Raise the Rutherford!

The Seven Days of Hayes
December 24 – December 30

A week-long celebration commemorating Rutherford B. Hayes’s arrival in Cincinnati on December 24, 1849 and ending with his wedding to Lucy Webb on December 30, 1852.

On the Sixth Day of Hayes . . .
Woody & Rutherford and The Ohio State University

On the eve of the 30th Anniversary of Woody Hayes being fired as head football coach at The Ohio State University (December 30, 1978), we remember our favorite Hayes's role role in the formation of the University.

Founded in 1870 as a land grant university, it was Governor Rutherford B. Hayes who urged the state legislature to establish a new university near Columbus and who was Hayes advocated expanding the mission of the college, then called the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College, to include a liberal arts cirriculum. Hayes was appointed a Trustee of the The Ohio State University (renamed in 1878) in 1887, after his years in the White House. He was eventually elected President of the Board but only attended one meeting as such as he died shortly thereafter.

In honor of his service to the University, Hayes Hall, located on the Oval was named in his honor. Begun in 1891, it opened on February 1, 1893 -- less than two weeks after Hayes passed away. Hayes Hall, designed by Frank Packard, is the oldest building on Ohio State's campus and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

What does this have to do with Cincinnati? Oh, I don't know . . . I sat on Woddy Hayes's lap when I was about 3. Does that count?

Image of the Hayes Hall from the Ohio Historical Society

"Raise the Rutherford!" is a continuing, slightly humorous series to raise awareness of Rutherford B. Hayes and erect a statue of him in Cincinnati.