Newsletters - Winter 1999

Table of Contents
FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON VISITS THE NATIONAL FIRST LADIES' LIBRARY

A GLIMPSE BACK: FIRST LADY ELEANOR ROOSEVELT VISITS CANTON NOVEMBER 17, 1940

LIBRARY WELCOMES NEW STAFF MEMBER

HOLIDAY EXHIBIT

$2.5 MILLION MATCH GRANT FOR CITY NATIONAL BANK BUILDING RENOVATION/RESTORATION PROJECT

SAVE AMERICA'S TREASURES

DR. SHEILA FISHER AND MARY REGULA HONORED

MEET CRAIG SCHERMER

NEW GIFT SHOP ITEMS

NEW LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS

FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON VISITS THE NATIONAL FIRST LADIES' LIBRARY

The National First Ladies' Library was honored to welcome First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to Canton, Ohio on Friday, July 23, 1999. She was in town to tour the Library and to announce the beginning of a renovation and restoration of an 1895 historic bank building that will become the Library's educational and research center.

Mrs. Clinton was given a private tour of the National First Ladies' Library, which is located in the historically renovated Saxton McKinley House, former home of First Lady Ida Saxton McKinley. Mrs. Mary Regula, president of the Library and Dr. Sheila Fisher, vice-president of the Library, escorted the first lady on her tour.

Costumed docents, dressed as former first ladies, greeted Mrs. Clinton as she viewed the house and its artifacts. She was very impressed with the Library and later encouraged the public to tour the house, calling it "an extraordinary place".

Following her tour, the First Lady addressed a crowd of about a thousand people. She stressed the importance of saving historic sites, such as the building that will become an addition to the National First Ladies' Library. "Each of these American treasures is a living textbook - a glimpse into the past and a lesson for the future," she said. "If it were not for these preservation efforts, each one might very well have been allowed to crumble away."

Also during this visit, the renovation project was named an Official Project of the Millennium Council's Save America's Treasures program. Kathryn O'Leary Higgins, a vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a partner in the Millennium Council, announced the designation. This council is an initiative created by President and Mrs. Clinton.

At our suggestion, Mrs. Clinton also visited the McKinley Monument in Canton, Ohio, where she laid a wreath on the graves of President William McKinley and his wife, Ida Saxton McKinley. In 1940, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, whom Mrs. Clinton has long admired, stopped at the McKinley Monument and laid wreaths on the McKinley's graves. Mrs. Roosevelt was the last sitting first lady, prior to Hillary Clinton, to make an appearance in downtown Canton.

A GLIMPSE BACK: FIRST LADY ELEANOR ROOSEVELT VISITS CANTON NOVEMBER 17, 1940

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt made a whirlwind stop in Canton on November 17, 1940. She spent about 12 hours in Canton, making a number of public appearances.

Mrs. Roosevelt's first stop was at the McKinley Monument, where she laid wreaths on the graves of President William and First Lady Ida Saxton McKinley. She then paid a visit to Mrs. Elizabeth Goodman, honorary president of the Jewish Welfare League and a founder and first president of the organization. The meeting was arranged through correspondence with Mrs. Roosevelt's secretary, Miss Malvina Thompson, and was a surprise for Mrs. Goodman who had been ill for over a year.

The First Lady also attended a press conference at the old Onesto Hotel. She later spoke to a crowd of 2,000 at the First Christian Church, which was located at the corner of 4th Street SW and Market Avenue South. (The current location of the Newmarket Post Office.) The topic of Mrs. Roosevelt's speech was "The Relationship of the Individual to the Community."

LIBRARY WELCOMES NEW STAFF MEMBER

The National First Ladies' Library welcomes our newest full-time staff member, Mary E. Rhodes CPS, as the Office Administrator. Mary has an Associates Degree in Office Administration, is a member of the International Association of Administrative Professionals, and is certified as an Office Professional (CPS) through the IAAP Institution of Certification.

Mary's responsibilities include organizing and managing the main office, correspondence, scheduling docents and tours, maintaining sales and office inventories, and database management. Mary is also our Docent Coordinator who schedules our volunteer tour guides, keeps them informed on changes in the library, holds meetings, and continuously updates docent information.

Mary and her husband, Jim, have one son, Lance, who graduated from high school this year. Mary enjoys poetry, woodworking, and spending time with her family.

HOLIDAY EXHIBIT

This year's holiday exhibit will feature the artwork of First Lady Caroline Harrison, wife of President Benjamin Harrison. Dr. Sheila Fisher and Craig Schermer, the Exhibit Artisans, are working in cooperation with the President Benjamin Harrison home to procure items and to design the exhibit. It will open November 20th and run through the end of January.

Caroline "Carrie" Harrison was an accomplished artist who especially enjoyed china painting. Flowers and butterflies were among her favorite subjects, and she often hid a four-leaf clover within her work. She began a china painting class in the White House and invited family and friends to participate. Caroline designed the state china for the Harrison Administration.

The Harrisons were the first presidential family to decorate a Christmas tree in the White House. The tree was put up in the oval room on the 2nd floor. It is said that all the staff of the White House and all the older members of the Harrison family, including the President, worked on the elaborate trimmings.

To coincide with the holiday exhibit, the Library is also having a porcelain china trinket box and several other items decorated with the artwork of Caroline Harrison designed for sale in our gift shop. These items will make great holiday gifts.

The holiday exhibit will also feature Victorian-style decorations, including a Victorian Christmas tree. Along with the regular Wednesday and Saturday tours, there will be additional tours on selected Mondays in December. Call the office (330) 452-0876 for dates and reservations.

$2.5 MILLION MATCH GRANT FOR CITY NATIONAL BANK BUILDING RENOVATION/RESTORATION PROJECT

The National First Ladies' Library has been allocated a $2.5 million matching grant as part of the millennium fund for the renovation of the City National Bank Building at 205 Market Avenue South in Canton, Ohio. This building, called "America's newest national treasure" by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, will become the Library's education and research center.

The grant has been designated for this project as part of the Save America's Treasures Millennium Council initiative in the 1999 Interior Appropriations Bill. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton designated the building renovation project as a Save America's Treasures Official Project during a visit in July. The grant must be 100% matched and will be made available as soon as the matching funding is complete.

The National First Ladies' Library was given the City National Bank Building located on Market Avenue, just a block north of our home at the Ida Saxton McKinley House, by the Marsh Belden Sr. family. It is our plan to renovate the building and adapt it to the library's growing need for space.

The building was constructed in 1895 and has seven floors with approximately 20,000 square feet of usable space. Initial architectural proposals for its renovation and restoration are most encouraging. A goal of five years for completion has been established, with a completion date for the first three floors in the year 2001.

The building will include state-of-the-art technical facilities, auditorium/seminar facilities, exhibit rooms, video/teleconferencing facilities, as well as lease opportunities including offices, classrooms, and conference rooms for 501 (c) (3) non-profit organizations on the upper floors of the building.

The building will require extensive renovation and upgrading to make it adaptable to its projected purpose.

SAVE AMERICA'S TREASURES

On July 23, 1999, the National First Ladies' Library City National Bank Building was named an Official Project of Save America's Treasures.

Save America's Treasures is a public-private partnership between the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. President Clinton created the White House Millennium Council in August 1997 to lead a multi-year initiative marking the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the new millennium. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is leading efforts in the private sector to increase the program's public recognition and secure support for Official Projects. Launched in May 1998, Save America's Treasures is a national effort to protect America's threatened cultural treasures, including significant documents, works of art, maps, journals, and historic structures that document and illuminate the history and culture of the United States.

To serve an advisory role to the program, the Millennium Committee to Save America's Treasures was formed. It is led by Honorary Chair Hillary Rodham Clinton and co-chairs Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Millennium Committee, established to provide guidance and expertise to this historic effort, consists of private individuals, representatives from corporations and foundations, as well as experts in the fields of architecture, historic preservation, art, science and conservation.

Save America's Treasures has a number of goals and programs developed to accomplish these goals:

Educate Americans on preservation problems through an educational outreach program focusing on American history, preservation and conservation.
Foster pride in American heritage through the designation of eligible preservation projects as Save America's Treasures Official Projects.
Raise concern for the urgent preservation needs of this country's historic and cultural treasures through a national awareness campaign, including visits to historic sites, an interactive web site, media outreach and other special projects.
Stimulate broad scale involvement in Save America's Treasures through a National campaign designed to generate support and resources for treasures at risk and for related programs.
The First Lady best summarized the critical role that Save America's Treasures will play as we prepare for the millennium. "By giving our own gifts to the future, we can make sure that when the new millennium finally comes, we won't just be celebrating a new year, we will be celebrating the enduring strength of our democracy, the renewal of our sense of citizenship and the full flowering of the American mind and spirit."

DR. SHEILA FISHER AND MARY REGULA HONORED

Dr. Sheila A. Fisher, Vice President of the National First Ladies' Library, was recently named a recipient of the 1999 Ohio Historic Preservation Office Award for outstanding contributions to historic preservation in Ohio. She was honored by State Historic Preservation Officer Amos J. Loveday, Jr. during a luncheon at the Ohio Historic Center in Columbus on Saturday, September 25, 1999.

Dr. Fisher received the Preservation Merit Award for recreating the 19th century interiors of the Saxton McKinley House in Canton, home of the National First Ladies' Library.

Mary A. Regula, Founder and President of the National First Ladies' Library, has been chosen for membership in the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame. The 1999 induction ceremony took place at the Ohio Statehouse on October 28, 1999.

MEET CRAIG SCHERMER

Craig Schermer has been an unofficial advisor to the Library for some time. He is a historian, a lecturer, and a performer. He is a "walking encyclopedia" on the lives of our First Ladies.

Craig, the performer, gives 1-hour, first person performances, in period costumes, of Nellie Taft, Florence Harding, and Lucy Hayes. He also portrays President Franklin Pierce and a fictional, but historically accurate, British foot soldier from the Revolutionary War named Peter Carroll. Past performance attendees have described Craig as a "true artist, very intense, very theatrical, (he) becomes the character" and also say that he is "not inhibited" and that he has "fabulous sense of humor."

Craig, the historian, lives for American history, specifically First Ladies' history. He describes his historical research as his all-consuming passion. Craig spends all of his time and money researching and documenting the lives of our First Ladies by collecting autographs, photographs, diaries, memoirs and keepsakes. According to Carl Sferrazza Anthony, author and developer of our First Ladies bibliography, "There's no doubt -- Craig is a leading authority on the subject of First Ladies."

Craig, the lecturer, speaks to a variety of groups and schools. He delivers approximately 250 lectures a year. Craig lectures and performs without notes. According to his brother Tracy, Craig "has close to a photographic memory. (He) can name all presidents, all their wives, their wives maiden names and all their children." He combines his knowledge of history with the ability to deliver it theatrically.

Craig Schermer was born severely hard of hearing January 10, 1948 at Lakeside Hospital in Cleveland. He describes his disability as very "isolating." To counteract his loneliness, Craig devoted his time to reading. By the second grade, he was reading and painting way beyond his grade level.

His interest in first ladies began at age 7 when Craig read Ruth Painter Randall's "Biography of a Marriage" about Mary Todd Lincoln. "I've always been drawn to the tragic figures, the overlooked," says Craig.

Craig has a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in Russian Imperial history from John Carroll University. Throughout his school years, he always hated the way history was taught, saying that there was too much emphasis on recitation of names and dates and not enough on the lives of the people. Craig says, "What's important to me is who these people are, what they saw, and what they felt."

In the early 1990's, Craig became interested in portraying first ladies, the women he studied so thoroughly and whose lives had become as familiar as his own had. With much trepidation, he gave his first performance as Florence Harding in 1994. It was a rousing success, as are all his portrayals.

Craig is in a unique position, one that many of us might envy. He has taken his interests and invented a career around them. He doesn't make much money, but Craig says that it's all he ever wanted.

We call on Craig often to answer questions, verify facts and, most recently, to help us select exhibit items. We are fortunate to have Craig as such a good friend of the Library.

NEW GIFT SHOP ITEMS

Our gift shop items continue to expand, with new items currently in stock and additional items due in for the holiday season.

We have recently added a first ladies' 1,000-piece puzzle. This puzzle was created by White Mountain Puzzles at the request of Dr. Sheila Fisher, who discovered that the company had a presidents puzzle, but nothing on first laides. Dr. Fisher worked with the puzzle manufacturer on the design. A completed puzzle, assembled by friend of the Library Harriet Dickson, has been framed and is hanging in our front office. Mrs. Dickson noted that the puzzle is of good quality and that the pieces lock together nicely.

Other new items include president's "fan" fact cards and 2 books: America's Most Influential First Ladies by Carl Sferrazza Anthony and Hillary Rodham Clinton: Evolution of a First Lady by Donnie Radcliffe.

A new ornament depicting Ida Saxton McKinley on a porcelain stone surrounding by 24 karat gold and a china trinket box decorated with the floral artwork of First Lady Caroline Harrison are currently being designed and should be available by mid-November.

Order forms can be obtained through our website (www.firstladies.org) or by contacting the office at (330) 452-0876.

NEW LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS

The Library has recently obtained several first lady artifacts. These items were acquired and obtained by Mr. and Mrs. William K. Haines, Sr. for the Library's permanent display.

Grant China

Julia Grant ordered the "Rose Band Dinner Set" in 1870. It was used primarily as a breakfast set and for less formal occasions than state dinners and banquets, at which the official state service was used. Our collection consists of 35 pieces. It is French porcelain Haviland china in pearl white with a broad rose-colored border and a fine line of gold around the outer edge. The china is displayed in a curved glass china cabinet on the 2nd floor of the Library.

Mourning Shawl

It is believed that Ida Saxton McKinley wore this antique black lace shawl during her years of mourning for her children, her mother, and her assassinated husband, William McKinley. The shawl has been framed and is on display in the sitting room on the second floor.

Linen Collar

Eleanor Roosevelt wore this linen collar in her White House portrait. The collar is an off-whte color, and it was made to be removed and placed on other dresses, which was customary in the 1930's. It was embroidered using a type of stitch known as fagoting. The collar has been framed, along with a letter from Mrs. Roosevelt's seamtress, Lillian Rogers Parks, in which she describes the collar and states that Mrs. Roosevelt gave the collar to her. The collar can be viewed on the 2nd floor of the Library.

The National First Ladies' Library is proud to add these artifacts to its collection and is ever grateful to Rita and Bill Haines for their constant dedication and support.

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Thimble Set

Mrs. Marion Noble from Laguana Hills, California donated a porcelain thimble set depicting First Ladies from Martha Washington to Rosalynn Carter. A custom-designed display case was made for the thimbles. They can be viewed on the 2nd floor of the Library.

Our sincere thanks to Mrs. Noble for her unique donation.