Post # 2

Post # 2

I’m sure that many of you are looking forward to hearing my presentation tonight about The Octagon; but there are a few details that didn’t quite fit in with my story for class. However, I felt that they deserved to be talked about on some platform. So I’m hoping that a blog post will due. Throughout the semester we have been talking about story telling. In my final paper I discuss the importance of The Octagon in Tiffin, Ohio and the impact it has made on the local community. Yet I think some of the most talked about stories are those that are not necessarily rooted in fact. In much of my research from local newspapers there have been stories told about the old house being haunted. These accusations have gone as far as bringing in “ghost hunters” onto the site to test the environment. While nothing has been found to support this theory, it is interesting that these are the stories that are being circulated about the house.

When I talked to a family member who attended Heidelberg University a number of years ago, he informed me that there were always rumors that the house was part of the Underground Railroad. Again, there was no evidence to back this up, (even it that would have made my paper way cooler) so it cannot technically be part of the home’s history. But should these stories be left out completely? Isn’t it important to know what people are saying about the house? Should we be setting everyone straight? Or is it beneficial for the structure’s survival for these stories to continue, because they attract necessary attention? I guess my ultimate question is, is all publicity good? Or are the only the stories that can be supported by research worth telling?

"Homecoming." Heidelberg Newspaper, March 1, 1979.