By Randy McNutt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Wednesday the Ohio Bicentennial Commission will honor Cincinnati's Elizabeth Blackwell, who helped open the medical profession to women.

She and nine other women will be honored with historical plaques as part of the Ohio's Spectacular Women series.

The England native (1821-1910) will be honored when a marker is dedicated at 10:30 a.m. at the YWCA, 898 Walnut St., downtown.

She and her family settled in Cincinnati in 1838. After her father died, Blackwell and her mother opened a school. Later, she moved to Kentucky and eventually to England before returning to the East Coast.

After graduating from Geneva Medical College in New York, Blackwell established herself as the first fully accredited female doctor.

She became known for giving free outpatient care to women and children. Eventually she adopted an orphan and opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children.

Nine other women will be honored with historical markers across the state. They include Frances Payne Bolton, the first Ohio woman to serve in the U.S. Congress.

The Ohio Bicentennial Women's Advisory Council will publish a book, Profiles of Ohio Women, 1803-2003, later this year.

Information: 888-OHIO-200.

Play tells aviation story

DAYTON-A play, Time Flies:Catch It in the Act, will be produced by Carillon Historical Park with actors in period costumes performing short plays and interactive scenes.

The 17-day program will run July 4-20 at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park's four sites around the city as well as at the 65-acre regional history park.

The play will run during Dayton's Inventing Flight, a celebration of Dayton's aviation history.

Performances of scripted plays will be presented in tents.

Subjects include aviation history and the literature of Dayton's Paul Laurence Dunbar. In other performances outdoors, 1900s characters will discuss the topics of their day.

And for children, the park will offer related storytelling, role-playing and hands-on activities.

Robin Farinet, costume designer and construction crew chief, has based many of her designs on historic photographs. She will make costumes for more than 30 characters for the Home Days parade, like the one that welcomed the Wright Brothers home in June 1909.

More than 18 volunteer seamstresses are working on the costumes. More are needed. Call Betsey Knapp at 937-293-2841, ext. 110.

Time Flies will be presented at the park from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays.

On July 8 and 15, special evening hours will be offered until 9:30 p.m.

Information on performance times: 937-293-2841, ext. 124.

`Ohio and the World'

COLUMBUS-The "Ohio and the World" lecture series, featuring experts discussing themes related to Ohio's development, will be held this month.

The first lecture, "Views and Themes from Ohio's Past," will be presented by R.W. Apple Jr., associate editor of the New York Times, at 3:30 p.m. March 20 in the Ohio Statehouse Atrium.

Other lectures will be scheduled later in Cincinnati, Dayton, Athens and other cities.

Information: www.osu.edu/bicentennial.

Bicentennial Notebook appears periodically. Send news to Randy McNutt, the Enquirer, 7700 Service Center Drive, West Chester OH 45069. Telephone: 755-4158. Fax: 755-4150. E-mail: Rmcnutt@enquirer.com.