Meet The Interns…Alyia Marasco

Tags

behind-the-scenes, collections, curator, deep love of learning, design, education, exhibition, hands-on education, History, homeschooled, independence, McKinley Presidential Library and Museum, Museum Studies, museums, Ramsayer Research Library, Walsh University

Hi! My name is Alyia Marasco. I’m currently a junior at Walsh University where I’m pursuing degrees in History and Museum Studies. After graduation, I plan to eventually go on to graduate school to pursue a master’s degree in Museum Studies. My end goal is to be a curator of collections and work with exhibition design. I love history and spending time in museums, so I’m very excited to be interning at the Ramsayer Research Library for the 2021-2022 school year!  

Growing up, I had a unique education. Being homeschooled, I had the freedom to choose what topics I wanted to study. I also had the freedom to explore outside of classrooms. Because of this independence, I was privileged to have a hands-on education. This meant I took tons of field trips exploring nature centers, historic sites, monuments, and– my favorite– museums. I’m originally from Medina, Ohio, so I was also lucky to live near the city of Cleveland, which has a great wealth of museums. Some of my favorite memories from “school” are taking classes at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, going to the Cleveland Museum of Art for my birthday every year, and visiting the Great Lakes Science Center with my friends. I also had the opportunity to visit the William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum several times growing up, so interning here and seeing behind-the-scenes has been such an interesting experience. My unique course of education has given me a deep love of learning that I still value to this day.  

I decided to major in History and Museum Studies so I could share my love of the two subjects. In the future, I’d love to create and design exhibits to tell the stories of a museum’s collections. If I could inspire others to love history and museums like I do, I feel that I could make a difference.  

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Bicentennial Celebration, Groovy Director…

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American Revolution, Archives, Archives Bring Good Feelings, archivist, bicentennial, Canton, findyourquest, findyourwhy, History, McKinley Presidential Library and Museum, mckinleypresidentiallibrary, Museum, ohio, Ramsayer Research Library, Research, seekthethreads, Stark County, Thenandnow, volunteer, volunteers

Thank you to Gary Brown for his very interesting Monday After article: Remembering 1976 and the Bicentennial in Stark County! The article that appears in today’s Repository features longtime volunteer at the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, Tom Haas when he was the Director of the Canton American Revolution Bicentennial Commission. He went on to take the position of Education Director at the Stark County History Center before later going on to a longtime career at WHBC Studios. Tom is in his 7th year of being a volunteer researcher in the Ramsayer Research Library. Thank you Tom for your hard work and dedication to our community.

Then & Now Main Circus…

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Archives Bring Good Feelings, Canton, central plaza, circus, Downtown, event, Public Square, Ramsayer Research Library, Stark Count, Thank You First Ladies Library, Thank You Guernsey County, Then and Now

A Little Then & Now on this sunny Wednesday afternoon! Then, a Circus coming to town Public Square Canton, Ohio Saturday May 7, 1904. Now, Central Plaza in downtown Canton. 

Meet Rochelle Haas…

Tags

Akron, Archivist’s Attic, Artful Living and Learning Program, Brady, Canton, Canton City Schools, Ceder, Clarendon, Columbus, Early Childhood School Psychology, Elementary, Flannery, Haas, Johnnie’s Pastries, Kent State University, Lincoln High School, Margaret Shipley Child Health Clinic, Mckinley Museum, Mottice, Myers Industries, North Canton, ohio, Pat, Peter, Plain Local Schools, Planetarium, Ramsayer Research Library, Rochelle, Roller Monthly, school psychologist, Souers, Stark County Educational Service Center, Stark County history, Waynesburg/Sandy Valley, WHBC

Podcast 

What is your name and where are you from? 

     My name is Rochelle Haas and I was born and raised in Canton, and have lived in        North Canton with my husband Tom since we were married. Our daughter Flannery Haas and son-in-law Pat Brady live in Columbus and are expecting a baby girl (our first grandchild) in February!

Where did you attend school?

     I attended Clarendon and Cedar Elementary Schools and Souers Junior High, and graduated in 1976 from Lincoln High School. Upon graduation I attended and worked at KSU Stark Campus, eventually transferring to the KSU Main Campus. I graduated in 1981 with a B.A. in English. I went back to graduate school at KSU and received a Master’s in Education and an Educational Specialist’s Degree in Early Childhood School Psychology in 1989.

Work experience/military service/etc?

     My very first job was as a clerk at Johnnie’s Pastries in 1976. I was employed as a copywriter and salesperson at WHBC from 1981-1983. I also worked as an account representative and technical writer in the in-house advertising department of Myers Industries in Akron. After receiving my graduate degree in school psychology, I was employed as a school psychologist for Canton City Schools, Plain Local Schools, and the Stark County Educational Service Center, eventually retiring.

When did you start volunteering here?

     I began volunteering in the McKinley Research Library in June of 2016, following the lead of my husband. Having grown up in Canton and with fond memories of field trips to the McKinley Museum and Planetarium, I was very interested in Stark County history. As a volunteer, I’ve researched, written and recorded blog posts for the Archivist’s Attic on a variety of subjects. I’ve helped to document donations to the library. I’m currently documenting articles from a former local publication called The Roller Monthly dating back to 1898! It is truly fascinating to catch a glimpse of how dynamic our community was, and to note the things that have evolved over the course of time. I really enjoy the camaraderie, interaction, and passion of all of the staff and volunteers. Every day at the Library is an adventure, with everyone bringing their curiosity and inquisitiveness to the table in their quest for historic information.  I’ve even learned that my great-great-great grandfather, Peter Mottice, was an important figure in the early development of Waynesburg/Sandy Valley and was a member of the first grand jury convened in Stark County.

When you are not volunteering, what are some of your hobbies or commitments?

     I am also involved in a number of activities to support education, early childhood, and the arts. I currently serve on the Advisory Board for the Artful Living and Learning Program, which provides arts immersion instruction to nearly a thousand preschoolers in Stark County. I previously served on the Margaret Shipley Child Health Clinic and the KSU Stark Alumni Boards. Other interests include travel, writing, oil painting, photography, hiking, reading, and music. Also, I am a very social person and especially enjoy spending time with family and friends.

Favorite things about being a volunteer?

     To me, volunteering is a way to stay engaged with my community.

What values and/or lessons would you pass along to someone?

     I believe that knowing and understanding our history is an essential part of being an informed citizen. The perspective of knowing where we’ve been helps to guide us going forward and gives me a sense of pride in our community’s diversity and vibrancy.

We want to thank Rochelle for letting us interview her and allowing us to share her story on our social media. Our team at the McKinley Presidential Library loves being able to share stories of our volunteers with people outside of the museum and we want you to be apart of that too! 

If you would like information on how to become a volunteer, be sure to private message our page or call the museum at: (330) 455-7043

 

Inverted Intersections: Virtually Living…

Tags

Canton Ohio, cantonsmart, Ramsayer Research Library, stark county research, tomtod ideas

Podcast

    

Driving down the interstate is long, it’s for the most part boring, and its…interstate.  It is always nice to exit the interstate, and find a city to explore.  The problem is finding the highlights of the city.  Where can we eat? What fun things are there to do? What is some of the city’s history? 

Wonder no more…We present to you from the minds of middle schoolers of

TomTod Ideas

CantonSmart powered by CitySmart

This app came out of ideas generated in a week long camp presented by TomTod Ideas know as Camp What If.

The actual application was made possible by Mountain Ethos.

CantonSmart App was launched at November’s First Friday in Canton, Ohio.

It features local downtown restaurants and 38 historic photographs of Canton, Ohio taken in 1956 by Robert Hildebrand, known as Inverted Intersections.

Market Avenue North & Tuscarawas Street Canton, Ohio 1956

Cleveland Avenue North & 4th Street November 3, 2017

There are more features coming in the near future.

More Later…

Star Struck… Sub-Title: Archives of Answers…

Tags

Canton, Fred Astaire, Mckinley Museum, Ramsayer Research Library, War Bonds, WWII

Podcast

    

 

Star Struck… Sub-Title: Archives of Answers…

It was an amazing weekend! The Zoar Reenactment was well attended and a very satisfying event!

In my mind, I pick up the phone to call my mom to tell her all about it! In my mind, I drive home to tell my mom all about it! Then I realize that mom died over seven years ago, and I can’t tell her all the details of the magnificent weekend we all had.  Many of us as humans have had this experience.  Some people have told me these feelings never go away.  Many of us want to ask our relatives, who have passed on, intimate details about the objects and the photographs they left behind but that is not possible.  We can only go on the information we are left with.

Almost all of us have photo albums at home hidden away, and full of treasured photographs of family, friends and pets long lost.  Some of the albums are the type with the sticky pages and the clear plastic covering your photographs.  The type you’ve been meaning to take the photographs out and put them in another container that is safer for its preservation.  And as well you should! Other albums are more like a scrapbook with the photographs pasted on the soft black construction paper type pages.  This is the type of album I picked up at home last week just to look through and reminisce.

As I flipped each page over to look at the images of my family I noticed someone had written on the edge of one of the photographs deep into the album.  One of the markings said movie stars, and the other markings were dots that marked the people in the photographs.  There were five photographs in all.

In one of them I identified one of the buildings in the photograph as the Stern & Mann’s building on North Cleveland & Second Street NW.

When I showed the photographs first to my wife Alyson who is a classic movie buff, she immediately pointed out Fred Astaire.  I said “What!?!” Fred Astaire is in my Grandpa Rice’s photo album? Why?

One of our researchers who is getting proficient with keyword searches found the article in The Canton Repository on September 13, 1942.

Exactly seventy-five years ago today Hugh Herbert, Ilona Massey and Fred Astaire visited Canton, Ohio in 1942 to help sell war bonds to raise funds for The War.

The next photograph I was able to identify was Hotel Onesto on Second Street NW.

Hotel Onesto Main Entrance 1942

The star trio was set to arrive in Canton, Ohio at 12:30 pm.  They will be met at the corporation limits by a committee organizing this event.  Any persons purchasing $10,000 or more in war bonds may help escort the trio into the city.  The stars are on a mission working for the United State Treasury Department in an effort to raise one billion for The War.  Upon the group’s arrival they will be taken to Hotel Onesto for a reception sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.  They will then be taken on a tour of the city making stops at all of the major theaters.  At 2:30 pm the group will attend a rally in Public Square at Market Avenue and Tuscarawas Street.

This photograph was taken in the 1960’s, but it gives you a good idea where the event took place.

More Later…