A Walk Through History: Learn about the history of Westerville, Ohio. This newsletter was created by the Westerville Library’s Local History Center.

1. THE WESTERVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Local History Resource Center Newsletter
Fall 2013
A Walk Through Westerville History
World War II
1
December 7, 1941, the United
States was attacked at Pearl
Harbor in Hawaii by Japan. The
next day President Franklin D.
Roosevelt declared war. Imme-
diately after the U. S. entered
World War II, the residents of
Westerville and others around
the country saw changes in
their lives. Young men joined the
Army, Navy and Marines. Men
and women went to work at
Kilgore Manufacturing to help
make bombs in Westerville. Ev-
eryone had to make sacrifices when cer-
tain items were rationed. In order to buy
sugar, meat, butter, shoes, tires and gaso-
line, men, women and even children had to
have ration stamps and coupons.
Residents listened to their radios and read
newspapers to get news of the war. After
many years of battles around the world in
1945, the war came to an end and the
soldiers came home.
Families wave goodbye to American soldiers as
they depart for service.

2. Agnes Meyer Driscoll
A very important person lived in Westerville in the
house where the Westerville Public Library Lo-
cal History Center is located. Most people do not
know about her because she was involved in very
secret activities. Agnes Meyer Driscoll was born in
1889 and when she was six years old she moved to
Westerville. Her father taught music at Otterbein
University and Agnes went to school here. When
she was old enough she attended Ohio State Uni-
versity where she majored in math, physics, for-
eign languages and music. After graduating from
college she taught music.
When World War I began, Agnes felt that women
should be allowed to be in the military so she vol-
unteered to be in the Navy. She was sent to Washington, D. C. and assigned
to be a clerk. Very quickly the men who worked with her realized that she
was an extraordinary person who knew how to decode secret messages.
They assigned her to the most difficult projects because they respected her
hard work and intelligence.
In the years before World War II, Agnes worked to figure out secret messages
the Japanese were sending. She was very successful and found out some
very important information about the kind of ships they were building and
what they were planning. However, she received no credit for what she was
doing because it was top secret work. The U. S. government did not want the
Japanese to know that our decoders could read their secret messages.
We do not know much about her personal life other than a few things about
her family. She was the third in a family of 8 children and her father was a
German immigrant who moved to the
United States to find work. When she
was 35 years old she married William
Driscoll, a lawyer. She died in 1971, but
was not forgotten. In 2000, she was
chosen to be placed in the Hall of Hon-
or for the National Security Agency.
When Agnes started her career there
were not many women doing the kind
of work she did. As a sign of respect,
she was given the nickname
“Madame X.” 2

3. Jeep Drive
In 1943, there were three schools in Westerville –
Longfellow, Vine Street (Emerson) and the Westerville
High School (Hanby). Because everyone was involved in
trying to help the government
and the soldiers fighting over-
seas, students were encouraged
to persuade their friends and
family to purchase war bonds.
The three schools raised
$11,464.60- enough money to
purchase nine jeeps for the war
effort. Because the Vine Street
School raised so much money
for the jeep campaign, an Army
officer brought a jeep to the school and allowed
each of the 325 students a turn sitting in the jeep.
REcycling Was Very Important
IN WORLD WAR II
Many items were needed to help the war effort. All
over the country people saved fats and oils from
cooking that were collected to aid in the manufacture of explosives. Tin cans
and metal were gathered by communities and schools to be used in making
weapons, tanks, ships and other war material. Rubber was collected to be
used to create tires for military vehicles.
Cloth was needed for parachutes so
everyone donated nylon and silk. To
conserve fuel the national speed limit
was lowered to 35 m.p.h. One local
business,
Low’s Dairy,
even chose to
make deliv-
eries using a
horse and
wagon instead
of a truck.
3

4. 1
Kilgore Manufacturing
As World War II began , all across the
country young men left their jobs to join
the military and women went to work to
help the war effort. They put on slacks,
pulled scarves over their hair and took
the place of men in factories making air-
planes, tanks, parachutes – everything
needed for the war.
In Westerville, Kilgore Manufacturing
began to make bombs for use in the war
and flares to help locate downed air-
planes. Before the war, Kilgore made
toy cap guns. The wartime work was
very dangerous. On several occasions
there were big explosions in the fac-
tory. Some of the workers at the facto-
ry lost their lives in the explosions. We
honor the soldiers who died or were
injured fighting in World War II, but
we also need to remember the Kilgore
workers who gave their lives for the
war effort . A Kilgore signal flare
Pictured here are some of the men and women who lost their lives making bombs at
Kilgore Manufacturing. From left to right: Mabel Seely, Betty Jane Case, Harold W. Smith,
Clara Daugherty and Peggy Kauffman.
4

5. Activities
What do you think you can reduce, reuse or recycle?
Reduce, Reuse or Recycle?
Interesting Facts about Waste
reduce
reuse
recycle
____________ to use something again
____________ to make something smaller or less
____________ to use old materials to create
something new
Match the words on the left to the correct definition on the right.
Excerpts from: Waste Refuse, Misuse and Reuse by Melanie Ostopowich
The highest point in Ohio is “Mount Rumpke” which is
actually a mountain of trash at the Rumpke Sanitary
landfill.
If all the disposable diapers thrown away in one year
in the United States were piled on top of each other, the
stack would reach the Moon seven times.
Glass bottles will last for up to one million years if not
recycled.
Every day, U. S. businesses use enough paper to circle the
Earth twenty times.
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6. Local History in the Classroom
Westerville History
The Local History Center is scheduling programs for fall and
winter. Let us bring history to your classroom. We will share
stories about the early pioneers of Westerville, show old
photos of the town, and talk about the growth of and change
in the community with special emphasis on a transportation
timeline. Classroom programs can be scheduled by
contacting Beth Weinhardt at 259-5028.
Become a fan of “Westerville History” to
see weekly posts, old photographs and
upcoming events of interest to the Wester-
ville Local History community.
Ohio and Westerville played an active role in the Under-
ground Railroad. Many people were involved in helping
runaway slaves escape to freedom. In our community,
the Hanby family, George Stoner, the Alexander family
and the Sharp family aided in this effort. Throughout the
state of Ohio, others were working to make freedom pos-
sible for runaways. The Local History Resource Center
has collected resources on this movement and would
like to share the stories and the words of runaways with
your class. We will share photos of the buildings used
as part of the Underground Railroad in our commu-
nity and give each student a map of routes in Ohio. To
schedule a 30-minute program in your classroom, con-
tact Beth Weinhardt at 259-5028.
Underground
Railroad
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