C-SPAN Bus Coming to Ohio Wesleyan University
This ornate mirror, now in University Hall, was in the White House when it was occupied by Rutherford B. and Lucy Webb Hayes. (Photo by Cole Hatcher)
DELAWARE, Ohio – The C-SPAN Bus, a 45-foot interactive multimedia learning center, will visit Ohio Wesleyan University from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 12 to highlight the cable television network’s original new series, “First Ladies: Influence and Image.”
During its Ohio Wesleyan visit, the C-SPAN Bus will be parked outside Beeghly Library, 43 Rowland Ave., near the intersection of South Sandusky Street and Park Avenue. The bus includes interactive stations with touch-screen quizzes on the three branches of government, current events, and first ladies; online video offerings through C-SPAN’s Video Library and Congressional Chronicle; and social media networking with Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube, XM Radio, and mobile apps.
Ohio Wesleyan was selected for the C-SPAN visit because of the university’s ties to Lucy Webb Hayes, wife of 19th president and Delaware native Rutherford B. Hayes.
Lucy Hayes, affectionately known as OWU’s first co-ed, attended the Ohio Wesleyan Preparatory Department from 1844 to 1847. She later earned a liberal arts degree from Cincinnati Wesleyan Female College, becoming the first of the U.S. first ladies to earn a higher education degree.
Legend has it that the future first couple met at the Sulphur Spring on the Ohio Wesleyan campus. A large, ornate mirror – a gift from their time in the White House – is displayed today inside University Hall, 61 S. Sandusky St., one of 11 sites on the OWU campus to be included in the National Register of Historic Places. Folklore surrounding the Hayes mirror suggests that if, as a first-year student, a young woman looks into the mirror and over her shoulder, she will see the person she will marry.
The Ohio Wesleyan campus also is home to Lucy Webb Hayes Hall, a residential facility named in the first lady’s honor.
According to the cable network, “First Ladies: Influence and Image” is the first television series to showcase all of the American first ladies from Martha Washington to Michelle Obama. The 90-minute programs will air Mondays at 9 p.m. ET beginning Feb. 18 on C-SPAN and C-SPAN 3, C-SPAN Radio, and via live streaming on www.c-span.org. Learn more at www.c-span.org/firstladies.
About C-SPAN:
Created by the cable TV industry and broadcast in 100 million households, C-SPAN presents three public affairs television networks in both SD and HD; C- SPAN Radio, heard in Washington, D.C., and nationwide via XM Satellite Radio; and a video-rich website that hosts the C-SPAN Video Library. Visit www.c-span.org for coverage and schedules.
About Ohio Wesleyan University:
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities. Ohio Wesleyan offers more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. OWU combines an internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that connect classroom theory with real-world practice. Located in Delaware, Ohio, OWU’s 1,850 students represent 41 states and 45 countries. The university is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction, and included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.