Photograph of Bill Arter and Bernice Daniels at the Worthington Public Library Open House, April 28, 1968

This photograph depicts Worthington artist and author Bill Arter in conversation with Worthington Public Library Director Bernice Daniels at the Worthington Public Library's Open House on April 28, 1968. On a display behind them are the first two volumes of Arter's "Columbus Vignettes," a series that would grow to four volumes and which collected his articles written between March 1964 and July 1971 for the "Columbus Dispatch" Sunday magazine. The articles, which included Arter's pen and watercolor illustrations, highlight the history of sites of interest around Columbus and central Ohio. Also partially visible behind Arter and Daniels are two of his paintings, of the "Schumacher Castle"--Frederick W. Schumacher's mansion on East Broad Street--and of the "Gingerbread House," a residence at 5807 North High that had been home to artist Mark Russell.

In addition to his articles and artwork, Bill Arter was a creative director at Byer & Bowman advertising agency and taught journalism at The Ohio State University and Ohio Wesleyan. He lived on Dover Court in Riverlea with his family until his life was cut tragically short by cancer at the age of 60.

Bernice Daniels was director of the Worthington Public Library from 1967 to 1991. As Lisa Fuller wrote in her book "The 200-Year History of Worthington Libraries, 1803-2003," Daniels saw the "dawn of the computer age and the demise of the card catalog. She introduced new programs, upheld intellectual freedom (even going to court for refusing to give the police the name of a patron suspected of leaving a library book in a stolen car), built the library's staff and collections, coordinated the construction of a new library building and weathered three failed attempts at passing a library levy."