The Western Reserve Historical Society documents the history of Northeast Ohio.
About our Collections
The collections of the WRHS include museum objects, published materials (rare books, maps, broadsides, etc.), manuscripts (personal papers, records, photographs, etc.), genealogical and family history (funeral home indexes, family bibles, family histories, etc.), and historical properties.
Interested in donating materials?
Donating Materials
Reach out to WRHS archivists or curators to discuss materials for potential donation.
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Automotive & Aviation
The Crawford Auto-Aviation Collection brings the history of transportation alive through the over 170 antique automobiles, 21 non-car transportation artifacts (motorcycles, bicycles, and boats), 12 aircraft, and 3 carriages and sleighs.
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Decorative Arts
Decorative arts are here defined as artifacts of household utility and decorative function made of glass, ceramics, metal, wood, or a combination thereof.
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Costume & Textile
Housed within the WRHS's Chisholm Halle Costume Wing and the Bingham-Hanna House, the costume and textile collection comprises some 40,000 garments, accessories and domestic textiles, ranging in date from ca. 1750 to present day.
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Shaker Collection
WRHS contains a collection of about 800 Shaker artifacts, ranging from furniture to clothing to tourist trade items representing all known Shaker communities.
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Militaria
The Western Reserve Historical Society is home to a very large collection perhaps 4,000 items, of artifacts related to American military history.
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Paintings & Fine Arts
The Western Reserve Historical Society paintings collection houses approximately 800 oil paintings that cover a wide range of topics pertaining to the history of the Western Reserve region.
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Published & Unpublished Materials
Learn MoreDigital Cleveland Starts Here
Here you will find access to the digital collections of WRHS encompassing images, audio, video, and texts.
Library Collections
Search both published materials (books, family histories, pamphlets, microfilm, periodicals, newspapers, etc.) and unpublished collections (personal papers, organizational records, photographs, etc.)
Museum Collections
Search artifacts such as furniture, fine and decorative arts, costume and textiles, the Crawford Auto-Aviation Collection, and other three-dimensional objects from our museum collections.
