The Historic Home of the Tafts
The William Howard Taft Birthplace National Historic Site is the Cincinnati, Ohio birthplace and childhood home of William Howard Taft, our 27th POTUS – and the only U.S. President to also serve as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. This beautifully preserved 19thcentury home and its grounds in Cincinnati’s Mount Auburn neighborhood are open every day of the year except Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. The National Park Service operates the site, which includes the Taft Education Center next door, where your tour begins.
More about the history of this Cincinnati treasure can be found here.
Friends of the Taft Legacy
The Friends of the William Howard Taft National Historic Site (Friends of the Taft Legacy) are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and promoting community awareness of William Howard Taft and his family’s values. The Friends were originally formed in 1983 to help with the restoration and preservation of the historic Taft home in Mount Auburn and building of the Taft Education Center next door. The Friends continue to focus on preservation and interpretation of the National Historic Site. In addition, the Friends partner with other community groups in furtherance of the values for which the Taft family and the Friends stand. Community engagement programs include concerts, speakers, and scholarship awards.
More about the history of the Friends of the Taft Legacy can be found here.
We welcome all interested parties to join us! Come meet a Ranger, learn about historic Mount Auburn, and find out how the Taft family’s legacy has helped shape Cincinnati into the vibrant city it is today.
The Taft Family Legacy
Visit
Visit the Historic Taft House
Learn
Browse our learning resources.
Friends of the William Howard Taft National Historic Site
This year, we welcome Wood County Court of Common Pleas Judge, Matthew Reger as our guest speaker. This year's topic will focus on the Judiciary Act of 1925 and William Howard Taft's legacy and connection to the modern day Supreme Court.
Outside of being a Judge, Judge Reger is an avid history buff and an instructor at Bowling Green State University where his several courses focus on the law and the courts.
Please join us on September 11th!
Check out this month's blog, "How Cincinnati Became the Home of the Taft Family."
Check out the cool entry that the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts just found from within their microfilm archives.
This Court of Common Pleas entry from February 2,1882 documents William Howard Taft submitting his resignation as an Assistant Prosecutor for Hamilton County. This was due to him just being appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for Ohio's First District by President Chester A. Arthur.
This centers around one of the neatest and most interesting pieces in the collection of the Hamilton County Law Library. Affectionately known as the “Taft Bible”.
Prior to the 1884 courthouse fire, there was a bible that all of the Superior Court of Cincinnati judges took their oath on when they were sworn into office to that bench.
That pre-1884 bible of course succumbed to the fire. Accidentally rediscovered in 2015, was a second iteration of the bible that was lost in the fire. So named the “Taft Bible”, because in 1887, a brand-new bible for the use of the Superior Court of Cincinnati was commissioned and presented to Judge Judson Harmon upon his resignation on March 7, 1887, in which Harmon then used it to swear in his successor, William Howard Taft who had just been appointed by Ohio Governor, J.B. Foraker.
This bible in essence, records the earliest origins of the illustrious judicial and political career of William Howard Taft. From this point on, this started another tradition of Superior Court judges taking their oaths and signing their names into the bible, making this a truly remarkable artifact.
Click the link below to see the great photographs that Cincinnati.com took of the bible back in 2015, shortly after it was rediscovered.
https://www.cincinnati.com/picture-gallery/news/2015/09/26/an-artifact-of-court-history-and-local-history/72882412/
