G E O R G E D R A K E , J R .
audio producer & aural explorer
FIFTH & LUDLOW
Fifth & Ludlow is a project that I worked on (on and off, really) since the spring of 2017. I've turned it into a five-part series that was released in December 2019.
In 2008, my friend's parents were remodeling an original bathroom in their 1927 house. When the plumbers removed the cast iron tub, underneath was a letter and two envelopes -- all preserved in time.
The letter, from a man simply named "Will" is vague, secretive, and mysterious. The envelopes paint an even more confusing picture.
With Fifth & Ludlow, I tell the story of 1920s Dayton through the lens of the letter, and expose the answers to the countless questions it raises.
I've condensed the entire original Fifth & Ludlow website below.
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An Interview with Podcaster and Radio & Audio Producer George Drake Jr.
Culture Works • Jun. 4, 2020
"Find out about his own favorite podcasts, how podcasting has changed in the last five years, and how, as a native Chicagoan, George has come to love living and working in the Dayton Region. Part of a series in which Mike helps us meet many of the creative people that contribute art and culture to Dayton."
Fifth And Ludlow Podcast Explores Dayton's Past Through A Mystery
91.3 WYSO • Jan. 16, 2020
"Find out about his own favorite podcasts, how podcasting has changed in the last five years, and how, as a native Chicagoan, George has come to love living and working in the Dayton Region. Part of a series in which Mike helps us meet many of the creative people that contribute art and culture to Dayton."
Podcast tells tale of a mysterious letter found in an Oakwood home
Oakwood Register • Nov. 20, 2019
"With the help of local genealogists, [Drake] spent months piecing together the story behind the mysterious letter. 'We found out who they were, where they lived, and how they're connected,' he says."
Kettering couple unearths real-life story behind letter found under Oakwood bathroom
Dayton Daily News • Nov. 4, 2019
“'In the letter, a meeting was supposed to take place with two people, the person who wrote the letter and someone else,' Drake said. 'It seems almost intentionally vague. The person who wrote it didn’t want others to know what it was about.'”
Mysterious letter written in 1920 found beneath bathtub in 2008 is subject of new podcast
Cincinnati Enquirer • Nov. 3, 2019
"Two years' worth of interviews and research are chronicled in the five-part podcast series, Drake Jr. said. He talked to individuals from Dayton History, The Requarth Co. (the company hired to do the 2008 renovation) and the United States Postal Service in his research."
People
George Drake, Jr.
Executive Producer/Host
Katie Davis
Editor
Content Assistance
Content Assistance
Music Composition
Logo & Branding
Part 1: The Letter Under the Bathtub
During a renovation of their bathroom in 2008, Frank and Kathy Hollingsworth found a letter and two envelopes beneath their cast iron bathtub. The letter, to a Rose O'Connor, is dated July 20, 1920 and has an envelope that goes with it and shares that date. The second envelope is to a Jim O'Connor and is dated over a year later. The letter is from a man named "Will" who didn't include his last name.
Over the years the Hollingsworths have speculated what the letter could have been about and whether the second envelope has any connection to the letter.
Read the transcript for Part 1.
Special thanks to the Hollingsworth Family for their help with this episode.
Part 2: The Two Envelopes
The Hollingsworth family uncovered Will's letter to Rose O'Connor, along with the two envelopes — one that went with his letter and another Jim O'Connor — over ten years ago. Since then they've been under the impression that someone forwarded Will's letter, envelope and all, to Jim a year later. Perhaps as a way to keep him in the loop as to what Will and his (potential) wife Rose were up to.
Part 2 explores whether that is even possible by getting a little destructive and taking things apart.
Read the transcript for Part 2.
Special thanks to the Hollingsworth Family, Dayton History, Dave Requarth, The United States Postal Service, and Dayton Art Solutions for their help with this episode.
Part 3: The People
Ruth did some digging through census records online and found that in 1930 Rose had two boarders living in her home — one named Andrew and another named William. Could it be the “Will” from the letter? Could the "home" in his letter be Rose's house and he's simply inquiring about seeing where he'd be living?
It seems like an easy thing to figure out but we needed to look beyond the census records, so we took on the help of a Dayton historian Curt Dalton to learn more.
He found something outside of the census records. It turns out something happened a month after Rose received Will’s letter.
Read the transcript for Part 3.
Special thanks to the Hollingsworth Family, Curt Dalton, Dayton History, the Ohio Genealogy Society, and Jessi Sievers for their help with this episode.
Part 4: Finding Rose's Family
We found ourselves stuck. We needed to see if we could locate any living relative of Rose, but weren't sure what the best approach would be. We accepted the help of amateur genealogist Jessi Sievers to learn more about Rose and her family as well as try to track down any living relatives she may have.
During her search, Jessi came across one person on Ancestry.com whose family tree had all of the people we’ve been looking into.
Getting in touch with them was easy, but getting them on board may prove to be a challenge.
Read the transcript for Part 4.
Special thanks to the Hollingsworth Family and Jessi Sievers for their help with this episode.
Part 5: Rose's Story
Whether Rose’s living relatives play a part in this series lies in the hands of Kathy and Frank Hollingsworth — the couple who found the letter underneath their bathtub back in 2008.
In order to do that, they’d need to give up something they’ve held onto for ten years: the letter itself.
And with that, learning who Will could have been may not happen.
Read the transcript for Part 5.
Special thanks to the Hollingsworth Family, Rose’s family members Vicky, Eileen, and Clarissa, and Jessi Sievers for their help with this episode, as well as Dayton Access Television for giving us a space to record Rose’s family members.