Every month at Harmon Museum (105 S. Broadway, Lebanon, OH), we host a hot catered meal followed by a talk on a historical topic. The topics vary from month to month but are always presented by a speaker fluent on the subject being covered.

SCHEDULE: 11:00am - Seating/Open Museum | 11:30am - Lunch Served | 12:00pm (noon) - Speaker
​The speaker's program usually lasts one hour.
COST: $20 for WCHS members or $25 for non-members. (Includes lunch, lecture and museum admission)
Program without lunch is $10 for members or $15 for non-members.
There are a limited number of seats so please purchase your tickets before the event.
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See below for a list of upcoming topics and click here to view a recent Lunch and Learn lecture.
**If you have dietary restrictions, please make us aware before the event. 513 932-1817.**

For Bootstrap Business Lunch, click here.

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March 18, 2020 | Harriet Taylor Upton’s Fight for Women's Suffrage in Ohio

TOPIC: Harriet Taylor Upton, from the city of Warren, Ohio, was the president of the Ohio Suffrage Organization, a political activist and an author. She will tell her own story as a major force in the Woman’s Suffrage Movement and as the first woman to become vice chairman of the Republican National Committee. As portrayed by Harriet Merriman, you will learn how the history of the woman’s suffrage movement in America can hardly be written without some reference and tribute to this Ohio woman.
SPEAKER: Harriet Merriman volunteers at the Ohio History Connection in their school and public programs and has performed in their Discovery Theatre. Last year at our Lunch & Learn in April she portrayed Ohio’s Jerrie Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the world. Harriet is a retired school teacher and lives with her husband Bill in Westerville, Ohio.

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Harriet Taylor Upton speaking at Ohio Statehouse
- image courtesy of ohiomemory.org​

April 15, 2020 | Ohio Legends Revisited

TOPIC: The very popular Jeff Wilson will once again pay us visit to discuss material covered in his books Ohio Legends and Ohio Legends Volume 2. Every page in his books has a short story with an original, expressive illustration drawn by Jeff that brings to life a bit of Buckeye trivia or an oddity about an Ohio inventor, ghost, visionary, hero, crackpot or criminal. Jeff will be showcasing a special “Librarian’s Edition” of his Ohio Legends series that features a “perfect bound” cover and includes many stories never published before.
SPEAKER: Jeff Wilson is a free-lance cartoonist, writer and illustrator. A life-long resident of the Buckeye state, he lives in Vandalia, Ohio with his wife Patti and enjoys any good, goofy story about Ohio.  

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May 13, 2020 | Best All Around Athlete Ever Buried in Lebanon​?

TOPIC: With the 2020 Summer Olympics being held in Tokyo, Japan in a few months, what better time to explore the life of Richard Perry “Doc” Williams who none other than the great Jim Thorpe once called the “fastest sprinter who ever lived.” He is said to have to have run the 100-yard dash in 9 seconds flat 104 years ago in June 1906, and set well over a dozen other records!  So why haven’t you heard of him? Why was he in Ripley’s Believe It or Not, not once but twice? What is a “professional pedestrian”? And, why is he buried in Lebanon, Ohio? All these questions will be answered and more at this fascinating Lunch & Learn lecture.
SPEAKER: John J. Zimkus, the Historian and Education Director of the Warren County Historical Society. He is also the author of Historical Footnotes of Lebanon, Ohio and the house historian of The Golden Lamb in Lebanon, Ohio’s oldest continually operated business.

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100 Meter Dash

June 17, 2020 | Victoria Woodhull: Queen Victoria or Mrs. Satan?

TOPIC: This talk will explore the life of Victoria Claflin Woodhull who was born in Homer, Ohio in 1838 and the adversity she overcame, including a somewhat shady past, to be the first woman U.S. Presidential candidate in 1872.  We will discuss other “firsts” that this great lady from central Ohio achieved and will look at some of her ideological platforms as well as her fight for Women’s Suffrage on two continents.  Reviled by some, revered by others, we will focus on popular perception of this controversial woman.

SPEAKER: Dr. Judith Dann is a Professor of Ancient History and Lead Instructor in the Classics in the Humanities Department at Columbus State Community College.  She lives in Homer, Ohio (Victoria Woodhull’s birthplace) with her husband and three children.

Victoria Woodhull

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Previous Lunch and Learn Topics
The History of Beedle Station  from John Zimkus
Jim Crabtree and Teena Baldrige portrayed President Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln.
The Bones of Cincinnatus performed holiday season classics, arranged for the unique capabilities of a trombone ensemble.
Local author and historian Fred Compton discussed his 35 years at the Golden Lamb
Character actor Joyce Lovins Browning portrayed Mary Cunningham: 1870s Cincinnati Body Snatcher
The Little Miami’s "Scenic River" Status​
100 Years of Bridal Fashion in "Brides of Yesteryear"
​The Secrets of the Infirmary Time Capsule
Guadalcanal: A Turn Point in WWII
Historian John Zimkus spoke on Lebanon’s William E. Harmon