Elizabeth Neidecker Canal Society of Ohio collection

The Canal Society of Ohio (CSO), founded in 1961, is the largest canal organization in Ohio. The society’s origins began in northeast Ohio, but soon spread throughout the state resulting in various local and regional canal groups. The group is “dedicated to the study and preservation” of Ohio’s many canals. “Towpaths,” a quarterly periodical, is published by the society which explores various topics in canal history. In the spring and fall of each year the Canal Society sponsors a weekend tour of selected canal segments throughout Ohio, but have in the past also done canal tours in Indiana and Pennsylvania. The established archives of the CSO are housed at the University of Akron library.

Elizabeth A. “Betty” Neidecker was born in Port Clinton, Ottawa County, Ohio, in 1920. She was the daughter of Frederick Starr Neidecker (1892-1945) and Alpha Hennesy (1895-1965). She grew up in the Port Clinton area and became passionate about everything related to the water, where her research interests would remain throughout her life. In 1954 she joined the staff of Case Western Reserve teaching speech pathology and audiology. Six years later she became a professor of speech communication at Bowling Green State University where she taught for twenty years; retiring in June 1982. In the fall of 1983 Betty rejoined the faculty at Bowling Green as an associate professor in the library working as a part-time field representative for the Center for Archival Collections until once again retiring in December 1986. Her fascination with the water led her to join the Canal Society of Ohio in the 1960s and also publish a book The Marblehead Lighthouse: Lake Erie’s Eternal Flame in 1995.