From the original 1940 Preface: Tales of Old Cincinnati is a book of stories about the Cincinnati frontier. They tell of exploration and high adventure, of settlement and home life. Mainly, they are stories about people. They have much to say about how the pioneers came, how they worked and played, and what they did about their troubles. These tales are enlivened a little by fancy, but basically they are true. The people in them were once alive, and they did what you read in this book.

The first draft of these stories was written by the Federal Writers' Project, directed by Dr. Harlan H. Hatcher; the final manuscript was done by the Ohio Writers' Project and checked in the district supervised by Robert M. Ross. For the illustrations we are indebted to the Cleveland unit of the Ohio Art Project (Kalman Kubinyi, District Supervisor), directed by Charlotte Gowing Cooper. We have tried to adapt the book to the use and enjoyment of grade school children.

We thank the officials of the Cincinnati Public Schools and of the Hamilton County Good Government League (particu-larly Judge John C. Dempsey) who helped us with suggestions and encouragement.