The Madness Ends (For Now…)

Thank you to everyone who voted in the inaugural season of Ohio Memory Madness! This year’s tournament has now concluded, and our winner—in a come-from-behind, last minute surge of voting—was Tecumseh, who edged out the win over John Glenn at 53.2% to 46.8%!

Many pairings over the course of the previous five rounds were hotly contested, with one victory decided by less than 1%. There were some upsets (Florence over Warren G. Harding in round one!) as well as several more predictable outcomes. To no one’s surprise, Woody Hayes beat Bo Schembechler by about 60 percentage points. Many aspects of Ohio’s history were well-represented all the way through the tournament, with a final four that included President and General U.S. Grant, Native American Leader Tecumseh, Author Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Astronaut and Senator John Glenn. Visit https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/madness/results.php to see the results of each round in more detail.

 

Our winner, Tecumseh, is a major figure in Ohio history and U.S. history on a broader scale. Born near Chillicothe in 1768, Tecumseh was a member of the Shawnee tribe who played a key role in the Pan-Indian Movement just prior to Ohio’s founding. He worked to unite the Native American tribes of the First Nations against the encroachment of American settlers on their ancestral lands, and joined forces with the British during the War of 1812 to defend their territory from U.S. settlement. Killed in battle with American forces in 1813, Tecumseh is still remembered as a powerful military and political leader for his people, and a symbol of resistance in Native American history.

Staff have been thrilled with the level of response from Ohio Memory Madness participants, so a big thank you to all who participated these past few weeks! Thanks also to all of you who celebrate and promote Ohio’s amazing history all year round. We look forward to seeing you for Ohio Memory Madness 2014!

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Thanks to Lily Birkhimer, Digital Projects Coordinator at the Ohio History Connection, for this week’s post!