The Ohio History Connection’s Ohio Memory Madness Kicks Off Tuesday, March 17
In the spirit and fun of college basketball’s March Madness, the Ohio History Connection and Wright State University Libraries, Special Collections & Archives, invite you to participate in Ohio Memory Madness – a bracket of sixty-four historical events from across the state all competing for the unique distinction of being named the 2015 Ohio Memory Madness Champion. Since the historical events featured in the bracket are unable to play tournament style basketball, the winner of Ohio Memory Madness will be determined by public online voting at: http://www.ohiohistoryhost.org/madness/.
The Ohio Memory Madness bracket features images of a variety of historical events pulled from Ohio Memory, the collaborative digital library project of the Ohio History Connection and the State Library of Ohio, with digital collections from 360 cultural heritage institutions representing all of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Wright State University Libraries, Special Collections & Archives is proud to have the Wright Brothers’ First Flight Photo represent Dayton, Ohio, in this statewide competition (see bracket #23 in Round 1). On December 17, 1903, at 10:35 a.m., Orville Wright took off into a 27 mph wind. The distance covered was 120 feet, and the time aloft was 12 seconds. It was the world’s first powered, controlled, sustained flight in a heavier-than-air machine. Wilbur can be seen at right. The picture was taken with Orville’s camera by John T. Daniels.
First Flight photo, December 17, 1903 (ms1_16_2_10)
Event images will go head to head beginning March 17, and the voting is scheduled as follows:
First round: March 17–20
Round of 32: March 21-25
Sweet 16: March 26-28
Elite 8: March 29-31
Final 4: April 1-4
Championship: April 5-6
The public can vote throughout the tournament to be sure their favorite event image makes it to the championship – they can also enter to win a prize pack from the Ohio History Connection including tickets to the Ohio History Center in Columbus, a Retro Ohio t-shirt, and an assortment of Ohio munchies to enjoy while watching that other sport.
Don’t miss your chance to vote for the Ohio Memory Madness Champion! Your vote can make one of Ohio’s historical events go all the way this March.