Black history in central Ohio is not confined to museum exhibits or distant landmarks. It’s woven into houses on quiet streets, classrooms on a busy campus and buildings that residents pass every day without a second thought.
Curious Cbus set out to trace some of these stories to show how the past still shapes the places we live in now.
In central Ohio, homes and churches across our region once formed a quiet network for people escaping slavery. Historical documents and family stories point to a landscape of safe houses and secret routes that ran directly through our neighborhoods.
Many of these sites are unmarked, and while known to historians, they are not publicly known. In the video above, Curious Cbus digs into the question: How do we know which places were truly involved with the Underground Railroad?
The Ohio State University
Black history at Ohio State often gets summarized in a few key dates, but the lived reality behind those dates is far more complex. Black students at Ohio State navigated lecture halls, residence rules and social spaces that were not always accommodating.
It has been well-documented that Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens faced discrimination while attending Ohio State. He was barred from living and dining with his classmates and didn't receive an athletic scholarship despite his extraordinary talent.
A lesser-known story is that of Sherman Hamlin Guss, the very first Black graduate of the university. Four decades earlier, Guss had a very different experience on campus.
A Family-owned Business
In central Ohio, the story of Black enterprise stretches back more than a century, and one family business has carried that history across generations. Long before large corporations dominated the local economy, this company began with a simple, practical service.
In 1881, John T. Ward and his son, William S. Ward, founded E.E. Ward Moving & Storage with just two horses and a wagon. More than 140 years later, the company stands as the oldest continuously operating Black-owned business in the United States—a testament to resilience, innovation and dedication.
In the video below, Curious Cbus traces how this business started, how it grew and how it has remained a fixture in the region for more than 100 years.
