Street of Shops buttons

This week I am working on a variety of projects, but one that I really, really hope to finish before Friday is the new scripts for the buttons in the Street of Shops!

It's been on my To Do List for a very long time!

I am updating the scripts for:

• The Cabin
• Dannemiller store
• Print Shop
• Gibbs Manufacturing Company
• Blacksmith
• Jewelry Shop
• Lawyer's Office
• Dentist
• Doctor

I am adding scripts for:

• The Toy Shop
• Hotel Lobby
• Saloon
• Fire Station
• Gas Station
• Pharmacy
• Schoolhouse

The new buttons will feature shorter audio scripts, less than 45 seconds each. Some stops in the Street of Shops will have multiple buttons, so you can focus in on what you really want to learn about.

No learning takes place when someone pushes a button and walks away from it! We hope to add layers of sound effects to the short scripts, making them engaging and interesting for our visitors.

I'll keep you all posted on the project, which I hope to unveil before tourist season begins this summer!

Taylor Matthews photos

Yesterday Charita Goshay from the Repository called. She wondered if we had copies of the photos Taylor Matthews took, documenting Canton's African American community in the 1940s and 1950s.

We exhibited his work sometime before I came in the fall of 2001. When I got here, the matted photos were still here. Our Director Joyce Yut suggested that I scan them all before returning them to the owners.

I am so glad I did!

Charita told me the originals have been destroyed! So the scans I have are likely the only images left documenting a huge slice of Canton's history!

The scene that played out in my office after I hung up the phone was a cross between panic and frustration. I KNEW I had scanned those photos. But it was 10 years ago now! Where did I save them?

To clear off space on the hard drive of my last computer, I burned a lot of my old files onto CDs. I looked through all of them, trying to find the scans. Nothing.

I thought maybe I had given the CD to our library. Nothing.

I came back to my office, searched through more drawers, popped more CDs into my computer. Nothing.

Then, suddenly, it hit me.

They are on my current hard drive! I saved them in the "Collections" folder, for some reason. I guess when I did it, I hadn't written my first book yet, and I didn't have a huge file of scanned images yet. I think I'll move them there now, because that would be the most logical place to store photos.

I made copies of the 63 scans I have for Charita, who was very excited to get them. (Very excited is probably a vast understatement...she was practically euphoric!)

Needless to say, I was relieved to find the scans. But I was also humbled to think that I had saved such an important part of Canton's story. When I scanned them all those years ago, I was just making copies. I never imagined the originals would some day be gone.

Preserving history is a great honor and a privilege!

Here is one of the Taylor Matthew photos:


Esther Archer in City Council meeting. She was the only woman and black member of City Council. She was first elected in 1947 and served four terms.

President's Day crowd

WOW.

That's all I can say about yesterday!

We had a record-breaking admissions day! We sold tons of memberships and people were really shopping in the Museum Shoppe! Excellent day. There was a line at the Admissions Window almost every time I walked through the lobby. Outside of a special event, I don't know if I've ever seen a day like yesterday in the past 10 1/2 years. Honestly. Wow.

PLUS we had high attendance over the weekend, too. Making it possibly the highest three-day stretch in admissions we've ever had!

If you came to visit us recently, we'd love to know why you came, how you heard about us, and what you thought of your visit. We strive to provide an excellent experience for our visitors, so your feedback is important to us.

THANK YOU for making yesterday so amazing!!

Huntington's Historical Checks

This week Huntington Bank brought their collection of 16 historical checks signed by Presidents for display here!

We've gotten some great newspaper coverage about it (click here for the Repository's article, click here for the Akron Beacon Journal's article). This is truly a one-of-a-kind collection, and we're THRILLED to have them here.

When the checks arrived on Wednesday, I was guarding the box while the delivery men went back out to their truck to get the cases. I reached down to pick one up, and as I looked at it, I could hardly believe what I was holding.

A check from 1799, signed by GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Amazing! I mean, honestly, AMAZING.



There aren't very many people who have the opportunity to hold something George Washington touched! (Even if the check was framed)

It reminded me of how privileged I am to work in a museum. I get to see things close up that most people have to view through the glass or from behind the ropes. I get to handle unique artifacts every day in my line of work. Some are attached to famous people, but others are just as impressive because they are beautiful, or very old, or rare.

It is humbling to think of my career in that context. I am the caretaker of history, for the future. It is an incredible responsibility, and is not something I take lightly. But on the other hand, I am bewildered at the opportunities I have to experience history first-hand.

Back to the checks.

The following Presidents are represented in the exhibition:

• William McKinley
• John Q Adams
• James Garfield
• U.S. Grant
• Warren G Harding
• Benjamin Harrison
• William Henry Harrison
• Andrew Jackson
• Thomas Jefferson
• Abraham Lincoln
• James Madison
• James Monroe
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt
• Theodore Roosevelt
• William Howard Taft
• George Washington

The checks are on display in Gallery B of The Stark County Story, near the 1950s kitchen.

They will only be on view for a limited time, so be sure to stop in soon! They will be leaving on February 28.

I'm back!

As you can see from my previous post, the computer issues that were preventing me from posting photos have mysteriously disappeared!!

I'M BACK!

I had grown so frustrated with not being able to post how I wanted to, I have been terrible at updating the blog. Now that I can do what I want to do again, you'll be hearing from me a lot more often!

That's Entertainment! exhibit

Restored Laff in the Dark cart from Meyers Lake!

We had a FANTASTIC exhibit opening for That's Entertainment on Friday February 10! It was a record crowd for us, with many new faces!

The exhibit explores what we did for fun over the past 200 years, including restaurants, shopping, hotels, sports, the 1955 Sesquicentennial, Meyers Lake, Mother Gooseland, theaters, opera houses, the circus, and more!

Dresses, coats, hats and purses from Stern & Mann, O’Neils, and Polsky’s are on display. Visitors can view Frank Lahm’s flight journal documenting the first balloon ascension of the Aero Club of Ohio, and sterling silver pieces from the Onesto and St. Francis hotels. Local artist Su Nimon’s prints of Canton’s “hot spots” are also be featured.

Perhaps the biggest draw is the restored Laff in the Dark cart from Meyers Lake, on loan to us from Dave Thomas.

Come in and see the exhibit -- you'll LOVE IT!

Here are some highlights (which can never compare to seeing the REAL THING!):


Bells / bottle openers from Bender's


Shoes purchased at Stern & Mann


Su Nimon's print "The Palace at Night"


American Legion baseball uniform

Unwrapping the Holidays

We are working hard behind-the-scenes to bring you the next Keller Gallery exhibition Unwrapping the Holidays: The History and Traditions of the Yuletide Season!

The exhibit includes many vintage Christmas decorations from our collection, including hand blown Christmas bulbs, Santa figurines, and a Precious Moments Christmas Village called Sugar Town!

We are also including history of Hanukkah traditions, Kwanzaa and the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha. We have lots of interesting programming coming up too, including a Soup at Six on November 17, Day After Thanksgiving activities, Holiday Open House on December 2, and the Open Hearth Dinner on December 9.

We hope to see you at the Museum this holiday season!