Sweet MUMories Oral History Project - Wilbur Cohen
Title
Sweet MUMories Oral History Project - Wilbur Cohen
Description
Date
November 18, 2016
Duration
24:37 minutes
Transcription
Sweet MUMories Oral History Project
Transcript: Wilbur Cohen, November 18, 2016
Donation record #Cohen.W.11182016.1
Transcribed by Erika Nisbet 6/21/2017.
Approved for deposit by Marsha Robinson on 2/16/2018.
Copyright Miami University. All rights reserved.
0.07 MRR My name is Marsha Robinson and we are recording an oral history with Mr. Wilbur Cohen as part of the Sweet MUMories Oral History Project to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Miami University Middletown, Ohio, campus. This interview is taking place on November 18, 2016, in the office of Mr. Cohen on Woodlawn Avenue in Middletown. Mr. Cohen, do I have your consent to proceed with this interview?
0.35 WC Yes, you do.
0.35 MRR Thank you. Would you mind telling us about your first connection to the creation of Miami University Middletown?
0.42 WC I was a notified by members of the Chamber that the possibility of a regional hospital here in Middletown of Miami University was available and would I be interested in being a part of that group that would support the development of that here in Middletown. I can’t remember who the president of Armco was. I knew him so well at the time. The Armco had donated the land that was available, that was necessary to build the university and the campus here in Middletown. And a number of us were involved and interested not only in Armco’s project but in the project of our own for the city, for Middletown to have the college here in Middletown. At that time, I believe I was a member of the Chamber, maybe even an officer of the Chamber, and I have a very substantial interest not only in having a college here but in the possibility of using that college as a development for possible students that could go into our business and our industry. That was a major concern, a major factor in addition to the community responsibility of doing it.
2.18 MRR You were also a member of the Industrial Council and you were a member of the committee to help develop the Middletown Regional Hospital.
2.27 WC Yes.
2.28 MRR And
2.29 WC No
2.30 MRR You were also concerned about the nursing program.
2.31 WC No, I was not a member of the development of the hospital.
2.34 MRR Oh, ok.
2.35 WC I was a [member] of the hospital board, Middletown Regional Development hospital board in 1965 and grew into an officer of that group and ultimately to be chairman of the board of the hospital and also of the new section, the Atrium Hospital that’s existing now.
2.57 MRR So your interests in the campus were two fold, both in healthcare and in industrial?
3.01 WC Right.
3.03 MRR Ok. Do you remember what any of those early meetings were like or did you attend any meetings where members of the community beyond the planning committee were there?
3.12 WC Well, there was a number of, there was a, there’s a facility on the campus that was a, I think owned or supported by, I’m not sure whether it was Armco or the community where the meetings were held on what is now the campus of Miami University.
3.33 MRR Would that be Verity Lodge?
3.34 WC Yes.
3.35 MRR Ok, or the Holiday House at the time?
3.36 WC Yes, right.
3.38 MRR Ok and so meetings were there and the public came, too?
3.42 WC Not so much the public, it was mostly the committees that I recall, wasn’t so much the public.
3.48 MRR Ok. Do you remember what it was like in Middletown before there was an option to attend college here? What was it like for children and their parents to pursue education?
4.01 WC Well, Middletown really is a very educational, development community. And at that time graduating from high school many went on to college. Some of these students were not, could not afford the four-year colleges and so we felt there was a need in the community for a two-year college that could be able to supply industry, which was very heavily at Middletown at that time, with students that could participate and be part of those industries. Our concern was the technical end of it rather, more so than the educational end of the college. And the ability to have technical degrees and resources that would help technically industries in the community.
5.02 MRR And is that why some of the early classes included drafting and manufacturing classes?
5.07 WC Yeah, very much so a lot of the college did, that’s right.
5.11 MRR Ok. The next question I have, did this campus, the regional campus system, come to play a role in your own family for pursuing education?
5.25 WC Our family’s always been community minded in only to the extent were interested not only in the college but other community activities and got into very heavily in the community in the health field in Middletown, primarily because of the hospital and our relationship with the hospital.
5.45 MRR So, what happened with the evolution of the nursing program to come to the campus?
5.50 WC The nursing program was part of the hospital arrangement at that time. The nursing school was part of the hospital and at that time they decided, the hospital or the community decided that the nursing school could no longer survive there without any attachment to a university facility. So there was a strong desire to change the nursing school over to Miami University campus in the event that it was developed. And I had the privilege of addressing the nursing school, one of the nursing schools to the nursing graduates, the nursing school graduates of the college and it was one of the last ones at the former and, subsequently after that, the nursing development actually it was eliminated.
6.50 MRR So you addressed the final graduating class at the hospital?
6.53 WC Right. No, it was on the campus. It was there. The graduation was out at the campus. I addressed the final class of the nursing school at that time as a chairman of the hospital.
7.11 MRR Many of those early nursing school students were mothers with children. Can you speak to what it means to a nontraditional student, someone who may already be married, who may already have children. What does it mean to be able to go to a college?
7.31 WC Very important, ability to be able to do that. That was probably the beginning, not necessarily the beginning but the early part, of our one-family/one-parent-family. And at that time one parent could be a nursing student if the facilities were able to use so our community and our family was very important, very, in having that done.
8.07 MRR Did any of your children attend a Miami University class?
8.11 WC My son, number two son, actually attended the Miami University in Hamilton, that branch campus, and I have a grandson that graduated from Miami University in Oxford. And many of our friends from outside of the community who sent their children to college in Oxford particularly was looking for a friend in the area that could step in when necessary where the child needed some support, whatever it happened to be. And we were called any number of times to do that.
8.52 MRR So, for many people the regional campuses are really like an extension of family. Would you say that’s what developed here?
9.01 WC I think so. I think very much so.
9.03 MRR OK. One of the things that we need during the editing of this interview, my voice will be edited out and it will look like you’re just having a conversation and so we would need for you to repeat the topic of the comment that you’re going to address. So if I’m asking about the nursing school, your comment will begin regarding the nursing school.
9.28 WC Right.
9.29 MRR So if we can do that so we can take my voice out and the story will be all about you, that’s my goal. So, as were looking at this what has been the impact on the city of Middletown by the time we’re talking about the 1970s and the 1980s? What changed here because of the university?
9.51 WC The major importance in my opinion was a facility close by where students who went to high school either in Middletown or in the surrounding area would have a facility. They could continue their education and probably have a, possibly have an opening to one of the industries that was part of this area. The, well let me think. Trying to get some thoughts together.
10.35 MRR Take your time.
10.39 WC. The fact, the opportunity, the possibility of an opportunity in this community in this area, for students who possibly didn’t have the financial wherewithal to continue to one of the colleges, whether it be public or private, to have a facility where they could get their technical degree in a particular area that they were interested in and do that, and, continue to stay either in Middletown or in the area and still be part of the community. Our family and our company has always been very community minded and interested in the fact we were able to get students and keep them in the community in whatever goal, whatever field they were interested in was very important.
11.37 MRR Your commitment to the Middletown campus extends to a wing of Johnston Hall that bears your family name. Can you talk about why your family chose to make that kind of commitment to the campus?
11.55 WC Well, we had a very good relationship not only to Miami but the community and saw, and we also saw possibilities in the community where there could be relationship between the community or community activities and the college itself. So that was very important to be part of that, to have a hand in probably the ability to help support that facility. And that was not only physically and educationally but that was also financially. The financial need was there for students, scholarships and so forth that continue to develop at the campus was very important and we were able to participate in that regard.
12.45 MRR Among the early buildings at the university there was Johnston Hall, then there was the construction of Gardner-Harvey Library and the next building was a theater.
12.56 WC Was a what?
12.56 MRR Theater, Finkelman Theater, the auditorium.
12.59 WC Yes.
13.00 MRR Have you ever attended any events at the auditorium?
13.02 WC Very much so.
13.04 MRR Are any that stand out in your mind?
13.06 WC Well, the opera that was used the auditorium as its base here in Middletown. I’m sorry, the symphony, not the opera, and used that and they used that for graduations and other things. It was on the campus of Miami but I don’t think it was financed in any way by the campus itself. There was a very charitable individual in the community whose name is on that auditorium…
13.41 MRR Mr. Finkelman.
13.42 WC Was able, yeah, was able to help finance and direct the name, the fact that it was necessary. In spite of, not in spite of it even because of the Middletown campus in Middletown there still was always a relationship between our family, myself particularly with Miami University. I at one time had a business in Indiana and went there several times a week and went through the Miami campus at Oxford. I was very friendly with some of the people of Miami. In fact I’m trying to think of some of their names. I wasn’t on the board at Miami but I also had some relationships there with them.
14.40 MRR Please, you can describe any of the individuals they were faculty or if they worked for the university.
2.27 WC Well, one of the facilities in Oxford was the Hillel in Oxford that we were much interested in and a part of helping see to that it’s well staffed and well used. And also many of the people that were in Oxford itself that were community involvements and community interests. There were people we became very friendly with, particularly one gentleman named Jack Samuelson who had a retail business in Oxford that I personally became very friendly with and we were very supportive of many things that were done on the campus in Oxford where he was interested in and I was able to participate in.
15.37 MRR It sounds like there’s this network of business owners who really supported their employees. And I understand that there was a network of men and that there was a network of women but the networking of business owners looking out for their employees strikes me as unique to Middletown. Can you talk to me or talk to us about the feeling of that network and why did the business owners feel this way about providing opportunities for their employees’ families?
16.17 WC Well, one of the main reasons that I can think of is a gentleman who came here from Findlay, Ohio, to be part of the Chamber of Middletown. He became the head of the Chamber in Middletown and ultimately became the Vice President at Armco. And his interest not only in the community but in the area through Armco and many of cases but because of him individually and he really was very, very, what’s the right word? Well, he sought to it that business owners in Middletown and in the area would be involved and be part of the situation going on, not only educationally but community wise. His name was Dick Slagle, S-l-a-g-l-e and he was as a chamber member and also as an officer at Armco was very important to this whole community and this whole area in the development of people and situations that helped get people involved.
17.38 MRR Would you mind talking some more about Mr. Slagle? We have very little information in the interviews so far.
17.43 WC Mr. Slagle came here from Findlay, Ohio. Quite personally he was a neighbor of mine and we became quite friendly, not only Dick and his wife, Pat, but also he and my wife Mary Jean Cohen were very friendly and involved [tape/segment 2] 0.00 in many activities, not only in the community but things that happened health-wise and business-wise. He was an outstanding individual and spent a lot of time business-wise and politically to help situations that would be beneficial for the community and for the educational system in this area. Unfortunately, he passed away just recently but he continued to be involved and interested all the time, at all times.
0.37 MRR Thank you. Do you have any recollections of Mr. Bennett or Mr. Thesken being part of this process?
0.45 WC No.
0.46 MRR Ok.
0.46 WC I know the name and I know of them, yeah. I knew Logan Johnston, of course.
0.51 MRR Please tell us about him.
0.53 WC Well, Mr. Johnson was a President of Armco, was an outstanding man community-wise, an individual that not only was interested in people but also in the community and also, of course of Armco. He had activities and businesses and arrangements beyond his employment at Armco which was quite substantial and fortunately I was able to know a lot of those things because of mutual friends we both had and he was quite instrumental and quite important in my mind to get me involved not only with the Miami campus but other things that he was involved in. Very outstanding man.
1.44 MRR Thank you very much. I’ve not had that detail come out yet. Thank you. Are there other people that you remember, and your recollections might be deeper than what people have said so far. Is there anyone else that stands out in your mind?
1.59 WC Well, course my associations has not so much been with Armco [or] Miami people but many people in the medical field in the community and many of the doctors in the community were not only physicians or doctors but they were also community minded and in addition to their practices they did a lot themselves, physically and financially to support activities in the community in this area. Well, names that I can recall that were very active and very involved in the city of Middletown and the area are myself. I’d be remised if I didn’t say Wilbur and Mary Jean Cohen and also Russell Weatherwax of the Barnitz Bank, Bill and Pat Schaefer, Roger and Ginny Dillman, Dick Slagle and his Pat, wife, Pat, Logan Johnston, what others? Elliot Levey and his son Barry Levey who was a state representative, Ohio State Representative. Did I say Logan Johnson? I said that. Who else? I’ll think of some other names but not now.
3.59 MRR Can you tell us a little more about Russell Weatherwax?
4.01 WC Russell Weatherwax was a gentleman who stayed pretty much in the background. His father was very instrumental in everything. Russell Weatherwax, Sr. was very instrumental in a lot of activities and the support of many small businesses that got their start here in Middletown, Ohio. Russell continued to be the same type of person not only in the banking but also in the activities in the community. He was part of very much everything that went on and many of the things we talked about today he was partly involved in.
4.50 MRR Is there anything else that you think is really important for people in the next fifty years to remember about Miami University Middletown?
5.04 WC Yeah, the ability to have a facility that normal, no, not normal, average people can afford to attend and get an education then could go on to another college if need be or could stay in their field through the technical training they get with a local company. And in the years that come it appears that that’s going to be very important in my mind especially to help young people getting into work programs that would be able to do something to have enough of an education to make a good living and have a good lifestyle in the community, hopefully in Middletown but, if not there, someplace.
5.59 MRR Alright. Do I have your permission to discontinue this interview?
6.04 WC Sure.
6.04 MRR Thank you.
Indexing terms:
Armco
Atrium Hospital
Barnitz Bank (Oglesby-Barnitz Bank)
Bennett, C. Eugene
Chamber of Commerce
Cohen USA, Cohen Foundation
Cohen, Mary Jean
Cohen, Wilbur
Dillman Virginia (Ginny)
Dillman, Roger
Drafting Classes
Findlay, Ohio
Finkelman, Dave
Hillel Foundation
Holiday House
Industrial Council
Johnston, Logan
Levey, Barry
Levey, Elliot
Manufacturing classes
Middletown Regional Hospital
Middletown Symphony Orchestra
Nursing program
Samuelson, Jack
Schaefer, Patricia
Schaefer, William (Bill)
Slagle, Patricia
Slagle, Richard (Dick)
Thesken, Earl
Verity Lodge
Weatherwax, Russell Jr.
Weatherwax, Russell, Sr.
Transcript: Wilbur Cohen, November 18, 2016
Donation record #Cohen.W.11182016.1
Transcribed by Erika Nisbet 6/21/2017.
Approved for deposit by Marsha Robinson on 2/16/2018.
Copyright Miami University. All rights reserved.
0.07 MRR My name is Marsha Robinson and we are recording an oral history with Mr. Wilbur Cohen as part of the Sweet MUMories Oral History Project to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Miami University Middletown, Ohio, campus. This interview is taking place on November 18, 2016, in the office of Mr. Cohen on Woodlawn Avenue in Middletown. Mr. Cohen, do I have your consent to proceed with this interview?
0.35 WC Yes, you do.
0.35 MRR Thank you. Would you mind telling us about your first connection to the creation of Miami University Middletown?
0.42 WC I was a notified by members of the Chamber that the possibility of a regional hospital here in Middletown of Miami University was available and would I be interested in being a part of that group that would support the development of that here in Middletown. I can’t remember who the president of Armco was. I knew him so well at the time. The Armco had donated the land that was available, that was necessary to build the university and the campus here in Middletown. And a number of us were involved and interested not only in Armco’s project but in the project of our own for the city, for Middletown to have the college here in Middletown. At that time, I believe I was a member of the Chamber, maybe even an officer of the Chamber, and I have a very substantial interest not only in having a college here but in the possibility of using that college as a development for possible students that could go into our business and our industry. That was a major concern, a major factor in addition to the community responsibility of doing it.
2.18 MRR You were also a member of the Industrial Council and you were a member of the committee to help develop the Middletown Regional Hospital.
2.27 WC Yes.
2.28 MRR And
2.29 WC No
2.30 MRR You were also concerned about the nursing program.
2.31 WC No, I was not a member of the development of the hospital.
2.34 MRR Oh, ok.
2.35 WC I was a [member] of the hospital board, Middletown Regional Development hospital board in 1965 and grew into an officer of that group and ultimately to be chairman of the board of the hospital and also of the new section, the Atrium Hospital that’s existing now.
2.57 MRR So your interests in the campus were two fold, both in healthcare and in industrial?
3.01 WC Right.
3.03 MRR Ok. Do you remember what any of those early meetings were like or did you attend any meetings where members of the community beyond the planning committee were there?
3.12 WC Well, there was a number of, there was a, there’s a facility on the campus that was a, I think owned or supported by, I’m not sure whether it was Armco or the community where the meetings were held on what is now the campus of Miami University.
3.33 MRR Would that be Verity Lodge?
3.34 WC Yes.
3.35 MRR Ok, or the Holiday House at the time?
3.36 WC Yes, right.
3.38 MRR Ok and so meetings were there and the public came, too?
3.42 WC Not so much the public, it was mostly the committees that I recall, wasn’t so much the public.
3.48 MRR Ok. Do you remember what it was like in Middletown before there was an option to attend college here? What was it like for children and their parents to pursue education?
4.01 WC Well, Middletown really is a very educational, development community. And at that time graduating from high school many went on to college. Some of these students were not, could not afford the four-year colleges and so we felt there was a need in the community for a two-year college that could be able to supply industry, which was very heavily at Middletown at that time, with students that could participate and be part of those industries. Our concern was the technical end of it rather, more so than the educational end of the college. And the ability to have technical degrees and resources that would help technically industries in the community.
5.02 MRR And is that why some of the early classes included drafting and manufacturing classes?
5.07 WC Yeah, very much so a lot of the college did, that’s right.
5.11 MRR Ok. The next question I have, did this campus, the regional campus system, come to play a role in your own family for pursuing education?
5.25 WC Our family’s always been community minded in only to the extent were interested not only in the college but other community activities and got into very heavily in the community in the health field in Middletown, primarily because of the hospital and our relationship with the hospital.
5.45 MRR So, what happened with the evolution of the nursing program to come to the campus?
5.50 WC The nursing program was part of the hospital arrangement at that time. The nursing school was part of the hospital and at that time they decided, the hospital or the community decided that the nursing school could no longer survive there without any attachment to a university facility. So there was a strong desire to change the nursing school over to Miami University campus in the event that it was developed. And I had the privilege of addressing the nursing school, one of the nursing schools to the nursing graduates, the nursing school graduates of the college and it was one of the last ones at the former and, subsequently after that, the nursing development actually it was eliminated.
6.50 MRR So you addressed the final graduating class at the hospital?
6.53 WC Right. No, it was on the campus. It was there. The graduation was out at the campus. I addressed the final class of the nursing school at that time as a chairman of the hospital.
7.11 MRR Many of those early nursing school students were mothers with children. Can you speak to what it means to a nontraditional student, someone who may already be married, who may already have children. What does it mean to be able to go to a college?
7.31 WC Very important, ability to be able to do that. That was probably the beginning, not necessarily the beginning but the early part, of our one-family/one-parent-family. And at that time one parent could be a nursing student if the facilities were able to use so our community and our family was very important, very, in having that done.
8.07 MRR Did any of your children attend a Miami University class?
8.11 WC My son, number two son, actually attended the Miami University in Hamilton, that branch campus, and I have a grandson that graduated from Miami University in Oxford. And many of our friends from outside of the community who sent their children to college in Oxford particularly was looking for a friend in the area that could step in when necessary where the child needed some support, whatever it happened to be. And we were called any number of times to do that.
8.52 MRR So, for many people the regional campuses are really like an extension of family. Would you say that’s what developed here?
9.01 WC I think so. I think very much so.
9.03 MRR OK. One of the things that we need during the editing of this interview, my voice will be edited out and it will look like you’re just having a conversation and so we would need for you to repeat the topic of the comment that you’re going to address. So if I’m asking about the nursing school, your comment will begin regarding the nursing school.
9.28 WC Right.
9.29 MRR So if we can do that so we can take my voice out and the story will be all about you, that’s my goal. So, as were looking at this what has been the impact on the city of Middletown by the time we’re talking about the 1970s and the 1980s? What changed here because of the university?
9.51 WC The major importance in my opinion was a facility close by where students who went to high school either in Middletown or in the surrounding area would have a facility. They could continue their education and probably have a, possibly have an opening to one of the industries that was part of this area. The, well let me think. Trying to get some thoughts together.
10.35 MRR Take your time.
10.39 WC. The fact, the opportunity, the possibility of an opportunity in this community in this area, for students who possibly didn’t have the financial wherewithal to continue to one of the colleges, whether it be public or private, to have a facility where they could get their technical degree in a particular area that they were interested in and do that, and, continue to stay either in Middletown or in the area and still be part of the community. Our family and our company has always been very community minded and interested in the fact we were able to get students and keep them in the community in whatever goal, whatever field they were interested in was very important.
11.37 MRR Your commitment to the Middletown campus extends to a wing of Johnston Hall that bears your family name. Can you talk about why your family chose to make that kind of commitment to the campus?
11.55 WC Well, we had a very good relationship not only to Miami but the community and saw, and we also saw possibilities in the community where there could be relationship between the community or community activities and the college itself. So that was very important to be part of that, to have a hand in probably the ability to help support that facility. And that was not only physically and educationally but that was also financially. The financial need was there for students, scholarships and so forth that continue to develop at the campus was very important and we were able to participate in that regard.
12.45 MRR Among the early buildings at the university there was Johnston Hall, then there was the construction of Gardner-Harvey Library and the next building was a theater.
12.56 WC Was a what?
12.56 MRR Theater, Finkelman Theater, the auditorium.
12.59 WC Yes.
13.00 MRR Have you ever attended any events at the auditorium?
13.02 WC Very much so.
13.04 MRR Are any that stand out in your mind?
13.06 WC Well, the opera that was used the auditorium as its base here in Middletown. I’m sorry, the symphony, not the opera, and used that and they used that for graduations and other things. It was on the campus of Miami but I don’t think it was financed in any way by the campus itself. There was a very charitable individual in the community whose name is on that auditorium…
13.41 MRR Mr. Finkelman.
13.42 WC Was able, yeah, was able to help finance and direct the name, the fact that it was necessary. In spite of, not in spite of it even because of the Middletown campus in Middletown there still was always a relationship between our family, myself particularly with Miami University. I at one time had a business in Indiana and went there several times a week and went through the Miami campus at Oxford. I was very friendly with some of the people of Miami. In fact I’m trying to think of some of their names. I wasn’t on the board at Miami but I also had some relationships there with them.
14.40 MRR Please, you can describe any of the individuals they were faculty or if they worked for the university.
2.27 WC Well, one of the facilities in Oxford was the Hillel in Oxford that we were much interested in and a part of helping see to that it’s well staffed and well used. And also many of the people that were in Oxford itself that were community involvements and community interests. There were people we became very friendly with, particularly one gentleman named Jack Samuelson who had a retail business in Oxford that I personally became very friendly with and we were very supportive of many things that were done on the campus in Oxford where he was interested in and I was able to participate in.
15.37 MRR It sounds like there’s this network of business owners who really supported their employees. And I understand that there was a network of men and that there was a network of women but the networking of business owners looking out for their employees strikes me as unique to Middletown. Can you talk to me or talk to us about the feeling of that network and why did the business owners feel this way about providing opportunities for their employees’ families?
16.17 WC Well, one of the main reasons that I can think of is a gentleman who came here from Findlay, Ohio, to be part of the Chamber of Middletown. He became the head of the Chamber in Middletown and ultimately became the Vice President at Armco. And his interest not only in the community but in the area through Armco and many of cases but because of him individually and he really was very, very, what’s the right word? Well, he sought to it that business owners in Middletown and in the area would be involved and be part of the situation going on, not only educationally but community wise. His name was Dick Slagle, S-l-a-g-l-e and he was as a chamber member and also as an officer at Armco was very important to this whole community and this whole area in the development of people and situations that helped get people involved.
17.38 MRR Would you mind talking some more about Mr. Slagle? We have very little information in the interviews so far.
17.43 WC Mr. Slagle came here from Findlay, Ohio. Quite personally he was a neighbor of mine and we became quite friendly, not only Dick and his wife, Pat, but also he and my wife Mary Jean Cohen were very friendly and involved [tape/segment 2] 0.00 in many activities, not only in the community but things that happened health-wise and business-wise. He was an outstanding individual and spent a lot of time business-wise and politically to help situations that would be beneficial for the community and for the educational system in this area. Unfortunately, he passed away just recently but he continued to be involved and interested all the time, at all times.
0.37 MRR Thank you. Do you have any recollections of Mr. Bennett or Mr. Thesken being part of this process?
0.45 WC No.
0.46 MRR Ok.
0.46 WC I know the name and I know of them, yeah. I knew Logan Johnston, of course.
0.51 MRR Please tell us about him.
0.53 WC Well, Mr. Johnson was a President of Armco, was an outstanding man community-wise, an individual that not only was interested in people but also in the community and also, of course of Armco. He had activities and businesses and arrangements beyond his employment at Armco which was quite substantial and fortunately I was able to know a lot of those things because of mutual friends we both had and he was quite instrumental and quite important in my mind to get me involved not only with the Miami campus but other things that he was involved in. Very outstanding man.
1.44 MRR Thank you very much. I’ve not had that detail come out yet. Thank you. Are there other people that you remember, and your recollections might be deeper than what people have said so far. Is there anyone else that stands out in your mind?
1.59 WC Well, course my associations has not so much been with Armco [or] Miami people but many people in the medical field in the community and many of the doctors in the community were not only physicians or doctors but they were also community minded and in addition to their practices they did a lot themselves, physically and financially to support activities in the community in this area. Well, names that I can recall that were very active and very involved in the city of Middletown and the area are myself. I’d be remised if I didn’t say Wilbur and Mary Jean Cohen and also Russell Weatherwax of the Barnitz Bank, Bill and Pat Schaefer, Roger and Ginny Dillman, Dick Slagle and his Pat, wife, Pat, Logan Johnston, what others? Elliot Levey and his son Barry Levey who was a state representative, Ohio State Representative. Did I say Logan Johnson? I said that. Who else? I’ll think of some other names but not now.
3.59 MRR Can you tell us a little more about Russell Weatherwax?
4.01 WC Russell Weatherwax was a gentleman who stayed pretty much in the background. His father was very instrumental in everything. Russell Weatherwax, Sr. was very instrumental in a lot of activities and the support of many small businesses that got their start here in Middletown, Ohio. Russell continued to be the same type of person not only in the banking but also in the activities in the community. He was part of very much everything that went on and many of the things we talked about today he was partly involved in.
4.50 MRR Is there anything else that you think is really important for people in the next fifty years to remember about Miami University Middletown?
5.04 WC Yeah, the ability to have a facility that normal, no, not normal, average people can afford to attend and get an education then could go on to another college if need be or could stay in their field through the technical training they get with a local company. And in the years that come it appears that that’s going to be very important in my mind especially to help young people getting into work programs that would be able to do something to have enough of an education to make a good living and have a good lifestyle in the community, hopefully in Middletown but, if not there, someplace.
5.59 MRR Alright. Do I have your permission to discontinue this interview?
6.04 WC Sure.
6.04 MRR Thank you.
Indexing terms:
Armco
Atrium Hospital
Barnitz Bank (Oglesby-Barnitz Bank)
Bennett, C. Eugene
Chamber of Commerce
Cohen USA, Cohen Foundation
Cohen, Mary Jean
Cohen, Wilbur
Dillman Virginia (Ginny)
Dillman, Roger
Drafting Classes
Findlay, Ohio
Finkelman, Dave
Hillel Foundation
Holiday House
Industrial Council
Johnston, Logan
Levey, Barry
Levey, Elliot
Manufacturing classes
Middletown Regional Hospital
Middletown Symphony Orchestra
Nursing program
Samuelson, Jack
Schaefer, Patricia
Schaefer, William (Bill)
Slagle, Patricia
Slagle, Richard (Dick)
Thesken, Earl
Verity Lodge
Weatherwax, Russell Jr.
Weatherwax, Russell, Sr.
Interviewer
Marsha Robinson
Interviewee
Wilbur Cohen
Location
Middletown, OH
Collection
Citation
“Sweet MUMories Oral History Project - Wilbur Cohen,” First to 50 - Miami University Middletown Digital Archive, accessed April 24, 2024, https://mum50.omeka.net/items/show/868.