Easter dawn services at the Deeds Carillon, 1965
The Deeds Carillon, for which Carillon Park was named, was built in 1942, at the request of Col. Edward A. Deeds and his wife Edith Wharton Deeds, to commemorate the Deeds family. Each bell was inscribed with the name of a Deeds family member. There were originally 23 bells; now there are 57. The 151-foot tall structure is Ohio’s largest carillon. The bells in a carillon are usually played either by keys or pedals. In 1988, the carillon was converted from electrical controls to more traditional mechanical controls. Mrs. Deeds herself played the first tune herself on Easter Sunday, 1942.
The following selection of photographs of the Deeds Carillon come from the Dayton Daily News Archive (Journal Herald alphanumeric series 96 M14). Click on a photo to enlarge it.
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- Deeds Carillon workers, 1940s
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- Working on one of the bells, 1940s
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- Col. and Mrs. E. A. Deeds, 1941?
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- Deeds Carillon, 30 Oct. 1941
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- Deeds Carillon, 1941
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- Mrs. Deeds with the bell bearing her name, 1941
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- Deeds Carillon, ca. 1940s
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- Aerial view of Deeds Carillon looking north, Nov. 1941
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- Worker atop Deeds Carillon, ca. 1940s
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- Deeds Carillon at sunset, July 1953
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- Work on Deeds Carillon, 1962
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- 350 lbs. bell, 1962
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- Newly tuned bell, 1964
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- New lighting system, April 1968
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- Workers remove bells for cleaning and repair, 1962
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- Installing a new bell hanger, May 1974
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- New bell hanger, May 1974
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- A worker atop the bells, June 1973
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- Mrs. Deeds will play first Carillon number, 11 Oct. 1941
These photos can be found in the Wright State University Libraries Special Collections & Archives:
- Dayton Daily News Archive, Journal-Herald alphanumeric files #96 M14, Deeds Carillon (several folders).