Ohio Memory Madness 2014!

We’re back for another year! Starting next Tuesday, March 18th, Ohio Memory will be hosting our second annual “Ohio Memory Madness” event. Last year’s inaugural competition, modeled after college basketball’s March Madness, was met with great enthusiasm from staff and visitors alike—and we hope to continue the excitement this year. For the 2014 “season,” a bracket of sixty four historical Ohio objects will compete to be named the 2014 Ohio Memory Madness Champion, in a competition which will take place entirely online at https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/madness/. The bracket features images of important objects from Ohio history pulled directly from Ohio Memory, which allows users to scroll over the image to view a description of the object, or click on the image to visit the Ohio Memory record for more information.

We wanted to be sure that the competing objects represent a wide range of Ohio’s geography and history, so this year, we’ve included historical objects from nineteen cultural institutions around the state who have previously submitted material to Ohio Memory, as well as six of OHS’s network of historic sites. We invite you to check out the bracket starting on Tuesday to see what objects are included from your neck of the woods. Voting runs through Monday, April 7th, at which point we will announce the 2014 champion!

A round breakdown is provided below, so you can plan when to vote to see your favorite object all the way through:

• First Round: March 18-21
• Round of 32: March 22-26
• Sweet 16: March 27-31
• Elite 8: April 1-3
• Final 4: April 4-5
• Championship: April 6-7

Also new this year: voters can enter to win an “Ohio History” prize package which includes free passes to the Ohio History Center, a retro Ohio t-shirt, and Ohio snacks to enjoy–perhaps while watching basketball? Just include your contact information in the spot provided when you submit your picks for each round, and you’ll be entered for the drawing!

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be highlighting a few of the great objects selected for this years challenge, so stay tuned. We invite you to get involved in this year’s friendly competition–learn more about these important historical items, talk up your favorite to your friends, family and community, and don’t forget to vote!

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