Dawn Steele

Dawn Steele, prosecutor and staff attorney for the city of Hilliard, is Vice President of the Hilliard Ohio Historical Society. She became involved and became an expert on the Merchant family that is highlighted in the museum after researching potential names for a new city park. She went on to create the museum’s Merchant Family exhibit.

“The project brought me to the society,” she said. “I always loved history and when the city was looking to naming a park we wanted to do research on indigenous and black history in the area. Everything I researched came back to the Merchant family. Because of my work on that, the Historical Society asked me to look into designing the exhibit.”

The project led to friendship with the Merchants. “I think of their sense of family and wanting to learn about and preserve their history. They want to preserve it before it is lost and they welcomed me into their family to share stories,” said Dawn.

Her research uncovered the major role the Merchants played in Hilliard starting in the 1830s.

“They were welcomed and integrated into this community, and their presence, along with other freed slaves that settled here, helped form the community,” said Dawn.

Like so many others in the city, Dawn, a Hilliard resident, was not aware of the society’s projects. She was surprised when she first visited the Village.

“This is amazing that we have this. I had no idea. We have to let more people know,” she said.

Dawn is working to do just that as liaison between the Historical Society and the city. “The city values the partnership and understands the value that the society brings to the community,” she said.

As vice president of the society, Dawn’s work includes providing support to people serving on various boards. She is helping redesign the society’s brochure, and she is on the committee that is creating a virtual tour of the village. The overall goal is to publicize the society.

“We want to get more and more people to know what is here and to come experience it,” said Dawn.

One of the ways to make this happen is to put the focus on children and families, she said. “We would build a little activity or hands-on workshop outside of our big events. Something smaller so if they come they can make butter or build a birdhouse – do something with their hands the way it would have been done in the past so that when they come it is a family experience,” she said.

“The more it is an experience, the more they will tell other people and want to come back. So it becomes one of their weekend go-to stops even if it is for an hour or two. They can see something a little different each time,” said Dawn.

Dawn’s other work is in the museum.

“I enjoy updating the exhibits as we learn new information and we realize there is a piece that we would like to add. We can freshen up the exhibits so people will keep coming back,” she said.

Upgrades in the new part of the museum are ongoing. For example, Dawn is working with Tim Woodruff to make the kitchen representative of the 1800s thanks to the addition of a vintage ice box and wood-burning stove. “It’s a good start,” she said.

Submitted by Rosemary Kubera