History of the Society

The Columbus Welsh Society was formed in a meeting at the home of David E. Morgan on April 12, 1948. The main purpose was to foster Welsh singing. In August 1967, it was incorporated as the Welsh Singing Society. In May 1985, the name was changed to the Welsh Society of Central Ohio and the theme was expanded to its current purpose of 'preserving Welsh heritage and traditions and to promote literature, poetry, and music and the art of Wales for the benefit and education of the people of Central Ohio. We currently have over 400 members.

We have only a few Welsh speakers in our society. One of our major challenges is teaching new members to sing in Welsh. Our Gymanfa's often have a few minutes of pronunciation instruction and hymns are sung in both English and Welsh.

Our biggest event of the year is our Gymanfa Ganu in the fall, but our St. David's Day celebration is rapidly becoming just as prominent and well attended. As the society matures, a greater emphasis is being placed on a variety of cultural interests such as poetry and folk singing recitals, dance festivals, and history and genealogy lectures.

See also: Biographies of some of the Welsh in Ohio.