engravings of English cathedrals.
• In 1909, Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney eloped, abandoning their spouses, children, and lives (including Wright's practice) to spend a year together in Europe.
• In 1914, while Wright was away on business, a disgruntled servant at Taliesin set the structure’s living quarters on fire before murdering seven of the home’s residents, including Mamah Borthwick Cheney.
• Wright distained other architects and refused to join the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
• Wright became the father to the modern Ranch house when he was asked to design an inexpensive home for America's  troops and the families they wished to start, following the events of World War II.
• Though little documentation exists, it is said that Wright designed dresses for his wife Olgivanna and others.
• Wright was an avid car collector. This influenced the ramp design of his final design, the Guggenheim.

"On June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France... More than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded, but their sacrifice allowed more than 100,000 Soldiers to begin the slow, hard slog across Europe, to defeat Adolf Hitler’s crack troops." - Army.com
I've had the privilage to visit the beaches at Normandy. I've walked among the debris, lingering still, a quiet testimonial to the carnage that took place 75 years before. That day the brave soldiers of the Allied Forces stormed across the open sand, under a hail of heavy fire, toward the Nazi bunkers above. I've felt the gravity of the space but I can not even begin to fathum what it was like that day.
"They fought together as brothers in arms; they died together and now they sleep side by side. To them, we have a solumn obligation." - Chester W. Nimitz
Without their sacrifice, evil may have been allowed to consume more than it had.
"Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few." - Winston Churchill
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Nathaniel Grauwelman is the Marketing Manager for Warren County Historical Society.

​Beth Gully began creating upside-down images when she accidentally dropped a doodle on the floor. When she picked it up, she saw, amazingly, another image. Upon additional sketching she created her first ambigram. (An image that can be inverted to become something different)
Now, one of 100 recognized ambigram artists worldwide, Beth has created a niche for herself. Using her talent, she has created two children’s books that are full of beautiful pictures, that when turned upside down, show an entirely new set of images. Beth has won 13 awards for her books including a gold ADDY award in Cincinnati, a Gold and two Silver Summit International Awards. Her Christmas book was awarded the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval and her Easter book, "The Other Side of Easter" was awarded the 2019 Bronze Enduring Lights Medal in the Christian Children’s Books category at the Illumination Book Awards.
Beth started her graphic design business, BT Graphics, in 1990 and her experience continues to nurture her presentation and leadership skills enabling her to thrive as a successful entrepreneur and author.
Beth lives in Lebanon, Ohio with her husband Dave, and enjoys traveling, taking walks, playing guitar, and mentoring young artists.

If you've visited Harmon Museum recently (or just driven by) you probably noticed that the front steps have been closed off.  The steps have begun to crumble and are no longer safe to climb.  Having been patched throughout the years, they are now beyond repair and need to be replaced.  The Warren County Historical Society which owns and operates Harmon Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, privately funded by donations, admissions, and fundraising activities.  We receive less than 5% of our annual budget in government support.  If you would like to help please click on the donate button at the top of this page. We also accept checks in the mail and cash at the museum.
The front steps of Harmon Museum are not just a way into the museum.  The building is set high above the street making those steps a great vantage point for viewing parades and other happenings in downtown Lebanon.  When John McCain and Sarah Palin visited Lebanon during the 2008 Presidential Campaign, Senator McCain walked down Broadway to Harmon Museum to shake hands with 50 or so people who were watching the event from Harmon Museum’s steps.  On the first Saturday in December the steps are packed with folks watching the horse drawn carriages turn from Broadway onto Main Street during Lebanon’s annual Christmas Festival.  Other times you see high school seniors, family groups or even brides having their picture taken on the steps. 
Click here for more information.

John J. Zimkus has lectured and written about the history of Lebanon and Warren County, Ohio for over 30 years.
He has been the historian of the Warren County Historical Society since 1990, and in 2008 was named the education director of the society’s Harmon Museum. He has also been the house historian of The Golden Lamb, Ohio's oldest inn, since 2007.
Holding degrees from both, Miami University and Wright State University, John was a teacher in the Lebanon City School District for 35 years. He was a recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Foundation Award from the Area Progress Council of Warren County, Inc. in both 1990 and 1998.
In 2006, he was honored by the Daughters of the American Revolution as Ohio’s Outstanding Teacher of American History, and was inducted into the Lebanon City Schools Hall of Fame in 2008.
John is the author of Historical Footnotes of Lebanon, Ohio, which is composed of 29 stories that cover over 200 years of the vivid history of the city of Lebanon.
In April 2012, John was recognized by the Lebanon Area Chamber of Commerce as its “2012 - Citizen of the Year”.
In 2015, John received the Robert and Virginia Jones Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lebanon Conservancy Foundation Inc. in appreciation for his efforts “toward preserving, improving and enhancing the historic fabric and quality of life in the community of greater Lebanon.”