The Monday After: Exploring Stark's 'Women at Work'

In 1885, Miss Mary Martin became the first librarian for Canton Public Library.

In 1925, Lillian Belden was the first woman from Canton to become a lawyer.

When physicians Esther Tyrrell and Katherine Burns opened their practice is 1895, they became the first female doctors in Stark County.

Only four other women in the country were pilots in 1912 when Stark's Bernetta Miller earned her pilot's license.

Esther M. Archer, one of the first African-American women hired by the Timken Company, became the first black woman to win a municipal office in Ohio when she was elected to Canton City Council in 1947.

All these women are represented in text or images in the new Keller Gallery exhibition – "Women at Work" – which opens April 13 at Wm. McKinley Presidential Library & Museum. A free opening reception will be 6 to 7:30 p.m.

"Seeing all these women together in the same room and being able to read about their accomplishments is powerful," said McKinley Museum's Executive Director Kimberly Kenney, who curated the exhibit.

Exhibit grew from humble vision

Originally, the "Women at Work" exhibition was intended to be a "simple" display, to be offered in an eight-week period between the closing of the "The Me Decade: A Look Back At the 1970s" and the summer exhibition "Brick Flicks" display of film moments captured in LEGO bricks.

"The more (research) I did, the bigger it got," Kenney said.

With the assistance of archivist Mark Holland in the museum's Ramsayer Research Library, as well as collaboration with archivists of other museums and consultations within a network of local individuals in various occupations, Kenney developed a long list of woman in the community who made contributions in the workplace.

"We didn't limit it to a time period," Kenney said.

Career areas represented by the labor of women included occupations in law, education, medicine, science, finance, business and clerical work, as well as jobs in manufacturing and industry and accomplishments in arts and sciences.

"Each panel in the exhibition will explore the history of women in that field, including profiles of local women wherever possible," promotional material for the exhibit explains.

Kenney also included segments of the exhibition for women who were volunteers and provided information about the wage discrepancy between male and female workers. The "salary" that women would earn for the variety of jobs also is addressed, with statistics gathered from an online source.

"I love that there is an agency that quantifies what women would be paid for all the work they do (in motherhood)," Kenney said.

Women change times

The "Women at Work" exhibit explores advances made by women in the past in a manner that should be encouraging to young women of the present, Kenney said.

"Women pioneers needed to push through barriers," Kenney explained. "It still happens today, but the barriers certainly were higher early in the 20th century."

She pointed out that Maryedith Fleenor, who taught science in Canton City School and later became a docent in McKinley Museum's Discover World, originally wanted to be a research scientist. Aviator Bernetta Miller really wanted to be a commercial pilot, but the few women who flew planes in her day were limited to being barnstorming stunt pilots.

"I'm hoping that women who come through this exhibition will see themselves in the exhibit," she said, adding that she suspects they will be surprised by the level of accomplishment that the local women achieved.

Kenney also hopes the exhibition will serve as encouragement to youthful Keller Gallery visitors.

"I hope the young girls who see this will be inspired and understand that they can do anything they want in life."

Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com . On Twitter: @gbrownREP

About the exhibit

WHAT – "Women at Work"

WHERE – Keller Gallery of Wm. McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, 800 McKinley Monument Drive NW

WHEN – April 13 through June 17. McKinley Museum is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, and is closed Sunday and Monday.

WHY – Exhibit explores the ways women have worked in Stark County the past 200 years.

TICKETS – Admission is $13 for adults, $12 for senior citizens and $11 for students and children ages 3-18.

RELATED EVENT – A free opening night reception of "Women at Work" will be 6 to 7:30 p.m. April 13.