New at the Museum of Us

June has been a good month for adding treasures and curiosities to our museum collections. We are very excited to have a nineteenth century Hair Wreath donated.

Saving the hair of a loved one in a locket was a popular practice in the nineteenth century. An extension of that is the creation of art from the hair of friends or loved ones. An example is friends attaching a lock of hair to a signed card and exchanging as a memento of friendship. Locks of hair could also be arranged in a brooch as a mourning memento.

A far more advanced version of that is the art form of floral hair wreaths with a variety of flowers constructed of hair wrapped wires, twisted and configured into many shapes. They can range from simple to complex. Often, the names of friends and family whose hair was included were listed on an accompanying paper. The completed construction would be mounted in a protective frame to preserve it. Many have survived and end up in museums where they can be enjoyed by the public.

Hair wreaths and hair art were popular from 1837 to 1901.

The wreath that was donated to us (shown above) was made by an advanced artist. She had plenty of practice and skill development before she made this one. It is not certain who created it. The earliest known owner was Mary Flaig Cleveland (1871-1962) of Canoe Camp. Her mother Huldah Robbins Flaig (1850 - 1921) was born in Smithfield, Bradford County and lived in Richmond Township most of her life. Myrtle Cleveland Jackson of Sullivan was the next owner and then her son Harold Jackson. The paper that recorded the creator and names was lost along the way.

Detail of center shown at left. More detail photos linked here. Hair Wreath - Wreath, Hair | History Center

Terry Mudge has donated the Mudge family sleigh. He treasured it so much, he had it refurbished and built a room on his house for it. It is now at the museum where we can all see and enjoy it.

In the 1950s the family used it on Elmira Street, and yes, they had a horse to draw it.

Congratulations to Friendship Lodge No. 247 for their 175th Anniversary Celebration in June.

Thanks to John Colegrove for donating this and 18 other commemorative hats produced by his Pennsylvania Press. You can view all 19 at this link to our online catalog. You might see one you recognize.

Commemorative hats - Hat | History Center

Upcoming High School Class Reunions

We don't hear about all of them, but here are the ones we've been notified of.

Schanbacher Family Reunion - July 25-27

September 13 - Classes of 1965 & 1967 jointly

September 19-21 - Class of 1962

September 27 - Class of 1975

Our Library: History and Genealogy

 Our History-Genealogy Library is open any time the History Center is open. We invite you to stop by to browse, dip into volumes, do research, or just sit and read. We can search our database if you are looking for some specific book or topic. You can also check out a volume on loan to take with you.

Online Collections | History Center (pastperfectonline.com)

Whil e we have nearly 30,000 cataloged items, about 5,000 of them have so far been uploaded in our online catalog where you can see them.

Take a look. The ONLY way to learn your way around this utility is to read the guidelines and poke every link. Just explore, go wandering. You'll be surprised.

You will find lists of people (all by name at birth), lists of subjects, or try searching on keywords which is just about anything. Our genealogy database of local connections includes over 100,000 individuals. Over 11,000 of them are also included in our museum files with links to schools, cemeteries, businesses, etc. People are only included online if we have an object or photos associated with them, although they are in our files if they are/were local (lived here, buried here, went to school here). If your family is not shown, send us photos so they can be.

You can select Random Images and follow something that catches your eye.

Try searching for advertisements. They link to businesses and the life stories of the people who ran them, and even the buildings they operated in.

You can also link to the online catalogs through our landing page at joycetice.com.

We have lots more fine-tuning and linking to do for our online presentation, but you'll be surprised what you find when you get lost in our files.

Renewed Members - New Members - Join us for 2025

We'd like to have twenty new members for 2025. As a bonus, we'll send each of them an earlier journal issue from 2019to 2024 in addition to the 2025 issues as they are published. You can send a check or pay by PayPal. Directions link from the button at left.

If you are planning a reunion, consider a casual afternoon Meet & Greet at the History Center's Museum of Us. In an informal environment, you can chat with your friends, watch a slide show of Mansfield's historic photos, and find traces of yourself, your friends, and your family. Many of our exhibits are designed for those who grew up here. The Blue & Gold Room is full of MHS sports mementos. The pictorial display includes YOU along with all the other MHS graduates in its first hundred years.

Thank You to Our Gold Level Sponsors

Law Offices of Larry Mansfield

VFW Post 6757

Mansfield Auxiliary Corporation

Lutes Foundation