Archive of Olie V. Gregory, African American Writer, Historian, and Civic Leader, Springfield, Ohio, 1850s–1969

Item #1532

A substantial and multi-generational archive documenting the life, community, and civic engagement of Olie V. Gregory (1885–1970), an African American leader in Springfield, Ohio. Gregory was a central figure in the city’s Union Gospel Choir and the Colored Men’s Council, where he served as president and later as a charter member. This archive, spanning over a century, offers a rare lens into African American civic life in the Midwest, blending photography, manuscript history, ephemera, and legal documents.

Highlights
1. Quarter Plate Tintype (c. 1850s–60s)
• Early tintype housed in a Union case (Littlefield, Parsons & Co., patented 1856/1857).
• Depicts a light-skinned African American or possibly mixed-race family, inscribed in pen: “Uncle Olie’s Father.”
• Significant as a rare survival of a mid-19th-century Black family portrait in Springfield, anchoring Gregory’s lineage.
2. Handwritten History of Abraham Lincoln by Olie V. Gregory (Springfield, Ohio, 1911)
• 29-page manuscript account of Lincoln’s life and Civil War policies.
• Includes Gregory’s reflections on African American enlistment: “On July 17, 1862 … Lincoln said negroes, like other people, act from motives. Why should they do anything for us, if we do nothing for them? If they stake their lives for us, they must be prompted by the strongest of motives, even the promise of freedom and the promise being made, must be kept.”
• A remarkable example of local African American historical writing, contextualizing the Civil War and emancipation within Black civic thought.
3. Panoramic Photograph — Union Gospel Choir, Springfield, Ohio (1916)
• Large format, 8" × 33", showing around 100 men and women posed outside a brick church.
• Lettered: “Union Gospel Choir, Springfield, O., Campaign 1916, Rev. W. B. Lee Pastor – R. A. Adams Evangelist.”
• Gregory is identified in ink (“Olie”). Another woman, “Libby,” is also noted.
• Condition: faded, with cracks and tears, but a visually powerful record of Springfield’s Black religious community.
4. Photographs (early 20th century)
• Baseball Team Portrait: Mounted photo of the “Arcade” team, c. 1910s. Olie V. Gregory identified in ink.
• Family Group Portrait: Mounted silverprint of African American family gathered before a frame house, ca. 1910s–20s.
5. Colored Men’s Council of Springfield, Ohio (1915–1969)
• Extensive programs and yearbooks charting Gregory’s leadership in this civic body dedicated to “improving the mind, and elevating the social, moral, and economic status of the people of our community.”
o 1915–1929 Programs: Annual Lincoln–Douglass Banquets, including musical selections, speeches, and installation of officers. Gregory listed as ex-president.
o 1950 Program: 35th Annual Banquet, Gregory introducing the toastmaster.
o 1966–67, 1968–69 Yearbooks: Membership rosters, committees, officers. Gregory listed as Charter Member.
• These materials document a half-century of organized African American civic life in Springfield.
6. Administrator’s Deed to Olie V. Gregory (Clark County, Ohio, 1940)
• 4-page legal document transferring property in Springfield from the estate of William Mercer (via Administratrix Rita Merchant) to Gregory for $300.
• Describes precise lot boundaries (Lot 1201, Robert Rodgers’ Plat).
• Signed and notarized by Geo. W. Daniels (also historian of the Colored Men’s Council).
• Stamped and recorded October 11, 1940, with original embossed seals and revenue stamp intact.
• Testament to Gregory’s status as a property owner and the interwoven networks of Springfield’s African American leadership.
This archive offers an unusually complete portrait of a single individual’s role in shaping African American civic identity in a midwestern city. Through religious music (choir), intellectual history (Lincoln manuscript), athletics (baseball), civic activism (Colored Men’s Council), family photography, and property ownership (1940 deed), Olie V. Gregory emerges as a figure who helped anchor his community socially, culturally, and economically.
The Colored Men’s Council programs are scarce survivals documenting organized Black life in Ohio, while the 1916 panoramic photograph and 1850s tintype extend the genealogical arc backward into the 19th century. Together, they preserve more than a century of lived Black experience in Springfield.

Physical Condition
• Tintype: very good, housed in intact Union case.
• Manuscript: 29 pages, ink on lined paper, light wear.
• Panorama: 8" × 33", cracked and faded, with some loss.
• Photographs: generally good, minor wear to mounts.
• Programs and yearbooks: varying, from near fine to chipped and fragile.
• Deed: excellent, complete with stamps, seals, and signatures.

Price: $7,500.00