Bedford Historical Society March — May 2016, Issue 324

P.O. Box 46282 (440) 232-0796

Bedford, OH 44146 www.BedfordOhioHistory.org

Explore. Dream. Discover.

Upcoming Events

Thursday, Mar. 3rd, 7:30pm, Lyceum

The Great War, 1914—1918

The Old Church on the Square

Friday, Mar. 4th, 6:30pm*

Annual Reverse Raffle Fundraiser

*Date changed from last newsletter

La Casa Bella Party Center, Oakwood Village

Sunday, April 10th, 2—5pm

Annual Spring Open House, Town Hall Museum

Featuring the Artwork of Roxie Tolbert

Friday, April 15th—Saturday, April 16th

Spring Scrapbook Sleepover

Old Church on the Square

Saturday, April 23rd, 10am

Victorian Tea, Old Church on the Square

Saturday, April 30th, 10am –4pm

Northeast Ohio Local History Fair

Ellenwood Recreation Center

Thursday, May 5th, 7pm

Annual Dinner

La Casa Bella Party Center, Oakwood Village

Friday, June 10th—Sunday, June 12th

52nd Annual Strawberry Festival

Bedford Town Square

From the President

Dear Members,

Happy Spring! As you can see from the Upcoming

events, we are packed with things to do! Please consider

supporting society by attending a few of these fun days.

Our team is working hard to put together a new exhibit to

remember World War 1 which we are sure will be educa-

tional and interesting for all. Stay tuned for an entire year

of programming to go along with this great new exhibit.

As always, thank you for supporting the Historical Socie-

ty through your volunteerism, donations and by attend-

ing our programming. We could not do the things we do

without your support and encouragement. As we grown

and change with the times, we hope that you will contin-

ue along with us! Don’t forget– your input is important!.

We are always available to hear criticism and compli-

ments. Our goal is to be good stewards of our history as

well as our community.

Sincerely,

Bob Schroeter, Sr., President

Obituaries Joanne Rose; Member Joanne [nee: Ramsey] Rose died on

November 16, 2015 in Charlottesville VA where she and

her husband James have been residing. Joanne was an

enthusiastic volunteer for the Society for many years.

She organized the oral history program and recorded

many interviews of older residents. She purchased

books on genealogy for the museum library. Joanne

leaves her husband Jim and son Tim (Margaret) and

grandchildren William and Matthew.

Ruth M. Kotila; Member Ruth [nee: Wilson] Kotila died

on November 29, 2015. Ruth was active in the Society

and in many groups in the local community through her

years as a teacher in Bedford City Schools and as co-

founder of Kids on Broadway. She was an inspiration to

many. She is survived by her children Richard and

Mark, grandson Joel and brothers Paul ( Louise) Wilson

and Dick (Patsy) Wilson. Ruth will be missed by many

friends.

Shirley A. Taussig; Member Shirley [nee: Wells] Taussig

died on January 11, 2016. Shirley was a Trustee of the

Society and involved with many projects. She had a

keen interest in preserving our historic buildings, partic-

ularly the 1874 Town Hall Museum and the Society’s

restoration efforts at Bedford Cemetery. She helped cre-

ate the Bedford Historical Society Endowment Fund.

She helped plan the Town Hall building addition which

made the museum accessible to everyone. Shirley was

preceded in death by her husband Daniel. She is sur-

vived by her children Jeff (Reggie), Bob (Charlotte), Bri-

an (Diana), Cindy, and Dan (Amy). She will be missed

by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and

many friends.

Our sympathy to member Gail Chambers on the loss of

her husband David.

Our sympathy to member Jim Magyar on the death of

his brother John.

Strawberry Festival News

The Strawberry Festival is fast ap-proaching! We have a great enter-tainment schedule lined up and ven-dors are starting sign up! But, we are in need of VOLUNTEERS to help in nearly every spot this year. Can you help? There is something to do to meet just about any interest includ-ing, scooping strawberries, kitchen prep, ticket sales and raffle tickets! Please call 440-232-0796 for more infor-mation or e-mail us at

strawfest@bedfordohiohistory.org

Finally a Winner!

Congratulations to member Steve Scheff

who correctly named the location of our

mystery history photo. Steve recognized

the tall stanchions as the rockets at one

of the entrances of the old McMyler In-

terstate plant. Founded by John McMyl-

er, the firm was a pioneer in design, de-

velopment and manufacture of ore and

coal handling equipment and cranes.

McMyler built the famed League Island

crane which was considered the largest

crane in the world. It was located at the

Philadelphia Navy Shipyard. During

WWI, the plant manufactured huge gun

turrets and ordnance for the Navy.

When the plant closed, several compa-

nies used portions of the large industrial

complex including S.E. Mighton Co.

Stalwart Rubber and Ben Venue Labora-

tories. Today a metal recycler uses part

of the complex. To view the rockets at the entrance, turn

west off Northfield Road onto W. Interstate St. The rockets

are down the street on the left.

Vintage photos of the plant’s WWI manufacturing will be on

view during the upcoming WWI exhibit.

Northeast Ohio Local History Fair Join us Saturday, April 30th at Ellenwood Rec Center for a fun-filled day of local history exhibits from around North-east Ohio, music, presenta-tions by historical figures

from Ohio History including: President & Mrs. Lincoln, President Grant, President & Mrs. Garfield, Eliza Bryant, Mrs. Dunham, Annie Oakley and First Lady Caroline Harrison. Plus, do you need help with your own family research? Stop by our Genealogy Help Center and talk to our researchers! Find out more information about the day at: www.NEOLocalHistoryFair.com

This is a free event for our Northeast Ohio community and is sponsored by: The Bedford Historical Society, the City of Bedford, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, the Fraternal Order of the Eagles and the Day Foundation.

Director’s Corner Dear Members,

Wow, does time fly! It’s hard to believe that I have

been with the Historical Society for three years already!

It’s been an amazing ride and I’m excited to see where

we’re going in 2016! As Bob said, we are packed with

great things to do this Spring— including the Northeast

Ohio Local History Fair!

2016 also marks the 50th anniversary of the Historic

Preservation Act. As you may know, all our buildings

as well as downtown Bedford are listed on the National

Register of Historic Places, meaning that they are good

examples of different periods of history.

As always, we want to hear from you! Thank you to

all those who completed the membership survey— we

are working on compiling all of the data and learning

what you, our members, like, don’t like and what you

want to see

Dana Best-Mizsak, Director

“The historian has been the hearth at

which the soul of the country has

been kept alive.” ~John Morley, Notes on Politics and History

Museum Store News

The Museum store will be launching a special

WW1 line of merchandise in honor of our

new exhibit! We will have poppy items, t-

shirts, model planes, jewelry, books and more. Items

will be available in time for the Spring Open House as

well as online.

Unfortunately, we had a fourth incident

of vandalism to our property in 2015. On

December 23rd, a young man tried to gain

access to a private event in the Old Church. When he was

denied access, he became belligerent and ultimately did

about $1,000 in damages to one of the windows in the

Church. Thankfully, the Bedford Police Department re-

sponded quickly and he was apprehended the following day!

We are pleased to report that a plea arrangement has been

reached. We are pleased with the outcome and extend our

thanks to the Police Department and Prosecutor John Montel-

lo for getting us the best result possible, given the circum-

stances. For more specifics on the case, please contact Direc-

tor Dana Best-Mizsak.

Considering replacing your

windows as a spring project?

Think again. A recent release

from the National Trust re-

minds home owners that original windows add ‘beauty

and character’ and are an integral part of a home’s history.

Windows falsely get the blame for energy loss. Retrofit-

ting older windows saves money and helps keep the char-

acter of the home. The Cleveland Restoration Society has a

list of excellent window refinishers. The Heritage Home

Loan Program can help with a low interest loan. To read

the whole article search the National Trust for Historic Plac-

es ‘13 Things You Should Know About Retrofitting Historic

Windows’ By Julia Rocchi. January 2016.

The Flea Market will be held on

Saturday, August 13th. If you

have items to donate to the Histor-

ical Society table, please bring them to the Town Hall

Museum during our normal business hours. All pro-

ceeds from this table benefit the society. If you are

looking to rent space for the Flea Market, they are $15

per space and can be purchased through our website or

by calling Chris Sweet at 440-439-7470.

Annual Dinner

This year’s dinner, on Thursday May

5th, features Dr. Jarrod Burks. Dr.

Burks is the Director of Geophysical

Surveys at Ohio Valley Archaeology.

He will be speaking to us about the Serpent Mound and oth-

er ancient archaeological sites in Ohio. There have been

some amazing discoveries in recent years and we look for-

ward to hearing more about them! Invitations o the dinner

will be mailed in late March. Plus, join us for the Annual

Report on the Society and we will honor our Volunteer of

the Year for 2015!

“The historical and cultural foun-

dations of the Nation should be pre-

served as a living part of our com-

munity life and development in

order to give a sense of orientation

to the American people . . . the

preservation of this irreplaceable

heritage is in the public interest so

that its vital legacy of cultural, ed-

ucational, aesthetic, inspirational,

economic, and energy benefits will

be maintained and enriched for fu-

ture generations of Americans”

– National Historic Preservation Act, 1966

COMING June 2016

Footnotes from the Library By Paul Pojman, Librarian

Alma—what?

Just what is an almanac anyway? According to the Merriam-

Webster dictionary, it is (1) “a publication containing astro-

nomical and meteorological data for a given year and often

including a miscellany of other information” and (2) “a usual-

ly annual publication containing statistical, tabular, and gen-

eral information.” The dictionary traces the word origin to

Middle English, through earlier Latin and Arabic.

An almanac of sorts was known to the ancient Romans and,

in expanded form, to literate classes of medieval Europe. Our

“modern” publication began to emerge in the 1600s and flow-

ered in the 18th and 19th centuries, as the scientific and factu-

al replaced the astrological and mythological. Two of the

more famous examples from this period are Benjamin Frank-

lin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack (1732-1758) and Farmer’s Almanac

(1818 to present). Today, the almanac is an ubiquitous refer-

ence work, appearing in both general and specific-subject for-

mats. The general type is perhaps best exemplified by World

Almanac and Book of Facts. Subject-oriented works include

those devoted to States, cities, sports and entertainment, sci-

ences, and occupations. Some almanacs publish editions for

youth. Recent years have seen many “almanac” sites on the

Internet. Most people have at least some familiarity with al-

manacs and have mined them for facts at school and at home.

The Bedford Historical Society owns copies of the above ex-

amples, as well as others tucked away in recesses of the mu-

seum library. There are at least sixteen different almanacs

from a dozen or more publishers. The collection also includes

almanac “cousins” like statistical abstracts, historical year-

books, and street directories.

Some older publications contain interesting advertising, some

for products no longer sold. This leads to another way of us-

ing almanacs—comparing the presentation of information

(and therefore the viewpoints of the times) as the years pro-

ceed.

References: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition,

1997; The World Book Encyclopedia, 1991 edition, volume one, pp. 379-

380; a sampling of websites, all accessed in January 2016: http://

www.infoplease.com/ ; http://www.worldalmanac.com/ ;

www.farmersalmanac.com/ ; http://www.goodsearch.com/search-web?

utf8=%E2%9C%93&keywords=almanac&button= ; and the Historical

Society Library.

Victorian Tea Spring has Sprung! It’s time for our annual Victo-rian Tea. This year, our tea will be on Saturday, April 23rd. Our Victorian Maids are ready to pre-pare a wonderful lunch. This years tea will in-clude a special store of the monu-ments on the Bedford Square, the Hezekiah Dunham House & Sedlon Garden and the Gates-Handyside House. Space is limited, your dona-tion of $40 per person helps to sup-port the Society. Call 440-232-0796 to make your reservation.