The Museum of Us
Mansfield's People Change the World
Joan Nash Odell
Our exhibit celebrating our local people, Mansfield High School graduates, is growing. At right, Joan Nash Odell of Horseheads, Class of 1947, poses with her Arnot Ogden School of Nursing cape and her visiting nurse uniform.
We have many unique items on display, each one representing something in the life of a person who grew up here. The variety of items continues to amaze us.
We want all of you to participate by sending in some item to represent an aspect of your life, a job, a hobby, a craft. The purpose is to bring attention to people who have been a part of our community, however long ago, and remember them.
It's Old, But it's New To Us
Ed Russell (1892-1956) graduated from Mansfield State Normal School in 1912 and the Wharton School of the U. of Pennsylvania in 1916. He played football in both schools and professionally. He was all-American in 1915. He also served as Burgess of Mansfield from 1943 to 1954.
Ed was friends with the famous athlete, Jim Thorpe, and played football with him. In 1938, Jim sent this letter to Ed, and many years later Ed's son gifted it to Brent Bixby. Brent recently transferred it to The History Center so that it can be a permanent part of Mansfield's history. It is beautifully framed and an exciting addition to our collection.

Also new is the Allen Washer. Patented in Mansfield in 1885 and manufactured locally, it was a new innovation in ease for laundry day. An 1890 ad shows a woman reading a book while she turned the crank. That's after she carried the water and heated it.
Thanks to the Foreman-Murrays for this addition to our local history.
Allen Washer
The Memory Project
Garrisons
We've added several new videos and interviews to The History Center You Tube Channel.
Ben Garrison talks about Garrison's Mens Shop history and growing up here in the 1930s and 40s. Ben graduated from high school here in 1943.
We've also added slide shows of Smythe Park and the Fair; the 1957 Centennial; the Junior High School, and a beautiful tour of Oakwood, a recreational area on the Tioga River created by a dam.
You can reach them and our earlier videos and interviews at the link above.
Progress
roofing
Well, we certainly dug up layers of Mansfield history when we started replacing the roof on the apartment at our museum location at 61 N. Main. We want to fix that up for expanded office space as well as library and research areas.
The main part of the building was built in 1849 as the original Methodist Church. The apartment was added not long after. The north side of the roof had FOUR layers of shingles, and the south side had SEVEN layers, all with the associated nails which had to be removed.
Kudos to Bret York for sticking to this BIG job.
A donation to help with this project is an investment in the future of our local genealogy and research libraries.
Donate
Join Us For This Month's Big Event
In November we will present our Mansfield: Then and Now video show. It includes hundreds of photos of Mansfield from the 1860s to the present. It shows and tells, street by street and building by building the way Mansfield changed over time. Thursday Nov. 15 at 6 PM and Saturday Nov. 18 at 2 PM will be our first showing. A $5 donation is suggested. We guarantee you'll see photos you've never seen.
We will also be pleased to arrange a special showing for your group or organization.
South Main
Tombstone
What's New on the Web Site
We recently published the Tioga County Death Records 1897 to 1899 in addition to the Tioga County Death Records 1893 to 1896 we published earlier.
Pennsylvania did not keep vital records before 1893. From 1893 to 1907, they were stored only at the local county court houses.
We will continue to collect these records and publish as we have volunteer resources.
Later death records after 1907 are available online from the Pennsylvania Archives.
DONATE
Help us grow and continue to do our work for and about Mansfield. Become a member or donor. It is tax deductible. We're preserving our past for our future.
The History Center on Main Street
570-250-9829
Makes Mansfield Proud
Museum Sept 2017