Steampunk Research: Mid-1800 University Physics Lab

The week of July 4th, I traveled to Ohio to visit with family.  During this trip, I ventured down to Westerville, Ohio to do some research for my work-in-progress.

Let me take a moment to give a HUGE note of thanks to Beth Weinhardt - Westerville Historical Society and Westerville Library, and Stephen Grinch - archivist at Otterbein University.  Both were incredibly giving of their time and could offer amazing details off the top of their heads!

Otterbein University is my alma-mater for my master's studies.  It was founded in 1847.  Since it's inception, it has accepted women and people of color as full students, faculty, and members of its campus community.  Many of the buildings and homes around the campus were stops on the Underground Railroad that helped escaped slaves find freedom before and during the Civil War.

Since one of my main characters is a science professor at Otterbein, Stephen was kind enough to pull some photos of the the science labs from the time period of my research. <BTW, How cool is that???>  I will use the pictures he provided to help me with my setting descriptions.

Towers Physics Lab around the time of the Civil War
Photo courtesy of Otterbein University Archives

I will continue to share interesting tidbits of information from my research in future posts.

In the mean time, let me know what you think!